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Bang that garbage can slowly... the Astro organization is in some serious trouble

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Scout, Nov 16, 2019.

  1. Scout

    Scout Well-Known Member

    I think taking it off the field is the big change.
     
  2. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    Point taken.
     
  3. Bud_Bundy

    Bud_Bundy Well-Known Member

    Or to take a lead at second base, walk straight off for a fastball or back off the base for a curve.

    The best sign stealing I ever did (not that I would ever be a whiz at it) was copying the other team's lineups from the scorebook and seeing the signs written on the page ... hand to the face for steal, or something like that.
     
  4. Scout

    Scout Well-Known Member

    This YouTuber is one of my favorites and this video should, well, complicate things...

     
  5. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Maybe the catcher can walk out to the mound and they can discuss the call between every pitch.

    Five-hour nine-inning game? Yay.
     
  6. Spartan Squad

    Spartan Squad Well-Known Member

    Stealing signs is a part of baseball. If you can't hide them, TS. I saw softball players not even hide they stole signs. Catcher throw down numbers; girl on second waived her hands to tell the batter. But steal the signs fairly. Don't use cameras, telescopes or whatever else that isn't your eyes. Or if you do, don't be a dumbass and kick trash cans.
     
  7. ChrisLong

    ChrisLong Well-Known Member

    When I was in high school -- 50 years ago -- if the coach knew a curveball was coming, he would shout to the batter, "Make it be in there." Our signs were pretty damn simple. He would grab his belt -- belt, b, bunt. He would reach for the chain-link fence, which was made of .... -- steel, S, steal.
     
  8. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    That's the art of sign stealing. Just don't use methods outside the game to steal the signs and it's OK.
     
    lakefront and ChrisLong like this.
  9. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    I'm all for stealing signs if it's done, for example, by a runner on second who picks up on the signs and somehow signals the batter. Or if the bench figures out the signs from the third-base coach and acts accordingly. It's on the catcher/base coach/manager to figure out signs the other team can't decipher. And if a pitcher thinks the runner is relaying the signs and decides to brush back the batter (Clemens did that all the time), fine. That comes under the category of players policing themselves.
    But by technological means ... no way. The Astros should get what the league did to the Cardinals for the hacking,
     
  10. Human_Paraquat

    Human_Paraquat Well-Known Member

    We had a couple of methods on my high school team. The runner taking a lead would hold one arm down between his legs for a fastball, two for a curve. Or, the coach would make it verbal, saying, "Rip it" or something similar if it was a fastball and "OK No. 13" or whatever your number was when it was a curve. (This was more common when we could steal them from the on-deck circle because the catcher did not use his mitt to block the side view.)

    I was also on a summer league team that had no such covert system. So when a guy at second base started stealing signs, he just held up one finger or two high above his head. After a few pitches the catcher stood up, walked in front of home plate, took off his mask, pointed at the runner and said, "Hey, stop stealing signs!"

    Our runner obviously just laughed his ass off and kept holding up the numbers.
     
  11. Twirling Time

    Twirling Time Well-Known Member

    I bet that dude got some chin music the next time he batted.
     
  12. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    This is what I was wondering about ... what separated this incident from conventional sign stealing.
     
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