Quick Take
There are roughly seven ways to see how a pitcher is tipping his pitches, and no less than three way to gives signs the other team will never crack.
When I was around 9 years old and in Little League, my dad, a former MLB catcher, was our coach. He stole the other team’s signs every game. He knew the apparent indicators, like the bill of the cap or swiping both arms. But the funny thing was—he didn’t tell us. He let us play.
As I got older and the game became much more competitive, he decided it was time and would steal pitches from the pitcher, the catcher, or the coach and relay them to us from the stands!
This article will discuss what pitchers and catchers do to tip off pitches and how to keep signs from being stolen when runners are on second base.
If you tip your pitches, you might also want to consider some pitcher head protection.
The 7 Most Common Pitch Tippers
- The most common tip off from a pitcher is from the wind up and similar to what Darvish did. Pitchers who hold the ball in their hand and start their windup taking the ball to their glove often put the ball in the glove with their fingers on top of the ball for a fastball and on the side for a curve/slider. That’s why I teach pitchers to start with the ball in their glove from the start.
- Another common pitcher tip-off is curling their wrist when the arm goes behind them prior to getting the hand into the arm slot for a curveball. I see this one often and it’s obvious what’s coming.
- Variations of the leg lift height,
- Wiggling of the ball in glove
- Pace of the wind-up
- Arm slot during delivery
- Stride landing point.
If you’re a pitcher…make sure you are doing everything the same and not loading pitch grips in your glove only on breaking balls.
Astros blast Darvish in the World Series after catching him tip pitches…
In case you didn’t happen to see game 7 of the 2017 World Series, Yu Darvish, pitching for the Dodgers, was absolutely crushed by the Astros nearly immediately. No matter what Darvish threw, they hit it like they knew what was coming—because they DID know!
Thanks to the Astros’ keen observations of Darvish, they noticed a consistent theme as Darvish began to put the ball in his glove. Darvish was pitching out of the stretch even when no one was on base, and when he went to the set position, he would rotate the ball for a slider or take the ball directly into the glove for a fastball.
They didn’t even need an audible signal from the bench like someone yelling first name fastball or last name curve or whistling. The batters SAW the ball spin in the hand or not and sat on that pitch. The rest is history.
Even Cy Young Award winners tip pitches; see this insight on Klayton Kershaw’s tipping.
How Scott Erickson Tipped Pitches To Me…
A similar thing happened when I was in pro ball facing a very nasty Scott Erickson, who was with the Twins then. He oddly tipped his pitches, and we lit him up!
As he took the sign, either in the windup or in the stretch, we watched the index finger he stuck out of his glove. If he wiggled the index finger, it was a fastball, and if he kept it tight to the glove, it was his nasty slider.
Well, when you know a slider is coming, it’s no longer nasty, and I wore him out that day. Three hits with two on sliders. Without knowing what was coming,g it would have been quite a different outcome.
When I train pitchers, I look very closely at how they wind up and deliver, ensuring they don’t do one thing on a fastball and another on their breaking pitches. But many do.
See Jim Campanis Jr.’s take on hitting is time, and pitching is disruptive timing.
How I, the Catcher, Tipped Pitches In My First Game
I was converted to Catcher my Freshman year at USC. My first start was against UC Santa Barbara.
During that game, I threw out my first runner and eventually hit a game-winning double in the 8th inning. I was so excited that we squeaked out the win.
The next day, when I arrived for practice, the coaches called me into the office. I assumed it was to congratulate me on a good game, but what they said was shocking. They told me the head coach from UCSB called to inform them they knew every pitch that game—and it was because of ME!
The Set Up Got Me
I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was hiding my signs well, mixing up the sign sequences when runners were on second base, but they said that wasn’t how they got them. It was how I set up after giving the sign to the pitcher.
After giving the sign, I moved my left leg first for a fastball and my right leg first for a curve/slider, and UCSB saw that and relayed a sign to the batter.
As a new catcher, I was taught that angles were important to block the curve in the dirt, so without realizing it, I started with my right foot to create that angle—and UCSB picked up on it!
