I'm a huge baseball and I'm a little embarrassed by the fact that I don't know this, but just how much can a guy get away with on the mound? The reason I ask is because I was thinking about all the things a pitcher does to make the batter think he's crazy. I've heard stories about countless pitchers who would squint real hard while staring in for the signs so the batter would think he's half blind. Then there's the warm up pitch that sails to the backstop. All of this is just to get in the batter's head.
So I wonder if it's against the rules for a pitcher to let out a big war cry just before his wind up? I could see Brian Wilson doing something like this. It would be funny as shit and would probably throw the batter off if it was used just every once in a while. Would that be against any of the rules? Do you think it would be effective? In the NL it might get the pitcher hit by a pitch when he comes up to bat.
Does anybody know of any specific rules about a pitcher's behavior on the mound, other balks and that sort of thing? I like to think I know the rulebook pretty well but I couldn't come up with anything pertaining to this.
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I can see how it might mess up the pitcher too. Since breathing is a part of proper mechanics, it might mess up his rhythm by the time he gets his breathing back in sync with everything else.
But still, it would be funny as shit if a guy made a big pterodactyl screech just before letting loose a 95 mph fastball.