Rule may thwart sign-stealing

Pitcher can have signal card on wristband; change was intended to speed up pace of game

A new rule intended to help speed up the game also could thwart attempts to steal signs in college baseball.

The NCAA will allow a pitcher to wear a wristband with a signal card, allowing him and the catcher to look into the dugout to get pitch calls and eliminating the need for the catcher to relay the call with hand signs.

Sign-stealing has come to the fore since the Houston Astros were found to have used electronics to steal signs during their run to the 2017 World Series championship and in the 2018 season.

The wristband rule in college baseball was put in to expedite the process of coaches calling pitches from the dugout with the implementation of the 20-second limit between pitches.

“The wristbands with the card that you can change every inning makes it harder for people to steal signs,” Minnesota coach John Anderson said. “We’re in a similar space as professional baseball with all the video systems and cameras and more television broadcasts today.”

Attempts to steal signs has always been accepted in baseball, with coaches and players keeping an eye on the opponent’s on-field mannerisms, how the catcher sets up or how fielders move, not to mention trying to figure out hand signs.

“There’s a way to pick pitches and a way not to pick pitches,” UCLA coach John Savage said. “If you get an unfair advantage from the in-game [TV] monitor or center field camera and relay pitches right away, I just think it’s very unethical.

“The message has been sent. Everybody’s been talking about it literally every day since that [Astros] thing came out and they’re still talking about it, and it’s not going away. Your job as a staff is to make sure that you fix anything you’re doing in terms of giving away pitches. That’s always been on the plate. But this other way of doing it is clearly crossing the line.”

An investigation found that the Astros used the video feed from a center field camera to view and decode opposing catcher’s signs. Players banged on a trash can to signal to batters what was coming, believing it would improve chances of getting a hit.

Illegal sign-stealing hasn’t been a big issue in college baseball except for one notable exception. In 2004, Florida State coach Mike Martin accused Miami of stealing his catcher’s signs using a clubhouse television and walkie-talkies.

According to news accounts, Martin said Miami’s walkie-talkies were on the same frequency as the ones the Seminoles used to communicate with their bullpen. Martin heard a Miami player correctly predict pitches to a person who apparently was in the dugout or stands, and that person somehow tipped off the batter. The Atlantic Coast Conference investigated but no action was taken.

Wristbands have long been used for play-calling in football, with the quarterback getting a signal from the sideline and then looking at his wristband to match the signal with the play. Similarly, the pitcher’s wristband might display numerical combinations for specific pitches, such as 1-3-1 for a fastball and 5-4-1 for a curveball.

The numbers could change throughout the game or even during an at-bat to minimize the chance of sign stealing from the opposite dugout, by a runner on second base or, worst case, by someone monitoring the TV broadcast in the clubhouse.

Not all teams are on board with pitchers wearing wristbands.

“I think it gives them too much on their plate,” Savage said. “It’s tough enough to execute a pitch, pitch out of problems, navigate through a game.”