Who knows the call signs between pitcher and catcher

[ThomasLock]

Here's an example of what's on a wrist band. If coach calls 5-1-2 that means fastball inside

View attachment 25424

This is wonderful! Thank you so much! Looks so complex! Thank you.

 

[ThomasLock]

Is there a penalty for stealing signs? Nothing in the rule books for doing at the field level. In MLB, several teams had used electronic devices to steal signs as far back as the "Shot Heard Round The World" when Bobby Thompson knew what pitch Ralph Branca was about to throw. The Houston Astros recently stole the WS in 2017 by using a technician to steal the pitch signs and relay them to the dugout via banging on a garbage can.

In the old days of baseball, getting caught stealing signs resulted in a batter on your team getting drilled by a pitch. That tended to put a stop to that practice real fast.

Thank you so much. I was interested, not so much at the field level, but someone intentionally stealing (all) of the signs and then passing them off to another team. Similar to stealing a playbook and handing it over to the competition, right before an important game. Banging on a garbage can is classic Pretty subtle

 

[ThomasLock]

Simply there is no standard that everybody follows.
Some teams will have say three different cards of number sequences for pitch calling and they may Shuffle those three cards from game to game or they may not.

Good Examples have been offered.

Thank you so much! Yes, I've got great examples now, and everyone has been incredibly helpful. Thank you!

 

[uncdrew]

This is wonderful! Thank you so much! Looks so complex! Thank you.

In related news, I've found one of these cards in a dugout after a game. That might be more common than one would think. Sometimes the team name or coach name or kid name is on it. Knowing any of that can easily lead to having another team's signs.

And many teams don't really change out the cards very often.


And if you have the card, after 3-4 pitches you will know if you have the same card the opposing team is using. And then you can use it the rest of the game. I was once on a 12U baseball team where our coach knew the signs of the other team. If he said your first name, it was a fastball. If he said your last name, it was a curveball.

So we'd be at bat and if he said "Here we go, Bob, hit it hard" you prepared for a fast ball. It was effective.

 

[CoachJD]

Thank you so much. I was interested, not so much at the field level, but someone intentionally stealing (all) of the signs and then passing them off to another team. Similar to stealing a playbook and handing it over to the competition, right before an important game. Banging on a garbage can is classic Pretty subtle

I'm not sure anything like this is specifically covered in the rules, but you actually said what I was going to suggest: Have an opposing team steal the cards with the pitch calls on them. If they have the card, they know all the calls.

If your story requires the disqualification, you'd probably have to come up with something more elaborate, probably using technology.

And don't be afraid to use some creative license with the DQ. If you're creating a unique situation, the result won't be unrealistic. It sounds like you're aiming for some kind of scandalous event, and not just a case of the runner on second picking the catcher's signs. May as well go big. I wouldn't put it past some travel ball coaches (and parents!) to devise some convoluted scheme to try to win a trophy.

 

[ThomasLock]

In related news, I've found one of these cards in a dugout after a game. That might be more common than one would think. Sometimes the team name or coach name or kid name is on it. Knowing any of that can easily lead to having another team's signs.

And many teams don't really change out the cards very often.


And if you have the card, after 3-4 pitches you will know if you have the same card the opposing team is using. And then you can use it the rest of the game. I was once on a 12U baseball team where our coach knew the signs of the other team. If he said your first name, it was a fastball. If he said your last name, it was a curveball.

So we'd be at bat and if he said "Here we go, Bob, hit it hard" you prepared for a fast ball. It was effective.

That's good to know, especially having the kids name on the card or the team's name. Pretty sneaky, I appreciate the info!!!! Thanks again, very helpful.

 

[ThomasLock]

I'm not sure anything like this is specifically covered in the rules, but you actually said what I was going to suggest: Have an opposing team steal the cards with the pitch calls on them. If they have the card, they know all the calls.

If your story requires the disqualification, you'd probably have to come up with something more elaborate, probably using technology.

And don't be afraid to use some creative license with the DQ. If you're creating a unique situation, the result won't be unrealistic. It sounds like you're aiming for some kind of scandalous event, and not just a case of the runner on second picking the catcher's signs. May as well go big. I wouldn't put it past some travel ball coaches (and parents!) to devise some convoluted scheme to try to win a trophy.

Thank you so much for your suggestions. The key elements will be.

* Very important high-stakes game.
* One of the girls on the team is caught stealing and a girl on the other team finds out. The girl that was caught stealing will be kicked off her team if the coach finds out, so she agrees to steal the signs for the other team. This is the game to decide who goes to the Fast Pitch World Series.
* The coach doesn't know if their signs have been stolen, but she suspects that they have. She brings in a teen detective to find out if they have been stolen, and by who. The ticking time bomb of course is, will the detective figure things out before the game ends.
* I'll either use stolen technology or simply that the other team got ahold of their cards - the other team doesn't get disqualified, but in the end, gets beaten because the other team pulls together and beats them by pure skill


It's what I'm working with so far! Learning a lot, thanks to this forums kindness

Thanks,
Thomas

 

[uncdrew]

Sounds great. I'd love to read it when you're done. My daughter's team might too (depending on reading level and such).

 

[Vertigo]

The problem with that is that if you are scouted this will tip off pitches to the other teams. In most TB you wouldn't catch it, but if you did this in a good college they would pick it up.

Who are they tipping pitches off to? The batter isn’t going to see them give behind the back signs.

 

[canyonjoe]

Who are they tipping pitches off to? The batter isn’t going to see them give behind the back signs.

If you left fielder moves over every time you are going to throw a changeup the good teams will take notice.