I didn't think I would see it in HS.....

[KCPRK]

See it at 10C.....and rec

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Happens all the time around here, stealing signals is part of the game. In TB my fellow coaches always had a side bet ( bottle of water, hotdog ) who could steal the signs first.

DD's HS coach used the old "indicator" system, after DD's pre-freshman summer tryouts I approached him about adding "points" to his system. ( it was a mathematical system we used in college ) Its about as close to impossible to steal as you can get, because you can use so many different signals to call the same play/pitch/bat.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Oh , I have seen plenty of catchers give signs where everybody could see.

Problem solved with 3 minutes of catcher training in proper sign-giving stance.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

The men's baseball league around here have gone to the wristband grid calls, that thing is a work of art and genius.

 

[wichita]

If your giving pitch and location just switch them up every other inning, or do one one way and 2 the other, mix it up that's the way I did it and never had a problem

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Well as soon as DD started pitching it was apparent that 3rd base HC was reading all the pitch calls coming in from our bench. I guess that was the only way she thought her team would have a chance to lay off DD's rise.

How was she communicating it to the batters?

The first rule of code-breaking is to not let the other side know you've done it...

 

[RubberBiscuit]

How was she communicating it to the batters?

The first rule of code-breaking is to not let the other side know you've done it...

Oh she was just "in your face" about it. Every time the rise was there she would YELL the batters name right as DD started her windup

 

[Greenmonsters]

Oh she was just "in your face" about it. Every time the rise was there she would YELL the batters name right as DD started her windup

What an incredibly sophisticated system. In an otherwise uneventful game I'd let the pitcher know that I was going to try to bait the third base coach and let the signs get stolen just so we could mess with them once they started trying to relay them to the hitters. A hitter with doubts in their head caused by misinformation provided by their coach is not a good hitter and becomes angry with their coach. Its an amusing game.

 

[coach james]

I think its classless.

 

[YOCOACH]

I think its classless.

I agree about the ice comment. However, stealing signs is still part of the game. My only question is, why does this surprise you? As others have stated, stealing signs happens at all levels. Just because the other coach was an rear about it doesn't change the fact that the Head Coach shouldn't have expected it and had a system in place to combat it let alone pick up the fact that they were stolen in the first place. There are too many options to make this work against them. For example, when baserunners start telling the batters whether the pitch will be inside or outside due to the catcher setting up early, I have a signal that tells the catcher to do the opposite but only for that pitch. i.e. The pitch is inside but I will tell my catcher to set up outside until the Pitcher reaches the 12 O'clock position. then move to receive it. I do this intermittently and then they usually quit trying to relay when they screw up and the batter strikes out or hits a weak grounder for the out. It's just too easy to mess with them.