I think this question is aligned with a question I've been researching. Our girls played a team were the pitcher would pitch as soon as the girls got their second hand on the bat. It was bad the second our girls but their hands on the bat the ball was on the way.
We started having our girls hold their hands up long enough to force the pitcher to reset. Man did it slow the game down.
So reading this....does the pitcher have to give the batter a chance to get set in the box?
Agreed. Why should the pitcher have to make a determination of whether a batter is ready? The pitcher should rely on the umpire taking their stance or otherwise signalling an all clear.Philosophical question from a pitcher's Dad. If the batter has both feet in the batters box, why do you make everyone continue to wait for the batter to be "ready"? Get "ready" outside the box. Once you have both feet in, you should be ready. These girls have been watching too much MLB. Way too much pre-pitch preparation going on that is slowing the game down IMO.
My DD works very fast and we use wristbands, she is on the rubber and gets the signal and goes. She was warned for not pausing looking at the catcher long enough. Is this correct since she is on the rubber and obviously looks at the catcher before pitching. She does work fast. Drives me crazy sometimes how fast she works but not sure it's illegal since she is on the rubber and looks.To answer this; there are some technicalities, but yes the pitcher, the catcher, the batter and the umpire have to be ready - and it is the umpire who should be the one making sure that is the case. As an umpire, I like to drop into position last; i.e. I drop into position to call the pitch only once all the players are ready. There is 'no pitch' if I am not ready for it - no matter what else is going on.
In your example -this makes it easy - I am not dropping down to call the pitch until your batter is ready - and if the pitcher pitches before I am ready, it is a 'no pitch' call, and I am having a word with the pitcher that makes it clear she is not to pitch until it is clear I am ready.
The idea of making the pitcher 'take a signal' or 'pausing' is not really about stopping a pitcher from pitching before the batter is ready, but rather to stop them using the step onto the rubber as momentum - basically getting additional pitch speed by effectively walking into a pitch.
Pitching rules around this are a mess. I wish they would simplify it - it would be much easier if the rules just said "The pitcher must come to a complete stop once they toe the rubber, and the pitch cannot be thrown before the batter, catcher and umpire are ready.
I prefer a good pace to the game.My DD works very fast and we use wristbands, she is on the rubber and gets the signal and goes. She was warned for not pausing looking at the catcher long enough. Is this correct since she is on the rubber and obviously looks at the catcher before pitching. She does work fast. Drives me crazy sometimes how fast she works but not sure it's illegal since she is on the rubber and looks.
Because the batter has just as much right as the pitcher to take the time to get their feet set, and their bat in position and their eyes ready as the pitcher has to set themselves up and take their allowed time to deliver a pitch once clear as well. Just because a pitcher wants to work fast doesn't mean that she gets to do it before the batter is ready. The pitcher isn't any more special than the batter.Philosophical question from a pitcher's Dad. If the batter has both feet in the batters box, why do you make everyone continue to wait for the batter to be "ready"? Get "ready" outside the box. Once you have both feet in, you should be ready. These girls have been watching too much MLB. Way too much pre-pitch preparation going on that is slowing the game down IMO.