Here is a video I saw our good friends post at “The World of Isaac” this morning while I was sitting in, interestingly enough, my evidence class. My mind was already swirling. Take a peek at the video and you make the call. My thoughts follow it.
Now I have some thoughts on the video and the subtitles so graciously added by the YouTuber.
First of all, stealing pitches is not unusual. It’s certainly not big news. I’ve played the game for nearly 20 years and played under a coach that knows the game as well as anyone and is about as old school as they come. For credibility purposes, he serves as an auxillary coach in the Olympics (coached Verlander years back), he is friends with Tony La Russa amongst others, and he’s played professionally. The stories and things I learned from him in my four years of college are far greater than what I could have ever learned from playing or observing the sport in a lifetime.
The rule of thumb, from my understanding, is that it’s fair game as long as it’s not stupidly obvious. Guys try to pick up on coaches signals, whether it be the head coach or third base coach, all the time (for steals, bunts, etc.) and it doesn’t change when a guy is on second base peering in and having the ability to see the catcher’s signs for his pitcher. Why do you think the catcher goes through a series of signs while a guy is on second, but does not when there is nobody on or guys at either of the corners? It’s because the guy on second can see the signs and could potentially relay that signal. There are a variety of things the catcher can do to disguise the pitch call (outs plus one, pumps, whatever comes after the first curve signal, etc.). They know it happens, most likely because they do it too, so they are continuously coming up with a good system to keep the other teams off guard. Sure it doesn’t happen all the time, but when the signals are discovered and the game is as big as the one on Tuesday night, you better believe they’re going to try and inconspicuously relay those signals to their teammates.
If you notice in the video above, the subtitles say that Mauer relays the first pitch of the at bat as a curve ball after Laird throws down a curveball signal (often being two fingers). However, Laird doesn’t throw down just a two (which is hard to even tell from the video), he throws down a variety of signals — all with the intention of disguising what the real call is. I’ll get to my issues with the subtitles more later.
Overall, the alleged “tipping” is not that blatant. Mauer re-adjusts his helmet on the first two pitches, but not on the third. On the fifth pitch when it’s suggested that Mauer tips the curve again, he also goes to his face immediately after, which according to the pitch before, would indicate a fastball. Is that tipping a fast curveball? After Laird has Verlander step off and goes through another series of signals (for the second time in the inning), there is no “tipping” on the final three pitches, which could indicate that Laird signaled to Verlander (somehow without taking a visit to the mound) that he was changing the method of signs. It could also show that Mauer just has a twitch that many baseball players have — he redjusts his helmet often and has the occasional itch on his face. All of this could be a complete coincidence. Then when I read the often wrong subtitles that are clearly trying to convince the viewer “tipping pitches” is going on, it’s going to come off as just that.
Either way, it happens in baseball. It’s part of the game and unfortunately, I don’t think it incriminates Mauer or the Twins one bit.
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