Sign stealing

For the act of stealing physical street signs, see Street sign theft.

Catcher James McCann (in white uniform) of the Detroit Tigers using his right hand (obscured) to give signs to his pitcher, in a 2015 game against the Minnesota Twins.

In baseball, sign stealing is the act of observing the signs being signaled by the opposing catcher to the pitcher or a coach, and the subsequent relaying of those signals to members of one's own team. Signs are stolen with the intent of gaining advance knowledge of the upcoming pitch and communicating it to the batter, thereby giving them an advantage.[1] Legal sign stealing typically involves the signs being observed by a runner on second base and then relayed to the batter through some sort of gesture. Illegal sign stealing involves mechanical or electronic technology; the rules regarding this have become more stringent over time and continue to evolve.[2]

Sign stealing has been in practice almost since the game's origin in the 19th century, and has continued to be used in recent times.[3]

  1. ^ "'Everybody tries to cheat a little': The weird and wild history of MLB sign-stealing – The Athletic". Theathletic.com. October 18, 2018. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Stephen, Eric (November 12, 2019). "Every MLB team steals signs, but the Astros took it one step too far". SBNation.com. Retrieved June 12, 2020.