MLB experiments with new device to eliminate sign stealing

What’s the one thing in sports that you can’t believe still happens in 2022? The answer to that question for me is easy – How does the NFL still measure a first down with two officials carrying sticks and a chain onto the field? If anything was meant for a laser in pro sports, you’d think that would be it. The process for checking for a first down does have a certain charm to it, though. It’s like going to colonial Williamsburg and seeing how they cooked before microwaves and/or stoves.

The MLB equivalent of that is hand signals for signs, whether pitcher/catcher or third base coach/batter. Well, MLB is joining the late 20th Century, as they are testing out a device that transmits signals electronically. The catcher has a wristband with buttons to relay which pitch to throw and the pitcher and selected fielders have a device in their hats that allows them to hear the call.

This seems like an excellent idea to me. Yet, it’s not too difficult to imagine people being distraught that it’s but another way that technology is taking over the game. You do the best you can with what’s available to you at the time. But when new inventions come along, why not embrace them? To me, switching signs and having miscommunication is not an essential part of the game. Nobody wants elaborate cheating schemes to “steal” signs. This eliminates that. This should be one of those things that has universal appeal.

My guess is that a neutral observer would describe me as a traditionalist. My dislike of the DH is a core belief. Additionally, starting extra innings with a zombie runner on second base is an abomination. My preference is for day games in the playoffs and World Series. And separate admission doubleheaders should be a federal crime.

But at the same time. I’d like to think of myself as being progressive. An automated strike zone will be a gift from the heavens. The fly ball revolution has been good for the game, despite what people who cherished an abundance of ground outs will claim. Aggressive defensive shifts should be embraced and certainly not outlawed.

Generally, I’m in favor of whatever makes the playing of the game better. Now, you may not agree with my definition of “better.” People wonder how someone who loathes the DH can say that pitchers batting is better. But that’s a forest/trees thing. The big picture is the game requires you to run, field, throw and hit and there are built-in penalties when you are lousy at one or more of those things. And the DH takes that away in multiple ways.

I like football but the never-ending substitutions is a bug, not a feature. It’s not better to me if we have two separate teams in baseball – one to hit and one to field. And it doesn’t matter if that form takes nine positions or just one.

It seems to me that this new way of the catchers calling a game has the ability to shave some seconds off the time of games. Good. There’s so much time wasted now. Previously, the idea of a pitch clock would have upset me. But it’s a necessary thing in the 21st Century. And let’s not put all of the blame on pitchers. The batters need to stop stepping out of the box to adjust their batting gloves after every pitch.

Let’s see the teams play, with all of the pros and cons of their choices. If you play Billy Hamilton because of his speed and defense, well, you have to live with him not being able to hit very much. If you’re the Phillies and sign Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber, well – as Mets fans will tell you – you have to watch them not make the plays in the field.

To me, that’s what makes baseball great. My team’s ideas and their players in the field, competing to the best of their abilities. The game is not about umpires defining their own strike zones or pitchers stalling while delivering the ball to the plate or batters taking a stroll after every pitch.

And it’s not about stealing signs, either. Hopefully, we’ll see the new devices to call pitches in the majors in 2022.