On the TunneySide of Sports December 9, 2019 #773 Up next…America’s Game
After further review… Major League Baseball, under the leadership of Commissioner Rob Manfred, is investigating whether the Houston Astros for the past three seasons have been cheating by electronically stealing signs. It is reported that some teams may be using Band-Aid-like stickers on their wrists where batters would receive one-buzz for a fastball or other signals for an off-speed pitch that bench managers picked-up from the opposition. We certainly have entered the 21st century electronic age.
Having played baseball from my youth through college, I can certainly attest that teams have persistently attempted to steal signs from the opponents for types of pitches, base stealing and the like. I mean, it’s part of our national game, isn’t it? We have all watched the bench coaches touch their nose, followed by touching their cap, ear, chest, rubbing their arms, etc., etc., etc., thereby relaying signals to their players of what to expect. Those gyrations are also used to inform players what actions to take, e.g., when to bunt, steal a base, etc.
Further, on-base players try to steal catcher’s signals about what pitch he wants, e.g., fastball, curveball, slider, etc. An opposing player standing on second base attempts to “steal” that sign and relay it to his batter at the plate as a heads-up. Is that illegal? Many will say that’s just part of baseball. Manfred accepts the stealing of signs by those on the field, but not those using electronic devices.
However, we now are deep-seated into electronics, and baseball is changing as we move forward. As a simple example, it used to be when a pitcher wanted to walk-the-batter, he had to throw four pitches outside, where the plate umpire would normally call a ball, the umpire then would signal the batter to “take your base.” In today’s game, the manager or designated bench coach can just signal the umpire to grant that walk without those pitches.
With electronics now in vogue should we allow their use even further? As an example, why not allow the catcher to simply electronically signal his pitcher through a buzzer what pitch he wants? The pitcher can electronically respond with his approval or disapproval. In college and in the NFL on-field officials use an O2O (official to official) voice system to the others in the crew what type of foul was called. It’s meant to speed up the foul-calling procedures.
Should stealing signs in baseball be allowed and if so, what restrictions should be enforced?
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