Is Stealing Signals OK?
Image by so.salem via Flickr
The Unwritten Rules of Baseball
Most people have heard of the basic "unwritten rules of baseball ".
- You don’t walk when you hit a home run
- You don’t steal when you are crushing your opponent
- You don’t peak at the catchers signs
- You don’t blatantly steal the other teams signals
Didn’t Belichick Teach Us Anything?
Didn’t Bill Belichick teach us anything this year? The problem w/ Little League is that quite a few people are volunteers that really don’t know these rules. The problem w/ this is, as the kids get older, if they don’t learn these basic rules early, they are going to get hurt!
Is it OK?
Is it OK to steal the 3rd base coaches signals in Little League? Of course it is! But you have to do it so that the other coach does not know that you are doing it! Or at least the entire stadium doesn’t know!
When the entire team looks at the third base coach , the entire bench, and the entire coaching staff. Then when you are done giving the signals everyone yells "bunt", that is pretty much a dead giveaway! You are blatantly stealing signals at that point!
The Risk
If you do this in the older age brackets, someone is going headhunting. This is not right, but it is reality. The savvy player will take his beaning and march to first base, knowing he has been busted. The novice is likely to get upset and cause a scene.
That’s the problem with the younger brackets. Unscrupulous coaches can get away with stealing signals because their is no recourse for doing it. Likewise, the signals are simpler and therefore much easier to steal!
The Remedy
What’s a better way to do this? How about not using the information except in key situations or not at all. The fact is, if you steal my signals, I will begin a complicated signal rotation that is simple for the kids to understand, but impossible for you to steal. You are done at that point, advantage me, you have "showed your hand" and lost the war for the sake of winning one little battle.
What is the best way to accomplish this? First you should simply change the indicator. You are using an indicator right? What is an indicator? It is an "on" switch given just prior to the actual signal. Let’s say that the brim of the cap is the bunt sign, it means nothing unless you tap the indicator first and turn it on. Say the indicator is the thigh. Then, thigh-cap would mean bunt, cap alone, would mean nothing.
Now let’s say I know the other team has picked up my signals. All I have to do is change the indicator and they no longer know them. If they pick this up, and there is a chance they will, I can change the indicator every inning, or each batter can have their own indicators. The signal giver always holds the upper hand, not the signal stealer.
Play the Stupid Game
So why are you stealing signs? Just play the stupid game! IF you are a savvy manager , you will know what the other manager is doing before he does it anyway! Knowing what he is going to do takes the fun out of it! Most of the fun of managing is the chess match that occurs between the managers, how fun would chess be if you knew what you opponents next move would be?
Do you steal signals? What is your opinion on this?
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I like your analogy to a chess match. As a coach, I believe one of our most important duties is to give our kids the best chance possible to be successful. If a pitcher throws a change-up on every 0-2 count, coaches inform their team. How is “stealing” signals different? Besides, there is always the embarassment of screaming BUNT and then being wrong.
Here’s another one to consider. As a first base coach, is it OK to call out the offspeed pitch when you see the pitcher “loading it up” in his glove?
“If a pitcher throws a change-up on every 0-2 count, coaches inform their team. How is “stealing” signals different?”
I think it is different because if you inform your team the change-up is coming on 0-2 because that is what has happened in the past, you may very well be walking right into the pitcher’s trap. If I can get you thinking change-up, and I throw a fast ball, you have no shot at hitting it. If you are thinking fastball and adjusting changeup at least you can foul it off or make a productive out.
That is strategy, not theft.
I do like the embarrasment thing. We started off one game w/ a fake bunt and every time the team screamed and crashed the plate. It was funny. We kept doing it to wear them out and the coach told them “they aren’t bunting”. Everyone knows what happened next right? We bunted of course!…lol. I love this stuff!
I don’t think the 1st base coach should “call out” the off speed pitch when he sees him loading. This can get someone hurt as well. Also, if you do it, you may be falling into that same trap. If I think you are stealing this. I will walk you right into a key situation, dig into my glove, and proceed to blow a fastball by you! Again, as the signal caller, I ALWAYS have the upper hand.
I tell my kids to always control their situation. If they do that, they hold the upper hand. This allows them the best opportunity at success. Not stealing signs or digs. Now if the coach points this out to his players subtly and never tips that they have picked this up then he retains the upper hand!
Isn’t that a better solution? Isn’t that what we want? The upper hand?