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Stealing Signs

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by Hacker » Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:55 am

High School coach tells his team that if an opposing base runner steals a pitch location and relays it to the batter, he's going to have his pitcher, when the ball is thrown back to her, turn and fire the ball at that base runner, hopefully pegging her for her indiscretion.
Is stealing pitches/locations considered just part of the game? Is the reaction of throwing the ball at the pitch stealer just part of the game? Or is it bush league/poor sportsmanship? And, if they're stealing your signs/locations, isn't this an indication that your signs stink and need to be improved?
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by Mark H » Fri Feb 27, 2015 9:30 am

And then the ball glances off the runner into center right and the runner goes to third.

If the hitter wants the info and the runner can't relay it without being caught, shame on her. If she does make it obvious, take advantage of it to misdirect the hitter. Show outside, let the signal be relayed and then slide back inside to receive an up and in strike at the last second. So much fun.
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by B34R DOWN » Fri Feb 27, 2015 10:08 am

Agree with Mark... Use it to your advantage... make the the signs opposite and then flip it back the next inning if they figure it out...
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by Pale Rider » Fri Feb 27, 2015 3:51 pm

Pegging a runner on purpose is low class in itself...IMHO thats BAD coaching.
Cause an injury doing that, be prepared to face consequences...
work around runners showing signs...
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by Safebyahare » Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:23 am

What would your HS coach do if he was playing against coach Candrea??
Isn't he the third base base coach for Arizona that yells pitch location to his batters while pitcher is in motion.
Or is that another college coach.
I once thought that this helped the batter,,,,not so much any more. They are focused at the task at hand.
I would even go further to say, The batter gets their orders out of the box. Once in the box they become deaf with selecrive hearing. Meaning they blank out all noise, cheering, yelling ect. except if her dad whispers something,,she will hear that.
As far as seeing a hand sign from a runner,,eyes are focused on pitcher.
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by Mark H » Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:25 am

Yeah I've long thought the only sign picking of pitches that does much good is picking the change.
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by Safebyahare » Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:26 am

I think I need to correct something.
Coach Caldrean did not just pick off signs. He new pitching, and would call out pitches based on the pitchers grip. This really screwed with the pitchers head more assisting his batters.
He and the team did make it to the WCWS, but did not win.
Now if you hear the coach through the crowd and cheering, you still have to filter, process what he said and adjust while trying to relax and focus at the task. Less then 2 seconds multitasking in the box.
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by Dugout Dad » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:12 pm

This sounds like the Dodgers and Kershaw whining about St. Louis picking off their signs at playoff time.

I see college kids waving their right or left hand while on second base tipping pitch locations and it reminds me of rec ball. Why would a player let a catcher know that she is stealing signs? A good catcher will change signs and set-up later. We taught subtle signs that only the batter would notice.
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by Sam » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:39 pm

Players doing it is fine. Coaches, like Candrea, doing it is chicken $hit and bush league. The guys that do it HAVE to do it because they don't coach well enough for their players to succeed on their own.
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by PDad » Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:47 pm

Safebyahare wrote:I think I need to correct something.
Coach Caldrean did not just pick off signs. He new pitching, and would call out pitches based on the pitchers grip. This really screwed with the pitchers head more assisting his batters.
He and the team did make it to the WCWS, but did not win.

Sounds like last year with Duck U's HC, Mike White...
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