Sad about baseball this year.

[MongoBoy]

4 hours ago, tntoriole said:

In real games, they could yell out using a foreign language that would change each inning ....

And Hillary can be giving the signs from the coaches.

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

18 hours ago, tntoriole said:

Have any teams thought of maybe using a prudent strategy of changing from their 19th century communication technique of fingers in between thighs and hand signals and....oh I don’t know, maybe using a technology to communicate more securely? 

Having a mic between the pitcher and catcher would just lead to more issues. At the end of the day, teams are just going to have to use more complex signals - and MLB needs to monitor teams' use of technology in the clubhouse.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

Having a mic between the pitcher and catcher would just lead to more issues. At the end of the day, teams are just going to have to use more complex signals - and MLB needs to monitor teams' use of technology in the clubhouse.

Using a mike would be a poor solution.  Put a sensor in the catcher's mitt in which he can transmit a signal to the pitcher.  One pulse fastball, two curve ect.  No reason to have a code more complicated than that and the pitcher doesn't even have to be able to send signals back.

[Frobby]

19 hours ago, tntoriole said:

Have any teams thought of maybe using a prudent strategy of changing from their 19th century communication technique of fingers in between thighs and hand signals and....oh I don’t know, maybe using a technology to communicate more securely? 

How about giving the catcher and pitcher encrypted laptops?    The pitcher can keep his by the rosin bag.     Not sure about the catcher, though.   

[LA2]

5 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

But then the hitters might catch on to defensive positioning that changes according to the pitch and they'd know what's coming so you'd have to make it illegal to look at the fielders from the batter's box.  Perhaps you make batters wear VR goggles that erase the fielders from the hitter's vision.

Edit: that just flipped a switch and I've come up with the new innovation.  When the defense is not in an extreme shift, don't move anyone from standard positioning until the pitcher is in the windup.  As the pitcher starts his motion you have the fielders sprint to the optimal spots, and low-probability fielders (like the 3B for a lefty batter) sprints a random direction.  Just to mess with the hitter, throw him off, get him thinking, mess up his field of vision.

You need a fourth linebacker to pull that off successfully.

[LA2]

2 hours ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

Having a mic between the pitcher and catcher would just lead to more issues. At the end of the day, teams are just going to have to use more complex signals - and MLB needs to monitor teams' use of technology in the clubhouse.

I agree--they should just move to calling audibles. It makes the crowd more of a factor.

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

19 minutes ago, LA2 said:

I agree--they should just move to calling audibles. It makes the crowd more of a factor.

I'd love to see Scherzer screaming 'OMAHA' to change up the call signs.

[Larry18]

semaphore.

[tntoriole]

6 hours ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

Having a mic between the pitcher and catcher would just lead to more issues. At the end of the day, teams are just going to have to use more complex signals - and MLB needs to monitor teams' use of technology in the clubhouse.

Have a bench coach call the pitches....

[DrungoHazewood]

21 hours ago, jtschrei said:

Yup. I have similar feelings. I'll probably get over them. 

I would just like to think that baseball players are admirable people. The cheating scandal makes it painfully obvious that they are not. I don't know how the Astros players can live with themselves. I guess they tell themselves either, "Everyone was doing it"  or "It didn't really help us."  They haven't actually said either. They have said, "Sorry." 

I don't know... sorry isn't really a good enough answer. I think MLB should vacate their World Series. 

They're people.  Some good, a few are truly admirable, some not so good, some downright despicable.  And many or even most will go along with the other guys banging on a trash can because in the moment maybe it doesn't seem so bad, we all try to peek at the signs when we're on second base, right? 

[DrungoHazewood]

19 hours ago, Philip said:

Take a trashcan

The Orioles would probably find this in bad taste and not do it, but someone should totally give out small team logo trashcans to the first 10,000 fans on a day where the Astros are in town.  You know an indy league team would do it.  The Saint Paul Saints are probably already setting up Astros-themed trash can night.

[makoman]

1 minute ago, DrungoHazewood said:

The Orioles would probably find this in bad taste and not do it, but someone should totally give out small team logo trashcans to the first 10,000 fans on a day where the Astros are in town.  You know an indy league team would do it.  The Saint Paul Saints are probably already setting up Astros-themed trash can night.

[DrungoHazewood]

19 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Using a mike would be a poor solution.  Put a sensor in the catcher's mitt in which he can transmit a signal to the pitcher.  One pulse fastball, two curve ect.  No reason to have a code more complicated than that and the pitcher doesn't even have to be able to send signals back.

Just a button with a wireless transmitter.  Pitcher has an ear piece.  One beep fastball, two curve, etc.  Ifyou think it's too easy to see the catcher and count the times he's pushing a buttons, give him two or three buttons and the combinations would cover multiple pitches.  Very simple, easy to implement solution that could even be encrypted without too much fuss.

[DrungoHazewood]

19 hours ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

Having a mic between the pitcher and catcher would just lead to more issues. At the end of the day, teams are just going to have to use more complex signals - and MLB needs to monitor teams' use of technology in the clubhouse.

They could ban the use of electricity in MLB ballparks.  You'd have to make a few minor changes, like no more night games, gaslights in the bathrooms, clubhouses and suites, all hand-operated scoreboards, scores would be relayed off-site by carrier pigeons, and the PA guy would have to yell into a big cone.  But that makes it a lot harder to cheat. Plus, it gets the sport back to its supposedly more innocent, pristine roots.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

They could ban the use of electricity in MLB ballparks.  You'd have to make a few minor changes, like no more night games, gaslights in the bathrooms, clubhouses and suites, all hand-operated scoreboards, scores would be relayed off-site by carrier pigeons, and the PA guy would have to yell into a big cone.  But that makes it a lot harder to cheat. Plus, it gets the sport back to its supposedly more innocent, pristine roots.

Also would mean no commercials which would speed games up.