I have a question about when the pitcher can deliver a pitch. My nephew plays in a Cal Ripken Majors Division league. I think it's U12. I'm pretty sure that's the age range. Last night the umpire called a no-pitch twice on both team's pitchers, stopping them both from coming to the plate, citing that the pitcher must make eye contact with the batter before coming to the plate. The coach from the opposing team told the umpire that the last time they played (against a different team, not my nephew's) the previous umpire said the batter needed to be ready to swing as soon as he stepped in the box and that the pitcher was under no obligation to wait for him. This umpire in my nephew's game last night said that he didn't care what any other umpire said, and he repeated out loud for both teams to hear that the pitchers needed to make eye contact with the batter before coming to the plate. I don't remember this rule from when I played, which, granted, was a long time ago on a baseball field far, far away, but it seemed odd.
My question is, when can the pitcher go into his delivery? Does he have to wait for the batter? I know the rules are slightly different at the pro and college levels, but is there some "fairness" or "safety" clause in Cal Ripken or Little League that the pitcher needs to wait some period of time before he delivers? The coach of the opposing team told the umpire last night that he actually preferred the eye contact rule, but he also made a point of the fact that two umpires were in clear contradiction to each other, which I completely understand. I wanted to ask the umpire about it after the game, but as soon as the game ended, he grabbed his water bottle and left the field, and I guess this league doesn't like people communicating with umpires before or after games anyway. It was a little bit of a heated contest, nothing got out of hand, but there were some calls that not everyone agreed with, surprise, surprise, and these no-pitch calls were somewhat out of the ordinary.
