MLB: Ted Lilly Accused of Cheating
- Thread starter cigaretteman
- Start date
I see this all the time when umpiring even high school baseball. Often times the "foot groove" is actually a little in front of the rubber. I haven't ever heard anyone complain about it. Once that groove is worn into the mound it's pretty hard to get it readjusted so your foot is always touching the rubber when you push off.
Gaining a couple of extra inches won't make up for the velocity you'd lose by not being able to push off of the rubber.
It's especially bad in high school because a lot of teams don't maintain their fields very well. I pitched on some mounds that you needed a ladder to climb out of the hole in front of the rubber. Some of those probably hadn't been filled in for years.
So what your saying is that if Lilly was doing it, more than likely the opposing pitcher was doing it too???
hmmmm
I'm guessing MLB mounds are maintained so that you have a choice of where to dig your hole. Maybe not. I am in the camp of those who believe that gaining an inch really isn't going to make a huge difference to MLB batters.
bigcyfan82 and Pocanhontas Area Indians, you need to take some notes here. :wink:
I watched the game and was a little pi$$ed too because Lilly was 3-4 inches in front of the rubber on some of his pitches. I believe that is an advantage because there is very little if any groove in front of a well maintained mound so very little push-off. Seldom if ever do you see major league pitchers digging a groove in front of the mound with their heel as you used to see in the old days. Casey was pi$$ed because the 1st base ump wouldn't even acknowledge that he would watch for it. After the game the 3rd base ump said he watched Lilly and he was ok, but that was after Casey complained. Not saying it affected the outcome, but a few inches closer on a fastball does reduce a batter's reaction time.
I actually noticed this at the games I went to last weekend too... Not only is he baout 3-4 inches in front, but he is also completely off the third base side of it. This is a much bigger advantage to someone like Lily than being in front of it. He can throw pitches to the inside that are never in the strike zone.
Oh, and there is absolutely NO hole or groove in a Major league mound, even late un the game.
I guess he feels like they need an excuse for losing two out of three to the Cubs and getting shutout twice.
I will stand corrected. If there is no push and the rule says stay on the rubber than he should be on the rubber. I would be frustrated a bit if I pointed it out and the ump dismissed it completely. They are too busy trying to call balks perhaps?
Heck, MLB umpires refuse to call the strike zone correctly, I wouldn't expect them to catch something like this.