Now we are going to talk a little bit about signs. There are two basic groups of signs that you have to know. That is the sign between catcher, and pitcher and the sign between the coach and the runner. Now between catcher and pitcher, the signs are basically given with the fingers and usually by the catcher. If you have ever seen a catcher give a 1, 2, 3 or 4 fingers, usually he is calling off some kind of a pitch. If it gives a sequence of signs, he is either calling a pitch and a location like inside or outside, or he is just trying to fool the runner or the hitter so he doesn't really know what sign is going to come on. Now the pitcher also has to communicate with the catcher. If you ever see them on the mound and he nods yes, that means he is going all right. Let's go with that pitch or if he brushes them off and goes no, that means he wants something else. Next you got the communication between the coach and the base runner. Now that's not too much communication. It's more like the coach is telling the base runner what to do. Now say the coach touches his nose before anything else, that could mean steal, that could mean hit and run, that could mean the batter is going to run, and you should be ready to try to take the next base. Like for example, if the coach were to do this, that could actually mean nothing at all. So you got to keep in mind that stuff is designed not only to communicate, it is also designed to deceive the other team. Like say the coach gives a fake sign and there is nothing going on, but the other team thinks, hey, these guys are going to bunt, they bring the third baseman up, and the next thing you know the batter swings and he just pops it right by the third baseman because he is so close and be cannot react. So it is always important to know what is going to happen in baseball, and that is what signs are for.
