New Practice~~~ Stealing Pitching signs~~~

[dgorsuch]

Stealing signs and being able to actually use the information is two very different things. The defense still has to stop the offense and vice versa.
The behavior that I find offensive is the parent or daddy coach calling out glove locations or pitches. Turn on that inside pitch!!!! Here comes the change!!!! Of course this is all done before the pitch is delivered. Usually called by the parent or coach of the kid at bat who usually could not hit a ball if it was placed on a tee? VERY BUSH!!! Just change the signs or give a neutral or false glove location. That will send their very limited head/brain spinning.

[Realist]

This has all been part of the game since there was a game. That is why coaches give the pitching signs beween the legs in the first place, to make it harder to see. If they are stealing signs, change them up. Give multiple signs and have different indicators etc. As far as inside and outside pitches, teams steal those all of the time. If a runner gets on second base many, many teams have the runner hold up the arm to indicate inside and outside. Teach the pitcher to throw to the knee pad, set up the other way and watch the batter look like a fool. That will stop all of that.

[THE MAD-DOG99]

Doesn't matter with good pitching and receiving.
Had a team last year where the 1st base coach would say " line drive 1 " , which was signal for drop ball and " hit it hard" for the rise.
We knew all year and this guy thought he was a braniac.
Didn't beat us in 10 tries.
Think it just had his girls even less focused, listening to his nonsense at 1st..

[BigBalls]

Can't believe this post.... maybe no one was stealing signals! Sometimes its very easy to know what pitch is being thrown when the pitcher is looking at the ball to re-grip!!!! Coach - teach her to re-grip in her glove!

[Ifubuildit]

Big,

That is a very valid point. In the mens game there are guys who can pick a pitch just by watching the forearm of the pitchers mucles move. That is why you will see them wearing long sleave shirts in 90 degree weather.

Too many young pitchers give away their grip long before they put the ball in the glove.

As for stealing signs that has been going on for many generations. Not anything new there.

[DonnieS]

What is the deal? Teams are now stealing pitching signs. I heard of two different teams that were utilizing this practice this past weekend. Why cheat?

MH, thats very common, not a big deal at all. What is stupid is them letting you know that they have your signals. Have fun with this - have a signal, the pros if I understand what they are doing, the catcher slaps his knee, which means, go to an alternate set of signals. We just yell out " increment + 2 " or some number and then each signal just goes up 2, I am not explaining it very well but if normal is
1=changeup
2=screw
3=curve
4=drop
5=rise
or whatever, then + 2 means that
1=drop
2=rise
3=changeup
4=screw
5=curve

Its fun seeing a batter expecting a changeup - and have a smoker come by.

Our old standard from when the kids were younger and we had less pitches and the other teams coach/parent or whatever would call out 'Changeup' which was the pitch they tried to figure out the most - would switch to fastball high/inside. The catcher and pitcher had to be in sync with each other - i know from being a bucket dad, that the biggest fear I had is call a changeup and have a fastball come.

[nsidethelines]

To answer your question, no it is not cheating. Don't be pissed because you're unprepared. If you can figure out a coach's signs on third base, would you not let your corners know when to expect a bunt? Of course you would, and if you wouldn't that is your problem. Your incident should make you a better coach and I bet you're prepared for it next time. By the way, this is not a new practice. Good luck.

[pickone]

Big,

That is a very valid point. In the mens game there are guys who can pick a pitch just by watching the forearm of the pitchers mucles move. That is why you will see them wearing long sleave shirts in 90 degree weather.

Are you talking about men's baseball pitchers? I've never heard that before. I thought sleaves were worn to keep your arm from getting cold. It helps you stay loose. In baseball you watch the seems on the ball to see what pitch is coming.

[pickone]

Stealing signs is apart of the game but you just don't see teams relaying them in such an obvious manner. I saw a game where the runner on second was waving her hands around giving the location. That's just dumb! You would think if you were going to steal signs to get an advantage then you would do it in a manner where the other team would not know you were stealing them. Looks like some teams need to get better coaching or at least smarter ones. If they were doing it correctly this would not even be a post.

[GIMNEPIWO]

What is the deal? Teams are now stealing pitching signs. I heard of two different teams that were utilizing this practice this past weekend. Why cheat?

MH, thats very common, not a big deal at all. What is stupid is them letting you know that they have your signals. Have fun with this -
Its fun seeing a batter expecting a changeup - and have a smoker come by.

All part of the game ... Just like stealing Coaches signals to a batter ... several years ago in the States I had a Coach steal my signs the night before we played them ... I saw him doing it ... the next day I had a photo copied sheet for all the players to study before the game with the new signs on them ... I would give the old sign and would follow it up with the new sign ... scratching my head, scratching my arm, scratching my leg, scratching my butt ... so I would give the old bunt sign and then follow it up with swing away ... we had fun