Tipping pitches and reading tells

The Gray Eagle

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A comment by Bill James on his website (billjamesonline.com, $3 per month and well worth it) about tipping pitches and picking up on "tells" that I thought was really interesting:

"About 8 to 10 years ago, with the Red Sox in the playoffs, one of our coaches tripped to something that seems impossibly obscure, but which makes sense when you think it through. An opposing catcher (still in the game) would, when he settled himself behind home plate an instant before the pitch was on the way, would put his right foot down first, then his left foot down, then squat. But, WHEN THERE WAS A RUNNER ON FIRST, he would do the same when he called a fastball, but when there was a runner on first and he called for a breaking pitch, then he would settle himself by putting his left foot down first, then his right, then squat. It makes sense when you really think it through to the end. Somehow a coach picked this up, and the guys watched video and realized it was true and 100% reliable, so for the rest of that series, they knew when a fastball was coming or a breaking pitch was coming, with a runner on first base (and a right-handed pitcher on the mound.) We dominated that series because of that. It's actually one of the biggest issues with bringing a player to the majors: that in the minors, a player can get by with having a "tell", but in the majors he can't. So when a player first comes up, you have to vet every little thing that he does to make sure he's not giving anything away."

Great work by the unnamed Red Sox coach, and pretty interesting how the pitches were tipped by the catcher, not the pitcher. That made it easier for the Red Sox, as it didn't matter who was pitching, as long as he was right-handed and there was a runner on first.

Makes me wonder how often this sort of thing happens. It could impact games really significantly, and when it does happen, we almost never hear about it.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Interesting, and unsurprising that something subtle could tell so much, and that someone was diligent enough to pick up on it. It's downright Belichickian.

I'm wondering who the catcher was. Given the timeline, I would have to guess it was an Angels catcher, an Indians catcher, or a Rockies catcher circa 2007. Those are only teams that fit the criteria of the Red Sox "dominating" them. I want to believe the catcher is Victor Martinez and picking up on the tell was what turned the 2007 ALCS around (in addition to J.F. Beckett, of course). I don't know if it taints or improves the memory of JD Drew's grand slam off Carmona if it was made possible by Drew knowing a fastball was coming based on which foot Victor put down first.
 

SydneySox

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Didn't really dominate that series though.

I guess Colorado and Torrealba who caught all four games. Though in the first game we teed off on Francis and old friend Morales who are both lefties, and the second game Jiminez pitched well in the loss, the other two wins for us were off righty starters as well.
 

Puffy

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Didn't really dominate that series though.

I guess Colorado and Torrealba who caught all four games. Though in the first game we teed off on Francis and old friend Morales who are both lefties, and the second game Jiminez pitched well in the loss, the other two wins for us were off righty starters as well.
I'd agree that Torrealba would have to be the prime suspect. I'm thinking especially of the 6-run inning against Josh Fogg (Game 3). A quick look at You Tube shows Victor Martinez, Napoli, and Mathis all pretty still prior to delivery, whereas Torrealba definitely has a left/right shift immediately prior to the pitch.
 

Harry Hooper

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There was definitely a lot of proud talk about the Sox scouting prowess (e.g., Papelbon's pickoff) at the end of the 2007 WS.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I considered Torrealba as the prime suspect initially, but what gave me pause was the parenthetical in the James quote indicating that the catcher in question is still in the game. Torrealba has been out of baseball since 2013, so I disqualified him based on that.
 

m0ckduck

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I considered Torrealba as the prime suspect initially, but what gave me pause was the parenthetical in the James quote indicating that the catcher in question is still in the game. Torrealba has been out of baseball since 2013, so I disqualified him based on that.
Yeah, so that would narrow it down to either Victor Martinez (Indians '07) or Mike Napoli (Angels '07, '08, '09), right?

Napoli is an interesting suspect, not only because of his later involvement with the club, but also because he served as primary catcher in two series that the Sox 'dominated' but also caught most of the action in one where they were themselves dominated. So, for whatever reason, the shit stopped working in '09 if we're to believe it was him.
 

Savin Hillbilly

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Yeah, so that would narrow it down to either Victor Martinez (Indians '07) or Mike Napoli (Angels '07, '08, '09), right?

Napoli is an interesting suspect, not only because of his later involvement with the club, but also because he served as primary catcher in two series that the Sox 'dominated' but also caught most of the action in one where they were themselves dominated. So, for whatever reason, the shit stopped working in '09 if we're to believe it was him.
Note that in '09:

1) Mathis caught the first game;
2) In the second game, started by Weaver, the Sox only got three guys to first with a RHP on the mound all game, so they had limited opportunity to take advantage of this particular tell;
3) The third game was started by a LHP (Kazmir), who got pretty well drubbed, but presumably not because of this issue, which the anecdote says applied only to RHP.