CPBL: Lions manager explains protest over TSG Hawks pitcher’s quick pitch

The Uni-President Lions won 11-0, but the game’s main interruption came in the sixth inning, when manager Lin Yueh-ping challenged what he considered a quick pitch by the TSG Hawks.

With Pan Chieh-kai batting in the bottom of the sixth, Hawks pitcher Eschert threw the first pitch of the at-bat. Lin then went to speak with the home-plate umpire and protested that the pitch came before the batter had finished getting ready.

Lin explained the dispute before the Lions’ game the following day. “The umpire said yesterday that the rule related to ‘watching the pitcher’ had already been removed,” he said. “But what I meant was that the batter had not yet taken his position and prepared himself when the pitcher delivered the ball. It appeared to be a quick pitch. The point of the protest was that the batter was not ready.”

The CPBL’s annual preseason managers’ meeting in February last year decided that batters still had to place both feet inside the batter’s box within the remaining eight seconds. It also removed the requirement for batters to watch the pitcher, a change that formed the background to Lin’s protest.

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The umpire said yesterday that the rule related to ‘watching the pitcher’ had already been removed. But what I meant was that the batter had not yet taken his position and prepared himself when the pitcher delivered the ball. It appeared to be a quick pitch. The point of the protest was that the batter was not ready.