MLB approves new technology to limit sign stealing

[MurphDogg]

Interesting stuff in the article from the NY Times.

Electronic device on the catcher's wrist and an earpiece in the cap of the pitcher and up to three other players (presumably the shortstop, second baseman and center fielder).

If it gets things moving faster with runners on base then I am all for it. Always have the old-fashioned system as a backup.

[DrungoHazewood]

Good.  I'm sure the hidebound traditionalists are already queuing up their fist-shaking screeds about how this is wrong because it wasn't done this way when they were 12.  But I'm good with it. 

It'll eliminate the nonsense of sign stealing is fine if you just look at the guy from second base, but it's a hanging offense if you use a camera or binoculars or that electric buzzer from the 1890s and beat on a trash can, and it's enforced by throwing at the other guy's head and then we get to have an endless Twitter war about unwritten rules and blah, blah...  Let's just play some baseball. 

[MurphDogg]

Also I love that apparently it is just a bunch of buttons where the catchers have prerecorded messages with "Fastball, low and outside" as an example. Not particularly complex technology.

[Tony-OH]

Ok, let me be that guy.

I think this stinks from the knowledgeable fan stand point. I liked knowing the pitch call and location before the pitch so I can "Yell at the TV" before the pitch is thrown! 

It makes me have "fond" memories or me cursing Wieters as he put down a number one on the first pitch to Raul Ibanez in the playoff games seconds before he hit the game tying and go ahead home runs.

So as a fan who loves the batter pitch matchup and watches the signs (except when their is a runner on 2nd base) in anticipation of how the batter will react to the upcoming pitch, I don't like this for one second. 

They've been calling signs forever with fingers. This is just an overreaction to very small problem.

[OsEatAlEast]

Good call if you ask me. As the O's have never been very good a cheating. Because if they were the team probably would have won more games over the past two decades.

[MurphDogg]

16 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Ok, let me be that guy.

I think this stinks from the knowledgeable fan stand point. I liked knowing the pitch call and location before the pitch so I can "Yell at the TV" before the pitch is thrown! 

It makes me have "fond" memories or me cursing Wieters as he put down a number one on the first pitch to Raul Ibanez in the playoff games seconds before he hit the game tying and go ahead home runs.

So as a fan who loves the batter pitch matchup and watches the signs (except when their is a runner on 2nd base) in anticipation of how the batter will react to the upcoming pitch, I don't like this for one second. 

They've been calling signs forever with fingers. This is just an overreaction to very small problem.

I understand that frustration. I do like that the pitcher and catcher can figure out the sign while the pitcher walks around the mound or whatever. Curious to see how much it is used. I wouldn't be surprised if some pitchers only use it with runners on second.

[justD]

It's called PitchCom, and many teams in Spring Training were using it. There were adjustments the teams were making with who gets the feed and who doesn't. There were little lessons being learned about how to shake things off, how quickly the catcher could get the next one plugged in...

I asked in one of the game threads if anyone could come up with a reason, with the Orioles supposedly bringing in all kinds of tech to bring us into the 21st century, why we weren't one of the teams that chose to use this. Once Rutschman went down I was less concerned, but even the backup catchers and this hodgepodge infield we've got could've used the practice, I thought.

It bugs me to death (that's the polite way I'm saying it) that we chose not to complicate things or whatever the reasoning was that we weren't part of this experiment.

(I don't think the teams were chosen; I think they signed up. If they were selected by MLB, then forget that I posted this mini-rant - it's just the same ol', same ol'. )

[Dr. Unk]

37 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Ok, let me be that guy.

I think this stinks from the knowledgeable fan stand point. I liked knowing the pitch call and location before the pitch so I can "Yell at the TV" before the pitch is thrown! 

It makes me have "fond" memories or me cursing Wieters as he put down a number one on the first pitch to Raul Ibanez in the playoff games seconds before he hit the game tying and go ahead home runs.

So as a fan who loves the batter pitch matchup and watches the signs (except when their is a runner on 2nd base) in anticipation of how the batter will react to the upcoming pitch, I don't like this for one second. 

They've been calling signs forever with fingers. This is just an overreaction to very small problem.

I'll also be the old man yelling at a cloud.  I don't like it.  Leave the game as it was.

[Can_of_corn]

I hope the SS/2B and CF have read only devices.  I'm fine with them knowing the pitch for defensive purposes but I don't see the value in them helping call the pitches.  Seems like that would add an extra level of complexity.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

So baseball's next cheating scandal will be teams hacking into their opponent's electronic devices to steal pitching calls. 

[Frobby]

19 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I hope the SS/2B and CF have read only devices.  I'm fine with them knowing the pitch for defensive purposes but I don't see the value in them helping call the pitches.  Seems like that would add an extra level of complexity.

I think all the players should vote on every pitch.   This is America, dammit!

[Can_of_corn]

12 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I think all the players should vote on every pitch.   This is America, dammit!

Except when it's Canada.

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Except when it's Canada.

In Canada they can call for a vote of no confidence if they think the catcher is doing a bad job of calling the game.  

[AlbNYfan]

Wait until they hack the audio and relay it to the batter. Tech may make cheating easier!! There are always ways. I have sympathies for the play by play announcers. I also wonder how many pitches and locations the catcher will have to record with  a 13 man staff? Just basic, there are a minimum at least 7 locations and I can think of almost as many not so basic. If a pitcher has 4 pitches...you get the picture. I don't consider a runner on base that "steals" a sign cheating. I do consider a "10th" player sitting somewhere in the stadium and relaying pitches unacceptable. 

[Bahama O's Fan]

14 minutes ago, AlbNYfan said:

Wait until they hack the audio and relay it to the batter. Tech may make cheating easier!! There are always ways. I have sympathies for the play by play announcers. I also wonder how many pitches and locations the catcher will have to record with  a 13 man staff? Just basic, there are a minimum at least 7 locations and I can think of almost as many not so basic. If a pitcher has 4 pitches...you get the picture. I don't consider a runner on base that "steals" a sign cheating. I do consider a "10th" player sitting somewhere in the stadium and relaying pitches unacceptable. 

That's how I feel too