Brent Mayne's  The Art of Catching Newsletter

Tip of the Week:    " Seeing The Signals"

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There's nothing worse than a pitcher who can't see the signs from the catcher. A pleasant 2.5 hour game can derail and turn into an ugly 3 hour ordeal when the battery can't get their communications straight.

It's also no fun getting crossed up, unsure if the pitcher is actually going to throw the fast ball you signaled for or some other pitch that he thought he saw.

The fact of the matter is this. Pitchers don't see well or else they'd be hitters. I'm kidding...my apologies if you're a pitcher. In all seriousness, sometimes the shadow created by the catcher's knees makes it very difficult to see.

One solution would be to open up the sign stance or give the signals higher or lower; however, doing so might give the opposition a chance to peek in and introduces a whole new can of worms.

I've found the best idea is to keep a bottle of Wite-Out handy. Paint the back of your signal hand fingers making them easier to see. This works better than tape because it won't interfere with your throwing feel. In a pinch, moisten the back of your hand and drag it along the white chalk of the base line to illuminate the fingers.


 Till next week, good luck, have fun, and keep your eye on the ball.