Directed pitch

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In baseball, a directed pitch was a punishment ordered by the umpire and given by the pitcher to penalize the batter. Beginning in 2006, the little-used directed pitch was replaced in the rules by the penalty strike: under OBR 6.02(c), if a batter refuses or delays entry into the batter's box after being told to do so by the umpire, the umpire shall call the ball dead and add a strike to the count.

Under the former rule, if a batter refused or delayed entry into the batter's box after being told to do so by the umpire, the umpire was to direct the pitcher to pitch the ball even without a ready batter, and such a pitch would be called a strike regardless of its location. Major League interpretation by Jim Evans and others was that a batter was allowed to enter the batter's box at any time and then attempt to hit such a pitch. Some amateur leagues or minor league rule authorities had expressed an opposite interpretation: that a umpire should have kept the batter out of the box until the directed pitch was complete and a strike was assessed. This uncertainty became moot under the new rule.