I believe this is actually against the rules in Little League, so don't do it there. Someone correct me on that if I'm wrong.
Everywhere else? Fine. This isn't the Astros with a high-tech (and low-tech, come to think of it) system. This is one player figuring out, on the field, what the other team is going to do, and trying to relay the information.
For those who think it's bush league, is it bush league if the other team's coach yells out the same number combination for a bunt every time, I learn it, and then I tell my players to listen for it and adjust their defense accordingly? Is it bush league if I figure out that a pitcher always throw her change-up on an 0-2 count and to let my hitters know to sit on it?
I look at it like this: If a team can reasonably do something to prevent you from "stealing" their information (set up later, change your signs, don't be predictable), it's fair game. If you're using a center field camera to record signals and then you use that to decipher what they mean and then bang on a trash can to alert your hitter? How is a team supposed to defend against that? If I figured out that "1-2-1" is their steal signal, I can use that. If I swipe a team's extra wristband before the game so I have all their signals, that's cheating.
Everywhere else? Fine. This isn't the Astros with a high-tech (and low-tech, come to think of it) system. This is one player figuring out, on the field, what the other team is going to do, and trying to relay the information.
For those who think it's bush league, is it bush league if the other team's coach yells out the same number combination for a bunt every time, I learn it, and then I tell my players to listen for it and adjust their defense accordingly? Is it bush league if I figure out that a pitcher always throw her change-up on an 0-2 count and to let my hitters know to sit on it?
I look at it like this: If a team can reasonably do something to prevent you from "stealing" their information (set up later, change your signs, don't be predictable), it's fair game. If you're using a center field camera to record signals and then you use that to decipher what they mean and then bang on a trash can to alert your hitter? How is a team supposed to defend against that? If I figured out that "1-2-1" is their steal signal, I can use that. If I swipe a team's extra wristband before the game so I have all their signals, that's cheating.