Dusty Baker Giving Relaying the Sign
One other time in pro ball, I kept hearing whistling from the then-manager of the Giants, Dusty Baker. I knew Dusty from his Dodgers playing days, as I used to batboy often. Anyway, I noticed he whistled when I set up away. He wasn’t relaying pitches but location, which is still very useful for MLB hitters.
A ball was soon fouled over to the Giant’s side and entered the crowd. I chased it over by their dugout and went by Dusty and said, “Come on Dusty—enough with whistling location”. With a big grin and a toothpick sticking out of the corner of his mouth, he said, “OK, Little Campy, you caught me!”
Communicating to the Batter from 2nd
Over the many years of catching, I experimented with various ways to flash a series of signs or sequences that would be tough to steal.
I never liked using basic indicator sequences like the first sign after the two. That was the first thing I looked for on second base as a runner trying to steal signs. The reason—Indicators can be picked up in like two or three pitches from a savvy base runner.
As a baserunner,r here is how we communicated the signs to the batter.
With the Mariners, we had a specific way of telling the batter we had the signs at second base.
We took off our helmets and kicked the bag until the batter took off his helmet to communicate that he was ready for the sign. Then, after getting the sign, the runner gave a nonchalant sign to the hitter.
This slight move was hard for the catcher to identify. Here’s how it worked: If I saw a fastball sign, I’d keep my right arm straight and slightly bend my left arm, and vice versa for curve/slider.
3 Catching sign Sequences – Tough To Steal
As a catcher, I would watch the runner at second base for moves to tell the batter the pitch to make sure I wasn’t getting my signs picked.
I remember times when I thought the runner had my signs. But I learned some tricks that made it very tough to steal my signs.
Here are some of my secrets:
- The first sign in the sequence
It seems so simple. Put down the hot sign first and then quickly blast through another five signs. The base runners were looking for indicators or thinking of super complicated patterns. Not the freakin’ first sign in a sequence of 4 or 5 signs. It worked, and pitchers liked it. - Scoreboard sequence
This was easy to remember and tough to steal. I would look at the scoreboard and use a pattern based on the outs or inning. With no outs, the pattern was based on what inning it was. So, the first sign was no outs in Innings 1, 2, and 3. Innings 4, 5, and 6 were the second sign, and 7, 8, and 9 were the third sign. But then the sequence changed with one out. With one or two outs, it was based on the count. 0-0 was the first sign. Any count with a 1 but NOT a 2 or 3; it was the sign after the 2. Any count with a 2 or 3 was signed after the 3. It’s actually pretty easy to remember but tough to steal, as it changes several times during an AB. - Tap System
I improvised a system one game due to the pitcher’s poor eyesight and used it often afterward. With a runner on 2B, I would give a super-fast series of signs, and as I got into my stance, I would touch a specific area. So after a sequence of signs, if I touched my mask—fastball. After a sequence of signs, if I touched the dirt with my throwing hand, it was curved. Touching the right shin guard at the knee was a slider, and touching the glove to the dirt was a change-up. This system was never picked up by the other team (as far as I know), and I used it a lot at the end of my career when pitchers trusted my pitch calling.
Be the Thief, NOT the Victim
In baseball, stealing is good. It’s admired! It means you see an opportunity and take advantage of it. It’s like a tiger seeing an opportunity for a meal—they POUNCE. The same goes for baseball players. Stealing signs is part of the development to the higher levels, where it’s a daily thing, and players who are good at stealing signs are rewarded.
Why do most college catchers wear a QB playbook sweatband on their left arm? To make it harder to be a victim of theft because it’s beneficial to steal in baseball!
How can you protect your team? Keep your signs simple, but change them often. Make sure the players know which signs are being used every inning.
Finally…always be looking for tip-offs from the other team’s dugout, catcher, or pitcher. When a good hitter knows what’s coming, it gives them a HUGE edge. How big of an advantage? Maybe even enough to beat a better team.
