Catcher Earpiece- College

J

jdizzle

Well-known member
I was watching a college game the other night and noticed that the catcher had an earpiece for communication in his ear. I then noticed a coach in the dugout with what looked like a walkie-talkie.

Upon further investigation, this started in 2017. This earpiece is permitted for one-way communication between the coach and catcher. The catcher cannot respond back via communication. One of the purposes of the earpiece was to speed the game up. I like this idea.

Thoughts on moving to this in high school baseball to call a game? Do high school catchers call their own games or do the coaches typically call them?
 
 
Not a fan really and a first I have heard of it.

But then again, I am not a fan of the whole wrist band systems people are using and I am all for the catcher/pitcher calling the pitches.

We were taught to call our own games, and in turn as a coach at the HS level we expected the catcher/pitcher to call their own game as well.

I loved hearing the conversations in the dugout between the pitchers and catcher about pitches. Often times either that catcher, or pitcher, or both, or even another pitcher/catcher on the team had faced some of those hitters before and knew the strength's and weaknesses.


The whole debate has raged on for years on these sites. Some comparing it to football coaches calling plays, which I believe is totally different.

I believe in giving the ownership of calling pitches to the battery.

I believe at the HS level it is more about Pitch Execution than Pitch Selection......
 
jdizzle said:
I was watching a college game the other night and noticed that the catcher had an earpiece for communication in his ear. I then noticed a coach in the dugout with what looked like a walkie-talkie.

Upon further investigation, this started in 2017. This earpiece is permitted for one-way communication between the coach and catcher. The catcher cannot respond back via communication. One of the purposes of the earpiece was to speed the game up. I like this idea.

Thoughts on moving to this in high school baseball to call a game? Do high school catchers call their own games or do the coaches typically call them?
Click to expand...

I don’t see HS Ball in Ohio ever allowing the Catcher to wear an earpiece. College wants faster Games they should use Wood Bats and play all around better Baseball!
 
thavoice said:
Not a fan really and a first I have heard of it.

But then again, I am not a fan of the whole wrist band systems people are using and I am all for the catcher/pitcher calling the pitches.

We were taught to call our own games, and in turn as a coach at the HS level we expected the catcher/pitcher to call their own game as well.

I loved hearing the conversations in the dugout between the pitchers and catcher about pitches. Often times either that catcher, or pitcher, or both, or even another pitcher/catcher on the team had faced some of those hitters before and knew the strength's and weaknesses.


The whole debate has raged on for years on these sites. Some comparing it to football coaches calling plays, which I believe is totally different.

I believe in giving the ownership of calling pitches to the battery.

I believe at the HS level it is more about Pitch Execution than Pitch Selection......
Click to expand...

I agree with you about wanting catchers to call their own games and to encourage a dialogue between teammates. This is a healthy part of growing older and being able to discuss things. Bigger picture I guess....

On the other hand, a lot of coaches want to micro-manage every aspect of the game that they can.

I side with you... leave the extra technology out of the game
 
Had a game where the catcher was wearing a piece...... Still called for a deuce when the coach wanted a cutter...... Needless to say, it traveled quite a distance ;)

It's cut down the game length by a handful of minutes..... not enough to plan a parade around however.
 
thavoice said:
Not a fan really and a first I have heard of it.

But then again, I am not a fan of the whole wrist band systems people are using and I am all for the catcher/pitcher calling the pitches.

We were taught to call our own games, and in turn as a coach at the HS level we expected the catcher/pitcher to call their own game as well.

I loved hearing the conversations in the dugout between the pitchers and catcher about pitches. Often times either that catcher, or pitcher, or both, or even another pitcher/catcher on the team had faced some of those hitters before and knew the strength's and weaknesses.


The whole debate has raged on for years on these sites. Some comparing it to football coaches calling plays, which I believe is totally different.

I believe in giving the ownership of calling pitches to the battery.

I believe at the HS level it is more about Pitch Execution than Pitch Selection......
Click to expand...
Yes, yes and yes. Have the catcher call the game, ultimately it is the pitcher calling the game and as a dad of a former high school pitcher, I have seen a a coach threaten to pull a kid for shaking the pitch off. Only the pitcher knows how he feels and only the catcher knows what the pitcher has working. It is about pitch execution at almost every level.
 
Guess I fall somewhere in the middle. I do think the pitcher and catcher should be calling the game in HS, especially varsity. But I also think that the coach should be talking with them between innings about what is working, what is not, and what he is observing.
 
thavoice said:
Not a fan really and a first I have heard of it.

But then again, I am not a fan of the whole wrist band systems people are using and I am all for the catcher/pitcher calling the pitches.

We were taught to call our own games, and in turn as a coach at the HS level we expected the catcher/pitcher to call their own game as well.

I loved hearing the conversations in the dugout between the pitchers and catcher about pitches. Often times either that catcher, or pitcher, or both, or even another pitcher/catcher on the team had faced some of those hitters before and knew the strength's and weaknesses.


The whole debate has raged on for years on these sites. Some comparing it to football coaches calling plays, which I believe is totally different.

I believe in giving the ownership of calling pitches to the battery.

I believe at the HS level it is more about Pitch Execution than Pitch Selection......
Click to expand...

Always amusing when the coach calls out 3-5-3 when the count is 3-0...
 
green_genes said:
Always amusing when the coach calls out 3-5-3 when the count is 3-0...
Click to expand...
Was watching a collegiate game the other day. Coach obviously calls out a number for a pitch, catcher and pitcher both then look at their wristband....

Seems to slow the game down more..........

but I digress.
 
thavoice said:
Was watching a collegiate game the other day. Coach obviously calls out a number for a pitch, catcher and pitcher both then look at their wristband....

Seems to slow the game down more..........

but I digress.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I was talking about the third base coach in this case. Back in my youth coaching days "3-5-3" would have been "go ahead and swing if you want to come out of the game."
 
green_genes said:
Yeah. I was talking about the third base coach in this case. Back in my youth coaching days "3-5-3" would have been "go ahead and swing if you want to come out of the game."
Click to expand...
Yeah, 3-0 there were two things that would happen.
1. No signs, and you knew it was take.
2. Open palm, allowing us to make the decision to swing or not.

Great way to eliminate what are legit and fake signs is those coaches who give em when it is obvious NOTHING is going to be going on.....
 
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