In baseball, is the ball allowed to bounce between pitcher and batsmen?

Or is it automatically a ball if it bounces before the batsmen? (even if the ball passes through the strike zone)

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Also, does the pitcher have to announce to the batsmen if he wants to switch between overarm and underarm pitching?

 

I'm no expert, but I think that's an automatic ball.
--- merged: May 11, 2013 at 7:44 PM ---
Taken from the MLB website; Rule 2.00:

A BALL is a pitch which does not enter the strike zone in flight and is not struck at by the batter.
Rule 2.00 (Ball) Comment: If the pitch touches the ground and bounces through the strike zone it is a “ball.” If such a pitch touches the batter, he shall be awarded first base. If the batter swings at such a pitch after two strikes, the ball cannot be caught, for the purposes of Rule 6.05(c) and 6.09(b). If the batter hits such a pitch, the ensuing action shall be the same as if he hit the ball in flight

 

But you can underhand pitch (I've seen a few guys doing it), so it would be a good move to take the batsmen off guard if you lined up and suddenly threw underarm,,, because he is focusing on the wrong level expecting the ball.

 

Yeah, submarine pitching is what I meant.

The setup looks the same, I think you'd only see the guy switching to the submarine action with a second at most... if you can mix in 1 out of 10 pitches like that with a bit of pace taken off, youd think it would keep the batsman off guard?

I admit I havent played any baseball, but I played a lot of cricket, and when you get to a decent level a change of pace is a lot better weapon than sheer pace.

 

Well... the fact that nobody seems to do it must speak in favour of you being right and me being wrong...

I watched a couple of games today, and variety seemed a lot more important than speed. The guy who was throwing 98 MPH fastballs got taken out after 2 innings and 6 runs. The guy who didn't throw anything above about 85 mph didnt give up any runs till the 6th innings.

The key is obviously disguise, the ability to get some swing and variety, and being able to outhink the batsman a bit.

 

Strange Famous, if a good hitter spots the change in mechanics before the ball is ever release, he's going to know what is coming. Good hitters spot the difference between a fastball and a changeup and take advantage. What you're talking about would be incredibly easy to spot and result in a lot of hits.

 

Like was said before, if the ball bounces before it gets to the pitcher, it's considered a 'ball.' This could actually be really dangerous for a defense; if the ball hits the ground and goes off somewhere and isn't in any defender's control, I *think* if there are any runners on base that they're allowed to try to advance. This could be very bad depending on how quickly the defense figures out where the ball is and whether they're able to throw the ball to where the runners are going to try to tag them out.

What you're talking about is accomplished by using the same pitching mechanics but delivering the ball in juuuust a little bit different of a manner somehow; whether it's moving your wrist and forearm in a weird way to make the ball move differently, throwing the ball more slowly or more quickly, or even just holding the ball differently. Like Jazz said above, you want the batter to have no clue about what kind of pitch is coming so that they don't really know how to prepare for it other than by guessing.

 

That's called a wild pitch or passed ball, depending on how the scorer rules on the catcher's reaction. If he should have caught it, it's a passed ball and his error. The wild pitch is when it is ruled uncatchable.

 

That was interesting. I followed the wikipedia link that Snowy posted and read about Spitballs. I have heard the term since my younger years but never knew what it actually meant. That would be the technical term for the great visual gag in the second Naked Gun film if memory serves.

 

Interestingly, in cricket, the bowlers and fielders work a lot on the ball to keep one side shiny. Lots of spit, and rubbing on their clothes. This helps the ball to swing more in the air. There has been controversy whether eating/sucking on sweets make the spit of the bowler/fielder more "sticky" and therefore more conducive to being shined.

The balls are very different, though - a cricket ball is shiny (lacquered) leather, with one main straight seam (though the best balls are made from 4 pieces of leather sewn together), whereas as baseball isn't shiny and is made from two pieces of leather with a curving seam. The properties of the two balls are very different.

I played against a pitcher (in baseball) a few years ago who had a real round arm action - had heaps of trouble playing him as you don't see the ball until quite late because of his turning body. I would imagine that different (non standard) pitching actions would be more difficult for the batter, though this might say more about my batting

 

Anytime the ball is in play (time has not been called), a runner is allowed to advance at his own risk.

A pitch in the dirt is an invitation to steal a base, but if the pitcher wants to roll the ball to the plate, he's allowed to. However, a pitch striking the ground before entering the strike zone is a ball, unless swung at. A batter may swing at ANY pitch, regardless of location, and if he hits it, it's in play.

If he swings at a ball having hit the ground first and misses and there are fewer than 2 strikes, it's a strike. If it hits the ground before he swings, technically, the catcher can't catch the ball for a third strike, and must tag him or throw him out at first if first is unoccupied or there are 2 out. In practice, if it bounced high enough to swing at and be caught in the catcher's glove after the batter swings, every umpire in the world will call it a third strike and put the batter out.

As for trying to actually pitch underhand (as opposed to submarine), it's virtually impossible to do from a base wind-up (used when there are runners on first and/or second, and often on third as well, depending on the out situation). While there have been some successful submarine pitchers, it's an odd motion, and the mechanics of it preclude getting the amount of force behind it that you can get with a full overhand or underhand (whip) pitch.

And speaking as an ex-catcher, I will say I hate catching submarine pitches because of their tendency to be rising as they come across the plate, often forcing you into a jack-in-the box motion. Your natural expectation is to be going down to block a pitch in the dirt, not jumping to catch something that may be sailing upwards. I've never seen a submarine pitcher with a whole bunch of control, although there have been and probably still are some who have made the majors pitching that way.

 

A timely article, somewhat related to this discussion....


Your brain on baseball: how hitters see a 95 mph fastball. - chicagotribune.com