Player ejected-Little League

[The Man In Blue]

Stealing and relaying of signs is considered unsportsmanlike behavior and cause for ejection...its in the rule book

Citation?

Slap Bunt
Slide Rule
—> Stealing Signs

 

[4KidsDad]

Tournament Playing Rules 3.f. pg. 128

 

[The Man In Blue]

Tournament Playing Rules 3.f. pg. 128

Thank you. I do not have access to a LL rule book and I do not call LL (nor do we have it around here). However, I did a Google search for that citation, and I humbly recant my previous snark.

Ah yes, the long-debated “unwritten rules” of the game.

Disclaimer: We don’t have LL around here and I have no experience with LL.

That said, in every sanction that I work, there is no rule against stealing signs. In every sanction that I played it would probably earn somebody a free trip to first base with a bruise though. Not nice, I know.

Could you extrapolate that to unsporting conduct? Eh. Perhaps LL does since part of their identity is upholding fair play?

It is indeed a Little League rule. Not anywhere else that I am familiar with, but it is there.

 

[CHSUmp97]

Problem is, that player was not stealing signs. She was simply relaying to the batter how the catcher was setting up. Telling a teammate where an opponent sets up doesn't equate to sign-stealing, in my opinion. I see runners on second base do that quite often in softball. I've never seen any form of retaliation for it.

I've been told that LL decided to make this a mandatory rule during tournament play because an ESPN broadcaster during a game mentioned that sign-stealing was cheating, and that the players were wearing the "I Won't Cheat" patches on their jerseys at the time. So LL came up with the tournament rule that when a player is caught stealing signs, that player and his/her head coach are ejected from the game and must serve at least a one-game suspension.

The hypocrisy of the policy is that LL doesn't make this a mandatory rule for regular season play. If they really felt that strongly about the issue, it should be mandatory for all LL games. But it seems they're more concerned with their image on TV.

 

[The Man In Blue]

I suppose that is a rub in this situation or a glitch with that rule ... while not a technical violation, I would say it still violates the spirit of the rule. Again, I do not call LL and have no dog in the fight.

Perhaps the rule should forbid communications during play (or a live ball) from base runners/coaches that provide the batter with “intel” on the pitcher/catcher actions. I’m not a fan of the idea, but just trying figure out how you avoid forcing the umpire to make a judgment call. If pitch location is a part of their signs, then that runner was stealing signs. How does the umpire know?

I got a kick out of how this pitcher handled the situation earlier this year in MLB:

 

[CHSUmp97]

If pitch location is a part of their signs, then that runner was stealing signs. How does the umpire know?

In my experience working behind the plate, the runner at second base typically signals the moment she sees the catcher position herself on the inside or outside parts of the plate. So the runner really isn't stealing signs; rather, she's just informing the batter which way the catcher moved. Now, if the runner is signalling while the catcher is still directly behind the plate flashing signs, that's indicative of sign-stealing.

Again, I feel this is a knee-jerk reaction of an organization that wants to save face in televised games. How far should it go? Should LL ban the act of showing bunt and then hitting away? Isn't that deceiving, which is a form of lying and, therefore, cheating? What about the old Miami play where the defense fools a runner into leaving a base when they act as if a ball was thrown into the outfield? Why not just let the kids play?

 

[testandor]

The hypocrisy of the policy is that LL doesn't make this a mandatory rule for regular season play. If they really felt that strongly about the issue, it should be mandatory for all LL games.

Exactly right.

 

[The Man In Blue]

I’m completely with you CHSUmp ... it is obviously a knee jerk reaction that was not thought out (the point I was trying to make with my “additional proposals”).

Where do you draw that line? What is the difference between relaying an observation on the catcher’s position and actually decoding and relaying signs? Are they putting that on the umpire to decide? If you are trying to eliminate the notion that it is cheating, then you need to ban all communication to the batter.

Totally agree on the regular season vs. post season. I have never understood using two different rule sets for the same game depending on when it is played. I don’t even like pool play vs. bracket play rules.

 

[3afan]

Stealing and relaying of signs is considered unsportsmanlike behavior and cause for ejection...its in the rule book

Which rulebook? LL?

 

[4KidsDad]

Which rulebook? LL?

Yes. Exact citation given already in previous post.