When a squeeze is given to a player, should the player signal that he did in fact receive the sign? Many coaches suggest that you don't want to send a runner home if the batter is unaware of the sign. Could you imagine a player sprinting in the direction of home plate and the batter swinging away. It does sound rather crazy.
But, I contend that a return signal should not be given. I believe that the batter should not confirm the sign with his coach. The reason is obvious.
If a batter does something out of the ordinary in a possible squeeze situation, the defense has the potential of pitching out and recording an out at home plate. One sure fire way of deciding whether or not to pitch out is if the batter calls attention to himself in a squeeze scenario.
Is it dangerous? It could be if you don't practice the signs and signals enough.
Is it bad baseball? It's bad baseball to signal yes on a squeeze. What that tells me is that the offense doesn't know that the pitchout is an option in defending the squeeze.
Less than 2 outs and a man on 3rd. You should defiintely be looking for anything out of the ordinary- like a "confirmation" of some kind.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
What you say makes theoretical sense. But in the real world, teams seldom pick up on the fact that the suicide is coming. It happens more in our conversations around the hot stove than it does on the field.
First: Suicides are talked about a lot more than they're done. Second: In the ebb and flow of a game, teams don't play close attention to the interplay between the batter and third base coach.
I use the suicide more than most coaches. We got the tying and winning run in our championship last year on the squeeze. Our confirmation is obvious--grab some dirt. But nobody notices. It blends in with all the other nuances and antics of the players.
Post a Comment