Stealing signs

[mike_dyer]

Just let the kids play the game on the field just my opinion.

Then why are there coaches at all?

 

[Westler33]

They are there to teach the kids how to play the game the right way with respect for the other team and the game.

 

[wow]

Yep agree with that. If the other team picks up on the signs get better signals! its the nature of the beast. Now if parents are doing it, thats just clownish! i mean what is that proving?

The wrist systems have me perplexed> on one hand everyone looks really cool like Tom Brady running offense. They are easy to change numbers and offer infinite combinations for offense and defense. On the other hand it slows the game way down. Everyone is yelling out a local zip codes and then the kid looks down to find out what the Annie Oakley decoder ring says. I see it both ways.. We had a coach who would read out a phone number to every batter, every pitch, and it slowed the game down dramatically. Signs are just so much faster. Plus they are more fun.. IMO...

 

[Westler33]

Make sure you drink your Ovaltine lol.

 

[coachjwb]

Wow ... if a system is slowing down the game even one iota, it's a bad system. Mine and some others I have seen are a 3 digit number that takes no more than 2 seconds to give, and the cards are set up so they're easy for the players to find. I have seen some teams give them every single pitch too but there's just no reason to do that in my mind. I do use decoy signs when a sign might be on, but there are many times when no sign should be on. I always told my players that if I just clapped and didn't give a sign, nothing was on, they were on their own, and that was probably 1/2 the pitches.

 

[Westler33]

If you look cool like Tom Brady you have to be good right? lol

 

[Hilliarddad3]

Mine would stare right at 3b coach even when she occasionally played third, or when she caught would change her pitch choice based on what she figured out the coach would be calling. When she batted she'd stare right at the coach on the bucket and the same coach didn't change her signs the entire high school career of playing that team...on the field it's part of the game, parents no not a good thing.... Especially the ones behind home plate calling out where they are setting up with the glove.... Go ahead and yell it out, the glove can be moved at release....

 

[Westler33]

That may be at the older ages but with the little ones location is hard enough let alone if you have the catcher moving her glove and body one way and the pitch is thrown the other way at release it's hard for the young ones to get back over to the other side to stop a ball in the dirt.

 

[fpitchdad]

DD would usually just throw a nice hard fastball into the opposing teams dugout, that usually took care of any sign stealing.....

 

[Westler33]

Thee old sweet chin music.

 

[Heat#12]

When it happened to us, my DD would just change her pitch in mid throw. Do that once or twice and I assure all the stealing will stop.

That is how my DD has handled that situation as well.

 

[initfor51]

I have no problem with the girls looking to steal signs as long as it doesn't absorb them. Last year at 18U, my 3rd baseman was great at learning the batting signs. I would move her up thinking that they were going to bunt and she would shake me off and call out a code to the defense.

I was amazed at her and with all that-she was one of the most softball knowledgable girls on the field. Not just a great player, but had the mentality of knowing what her entire defense should be doing based on what the third base coach called and the pitch selection call.

I am totally fine with the girls picking up (sorry I don't like to use the word stealing when talking about players) signs, but not adults. My DD went through that and she got frusterated at the yelling out a pitch as it would distract her and mostly they were wrong anyways. Typically the parents have no idea and it just upsets the players on both teams and makes the parents look stupid which makes the organization/high school look stupid.

Any batter can look at a pitcher and slightly figure out the pitch location and somewhat of the pitch selection (it coached properly). I teach my girls to focus on the hip, power line, and actual hand on the ball. This helps them to keep their eyes on the ball even more closely to see it coming in. While all pitchers are different, not a lot of them change things up during the second time through the order. In the dug out, my girls are taught to watch the pitch selections, body placement, and hip movements. This makes them more confident while batting. JMHO.

 

[17smom]

We played a team this summer, 14u, and they got a runner on 2nd base. She started leaning off the bad to see where the catcher was setting up and announcing it to the batter. It worked great for 1 pitch, after that the catcher started setting up real early, the girl on 2nd would say "up up up" and the batter would swing high at a drop ball. It was good for 2 or 3 Ks in that inning. The coach at 3rd caught the girl who was on 2nd before she got to the dug out and chewed on her a little bit about it, she told him she was calling out where the catcher was setting up.

I know I'm biased...but that was one of my favorite moments this past summer! Especially the pitch where DD set up right in the middle of the plate and then moved her catcher's glove in a continuous circular motion through all areas of the strike zone and the runner on 2 just threw her hands up in the air! lol

I agree with what most are on here saying...if it's the girls picking up the signs themselves, then I think that's part of the game. Then the team changing signs, having the coach make funny signals, etc to offset it is also part of the game. Doesn't bother me when it's the girls (and even the coaches) doing it. Now, parents/fans sitting behind the backstop and yelling it out...that's a whole different story.

 

[Fairman]

It is very easy to cross up a sign stealer. Use the same set of signs but have them mean the opposite up means down; in means out, FB means change etc.......

Get a couple of strikes on a kid, then flip your signs, fire a fastball when the batter is expecting a change-up. Do this a couple of times and the batter will stop listening to the stealer.

Always looked forward to someone stealing signs, it was good for a at least a couple/three additional strikeouts late in the game.