This might be a stupid question, OK, it is a stupid question, but does the pitcher literally have to look at the baserunner for the look back rule to take effect? Or is it just merely the pitcher having the ball in the circle?
Obviously it's ideal to have your pitcher look at the runners, but if she just takes the ball and has her head down, and the runners are off the bases, can they do whatever they want -- stop or run back and forth -- until she looks up? Or as soon as she has the ball in her hand and she's in the circle, they have to pick a base and go to it?
No. The name "look back" is kind of a bad name for the rule. It's about possession of the ball, not whether or not the pitcher looks at the runner.