You don't need to be a great lipreader, just pick out "fastball", or "inside", etc.

Well, I'm convinced.

What a joke of an article. I can't believe a paper in a town that supports college ball like Columbia does would run this.

I know this is kind of a lame line to use but since he blasts so many nitty-gritty details of playing a game the line is necessary...
Did he ever play the game? The writer seems ignorant of how certain situations in a game need to be handled.

Let me give you a few examples of the silliness of this game. At the forefront is the latest practice of catchers wearing coded wristbands. Before every pitch, the catcher looks to the dugout to get a signal from a coach for the next pitch. Then the catcher checks his wristband to decipher the coach’s signal. Finally, the catcher relays the signal to the pitcher.

I can't think of any sports that have plays on wristbands and signals to the players from the coaches that generate oodles of profits....

You have to be kidding me. First of all, college coaches and players are not sophisticated enough to steal signals. Even if an opposing team stole the signal, there would not be time before the next pitch to relay it to the base coach and then to the hitter.

BS. It isn't like sign stealing is something that requires some CIA codebreaker to do.. and even if it didn't since when is there anyone like that in the MLB?

HS and summer ball teams steal signs all the time.

During Sunday’s championship game in Raleigh, a USC batter launched a foul ball that landed a mere 300 or so yards in foul territory. Yet both the N.C. State shortstop and third baseman sprinted all the way to the wall in foul territory. For what purpose, I am not certain.

I agree. Playing real baseball is just like when you play video game baseball. You see a nifty little circle on the ground over yonder pointing to where the ball is headed. No need to run, from over at SS you know exactly where a pop foul is going to land.
Theres no way you could think you might possibly have a 2% chance at catching the ball when you see it leave the bat. So stop running after foul balls instinctively. I mean, if one looks like its heading for the seats but manages to barely stay in play I'm sure Coach Tanner won't mind you letting an out drop in foul territory like that while you rest there in the infield dirt motionless..

To open Saturday’s game against Charlotte, USC’s Reese Havens lined a double into the right-field corner. Before the right fielder’s throw reached the cutoff man in the outfield, Havens slid head first into second base. It was reminiscent of a head-first slide into home plate by USC’s Scott Wingo against Tennessee during the regular season when there was no throw home.

Yeah, because when you are coming into second base you have a base coach standing right at the bad telling you if you need to get down or not. Plus on a ball to right most ballplayers know how to turn their necks around 180 degrees to see where the ball is while maintaining their full running speed towards second, so clearly Havens knew exactly where the ball was as he was approaching second.

Call it aggressive baseball if you want. I call it typical college nonsense. Rest assured, if Havens attempts that kind of play in professional baseball, he will do it only once.

Havens will only hit one double to right in pro ball?
I'm not high on the guy but I'm sure he can hit a couple more than that

Wow, it's as if this guy had never watched a ballgame before.

Sorry, he is right on, here. Its almost as hard to watch as women's college softball.

During Sunday’s championship game in Raleigh, a USC batter launched a foul ball that landed a mere 300 or so yards in foul territory. Yet both the N.C. State shortstop and third baseman sprinted all the way to the wall in foul territory. For what purpose, I am not certain.

hasn't this guy ever heard of white-boy hustle?

Next, you might have noticed college catchers and pitchers engaging in espionage whenever they meet on the pitcher’s mound. Get this: They talk to each other with their gloves over their mouths. They do not want opponents to read their lips. Seriously.

This writer apparently doesn't watch much professional baseball, either. This is now a common practice.

-- MWE

Who wants to watch a game in which coaches call timeouts between pitches to talk to the batter? Who wants to watch a game in which the catcher and batter look to the dugout before every pitch for instructions?

The problem with professional baseball is that it's too slow. If this is common practice in college baseball I say dear god.

I can't think of any sports that have plays on wristbands and signals to the players from the coaches that generate oodles of profits....

The NFL constantly tweaks it's rules to improve the quality of it's games for the TV audience. That's another reason the NFL is america's sport, and tradition bound baseball is a distant second.

Morris has this one cold. College baseball is way overcoached. When you see hitters stepping out to get the sign from the third base coach with two outs and no one on, someone needs to slap the coaching staff. Do I see professionals covering their mouths with their gloves? Yes, but this practice goes overboard; it's constant every time someone goes to the mound.

At the same time, it gets very frustrating when a pitcher hasn't thrown a curveball for a strike in four innings, and yet everyone keeps chasing it. The mismatch between micromanaging with the lack of fundamentals is amazing.

At the same time, it gets very frustrating when a pitcher hasn't thrown a curveball for a strike in four innings, and yet everyone keeps chasing it. The mismatch between micromanaging with the lack of fundamentals is amazing.

Is that a lack of fundamentals or a lack of pitch-recognition ability?

The NFL constantly tweaks it's rules to improve the quality of it's games for the TV audience. That's another reason the NFL is america's sport, and tradition bound baseball is a distant second.

This is code for steroids, right?

I can't think of any sports that have plays on wristbands and signals to the players from the coaches that generate oodles of profits....

You are dead wrong on this one. Football is a lot better when the coaches aren't calling in the plays. The best parts of any games are the two minute drills when the Quarterback is moving the team instead of taking 25 seconds between every play to get the signal from the coach.

Baseball is better the less time is taken between pitches. To lengthen the time by having the catcher get each sign for every pitch from the dugout, decode it, and relay it to the pitcher, is terrible. How you can think this is a good idea is beyond me.

I would guess that the coach making the pitch selection is only going to matter in 1% of the cases. Otherwise, you have a future major leaguer who is going to blow everybody away with his stuff or a pitcher who either can't find the plate or has nothing on it when it goes through the strike zone.

The NFL constantly tweaks it's rules to improve the quality of it's games for the TV audience.

Which tweaks are these? Tweaking the rules of illegal sideline cameras?