I had a very mild disagreement with my partner last season, and since I'll be working with him again, as well as breaking in the newbies, I just want to be positive...
Yes or No: The pitcher must step-off the rubber before throwing to an occupied base in an attempt to pickoff a runner. My answer was no, he can throw to an occupied base while in contact with the rubber, but he must step toward that base. If he steps off first, he does not have to step toward the base with throw, but as such he becomes a regular infielder. Thus, if the ball ends up on the next field, I have to decide if he was actually on off the rubber before awarding bases.
Next, this paragraph is a copy/paste from the Steven Ellis site, but it seems "backwards"...
"If you step back off the rubber with your pivot foot and then make a bad throw to first (or any other base), and it goes out of bounds, all runners are entitled to one base on the bad throw. If you throw to first while your pivot foot is on the rubber, and the ball goes out of bounds, the runners get two bases." (http://www.stevenellis.com/steven_ellis_the_complete/baseball_rules/index.html about halfway down, but he is talking about pros...)
I learned that an overthrow out-of-play by the pitcher when not in contact with the rubber is the same any infielder making an overthrow... 1+1 (2 bases), but if in contact with the rubber, the overthrow penalty is just one base. I don't like being confused!
Lastly, since the pitcher has to almost completely turn around to make a good throw... if he "breaks contact" with the rubber, but after turning makes the throw with his foot on top of it (followed by the overthrow), what's the call?
I appreciate the assist. Rolling through these postings makes things clearer and faster when it starts happpening at light speed right in front of you.
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