Did you play high school or college baseball?

I played high school and a little bit of college. I was a pitcher. I don't remember our catcher doing much of that in High School - I think our coach just yelled out stuff from the dugout. In college, the catcher would give signs, but I can't remember what they were (I'm getting old). I remember he would have an "indicator" so that when he went to the indicator (which would change every game), the sign would follow that. The indicator might be his chest, head, arm, etc.

In high school, my coach had a great way of calling out location of pitches in key situations. For the most, he would let me and the catcher call the game, but if he would see a weakness in a hitter, he would call out code numbers for specific locations. 34 was low and outside, 12 was high and inside, 32 was low and inside, and 14 was high and outside. He would just yell out, "Come on no. 12!", etc. It sounded like he was calling out someone's number. We got away with it in High School - I doubt anyone ever caught on to it. However, in college I think the opposing team might catch on to something like this.

 

I played but stayed hurt quite a bit. Coached a little as a HS teacher. College didn't have a team (my alma mater. I did attend at schools that did).

Where did you guys play college ball? (If that's not too personal).

Nic: You have to be sure you have a catcher who can handle game management. Asking a 16 year old to do that can be tricky. However, I did part of that in SR league ball, so it's not out of the question. But you want to retain control. Work out a system that's simple enough for your guys to get but not so simple that it will be easily discernable by the opposing coaches. As Andy said, the "indicator" is the biggie. Most of the pitch signals are pretty similar. I've rarely seen anyone not use 1 for a FB, 2 for the hook, etc.
Infield and outfield alignment is pretty obvious. Not too much you can do to disguise charging corners or even corners or a DP depth or shallow outfield.

Hey guys...wanna be part of our Baptist Board Fantasy Baseball league? Come on...you know you want in!!!

 

nope, but i went to my fair share of games while at William Carey College...go Saders!

 

I played just one season at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio. I wasn't very good at the college level and played very little. I could only throw about 75 MPH, so I didn't have enough gas to do much in college. I did have a pretty good split-finger/forkball that could be effective at times. Not surprisingly, I ended up keeping the scorebook more than I played.

Mt. Vernon does have one famous alum - Tim Belcher of the Dodgers (and the Reds, I believe) was the no. 1 pick in the country in '81 or '82. He started out as a 3rd baseman in college and they converted him to pitcher. His younger brother played on the team that I was on ('90). He was a catcher, so I actually pitched to Tim Belcher's brother. He was a great hitter and pretty good defensively. He may have got some looks from the Bigs, but I don't think he got any serious consideration. We did have two guys from Puerto Rico that got drafted - one a pitcher and the other a centerfielder. The CF was a speedster - he probably stole 50 bases that season (in maybe 40 games). In fall practice, I picked him off - he claimed that I balked. I probably did. The coach didn't call it, though, so that is my claim to fame.

 

I played high school baseball and was a catcher and 3rd baseman. I loved playing catcher because I was involved in every play. I think its a great idea to run your signs through the catcher, but it might depend on the catcher you have and how dependable and smart he is or isnt.

Keep up the good work

 

My HS didn't really have famous alums in the majors though we did have quite a few drafted. My teams are most famous for an awesome pitcher we faced who could throw well but could hit much, much better. He also played QB very well. His name? Todd Helton.

He converted to a 1B at UT so he could get to the plate. I think he made a good choice.

 

Very cool Tom.

I played with for awhile and against Larry Bigbie who has been in the majors with the Orioles, Cardinals and Rockies I think.

My high school's claim to fame was that Ron Kittle played a game there and hit one completely out of the field onto the football field which was a mammoth shot!