The Kelly Barnhill Thread

[4 girl's dad]

Hope it is okay to ask this here, but can someone help me understand why the penalty for illegal pitch is so punitive? A balk in baseball is an attempt to deceive the runner. I get that the runner should advance a base, because the foul was against the runner. But there are no leadoffs in fastpitch. no deceiving runners. Why do the base runners get to advance a base for an illegal pitch?? I really want to know the rationale for this as it does not make sense to me. Thanks

Because when the rules to game were originally written for an IP, they wanted to make sure that it was not allowed and that they thought there was an obvious benefit to the illegal mechanics.

 

[riseball]

What you are essentially saying is that if Barnhill doesn't replant she would only stride 5 feet from the pitching plate and every other pitcher is pitching from that distance too!? From all of the SEC and PAC12 games I watch, almost every pitcher gets to within 1 foot of the front of the circle and many get to the front (8 feet). At best and arguably, Barnhill is getting an extra 6 inches to maybe 1 foot of distance closer to home then she would have otherwise if she didn't "replant". And that's up to debate. Over a 35 foot pitching distance, I don't see such a dramatic advantage. What separates her from the other good but not elite pitchers, as Java illustrated earlier, is her excellent spin rate, ability to pitch her rise ball on three different planes, her speed high-60's, and her ability to hit her spots at will. Her lower body has very little to do with her .26 ERA, opponents batting average of .117, 9/1 strikeout to walk ratio, and 13-0 record. Maybe it's possible this kid can just flat out pitch????

She is one hell of a pitcher and will be for the next several years. Ok, now I am out....

Yes, based on where she is landing and replanting her stride is about 5 feet. Where she would end up pitching legally is anyone's guess. Unfortunately due to all of the enablers in her life she has never been held accountable to pitch within the rules of the game. As you have shown in your comments above she is illegal. Regardless of her spin rate and other accomplishments she is still illegal. If she was a terrible pitcher she would still be illegal. She is illegal before she releases the ball so everything after that is a moot point. What part of illegal is so complex and hard to comprehend? Or do you prefer we use the term undocumented mechanics?

 

[4 girl's dad]

Oh lort!!!!!!

 

[djcarter1966]

Made my day, I needed a good laugh.

 

[MNDad]

FWIW we've had at least a dozen illegal pitches called this season. College umpires are calling them. Maybe they just can't agree that she's not legal or they're not called as much with high profile teams.

 

[Rocketech1]

Or do you prefer we use the term undocumented mechanics?

And yet every team in the SEC would hire (I mean give a scholarship to) this "undocumented" pitcher, no questions asked.

 

[FastPitchCat]

FWIW we've had at least a dozen illegal pitches called this season. College umpires are calling them. Maybe they just can't agree that she's not legal or they're not called as much with high profile teams.

hmmm.... can we send those umps to ump a gators game?

 

[riseball]

And yet every team in the SEC would hire (I mean give a scholarship to) this "undocumented" pitcher, no questions asked.

Not at all true, Some want no part of her or any other illegal pitcher. They have standards and compete with integrity, others not so much. Some people believe in holding people accountable for illegal behavior. While others rationalize, make excuses and serve to enable more illegal behavior.

 

[SonicMojo]

Watching her now on SEC Network. As a father of 2 young pitchers (10 and 14), it makes me want to teach them to crow hop. If it's going to be allowed now at the highest levels, it's going to trickle down. Sadly, if we don't start cheating now, we're going to be left behind. It reminds me of the degradation of basketball.

 

[Poppybull]

Why does not the SEC address this divisive situation??? Has to be creating ill will among the SEC teams!