Watching game 1 on TV, some more mysteries of baseball came to me
When a batter gets walked, he often takes off a bunch of things. I remember Bonds used to get rid of his elbow protector, but what is that thing batters wear on their ankle?
Sometimes, the manager will come out to talk to the pitcher. For some reason, some of the other basemen come to the mound as well. Why would they do that? What would they add or get out from that huddle?
Sometimes, just the catcher comes out to the mound. What would the catcher possibly be talking about with the pitcher? I always imagine that the catcher hears something the batter mutters and passes that info to the pitcher
Speaking of catchers and pitchers, does the catcher tell the pitcher what to pitch with those crotch signs he throws up, or is he just going through them until the pitcher nods to indicate what he’s throwing? Why do they do that? Why not just pitch and not be afraid of sign stealing?
And speaking of sign stealing, its one of those mysterious unwritten rules that teams aren’t supposed to do that, right? So if teams don’t do that, why does the catcher try to hide the signs? Why not just stand behind the batter so he doesn’t see him, and hold his fingers up in the air to tell the pitcher what to throw? Or, on the other hand, if people do steal signs, are the base coaches looking at the signs with binoculars and telling the batter what might be coming next?
Deliberate sign stealing (binoculars in center field stands/scoreboard/whatever) not cool. Sign stealing because someone is careless-kosher. That’s why the catcher will flash a series. Example(fingers) 3-4-1-2 First sign means the third sign is the pitch (which is 1 for a fastball) or maybe the 2 at the end means to use the second sign (which could be anything , most pitchers don’t have 4 pitches or it may be a pitchout to catch a runner stealing). Isn’t that fun?
The pitcher can shake off a pitch, Or it may be a decoy to set the batter wondering.
The conversation on the mound could be anything-settle the pitcher down, discuss a sequence of pitches, give a relief pitcher more time to warm up, anything.
ETA: The pitcher can’t just throw anything, the catcher MUST know what’s coming. There’s no way anyone can catch a slider down and away if he’s expecting a fastball high and in.
It’s another protective device. Some players these days are better armored than medieval knights.
Sometimes they talk strategy: what pitches to throw, where to position infielders, etc. Sometimes it’s just a pep talk for the pitcher, and sometimes it’s simply to stall for time, either to give the pitcher a short breather or to let a relief pitcher have a few extra minutes to warm up in the bullpen.
This is pretty much the same situation as the previous. Oftentimes in this case, it will be to make sure the pitcher and catcher have their signs straight, so that the pitcher throws the same pitch that the catcher calls for (it can get a bit hairy otherwise)
Generally, the catcher calls the pitches. If the pitcher disagrees, he’ll indicate so, and the catcher will call for something else. Since these guys obviously work very closely together, the catcher generally has a pretty good idea of what the pitcher would want to throw in most situations anyway.
I don’t have a complete answer to this one, except to say that ‘sign stealing’ is not necessarily frowned upon. When there is a runner on second base, for example, the catcher will usually go to a different set of signs, or modify them in some way so that the runner, who has a clear view of the catcher, can’t steal them and relay them to the batter. I think that what’s frowned upon is stealing of signs by persons not on the field.
The protection at the ankle is because it is not uncommon for a hitter, especially a power hitter, to foul a ball that goes downward and will carom off the ground or the plate and hit his leg. It’s not necessarily debilitating but smack your lower leg with a hard object and see how it feels. The protector does not inhibit the swing so why not use it?
Sign stealing on the field is kosher. Setting up an outside system like binoculars from the outfield, hidden cameras, stealth communication devices and stuff like that is not. In a civilized society there is honor among thieves. Basically, baseball is a civilized sport or pretends to be.
I don’t think anyone has answered your last question, but the reason they can’t “just pitch” is because then the catcher might not actually catch the ball. If he doesn’t know what pitch is coming it’s almost as hard to catch it as it is to hit it.
An additional reason for the catcher visiting the pitcher is due to the umpire getting hit by a foul ball. If the catcher knows a foul got a piece of the umpire, he will go to the mound as a courtesy to give the ump a minute to shake it off. The focus is then on the mound visit. That’s better than everyone standing around and waiting for the umpire. Similarly, when the catcher takes a shot off a foul ball, the plate ump will do something like walk toward home dugout to request some more baseballs be brought out. That gives the catcher a minute to regroup.
This is one of my favorite unspoken rules. You’ll see the ump stop play in the middle of an at-bat to clean home plate. This is often a sign that the catcher just got a stinger. The relationship between a catcher and the ump is fascinating.
As for your other questions, they’ve mostly been answered, but as to why other players come to the mound: There’s more going on than just the catcher/pitcher communication. The manager may be telling the pitcher to stay outside on this batter, the fielders need to know this because it may change the typical “style” of that batter (he may become an opposite field hitter when pitched outside) and the fielders need to know that so they can shift their alignment to deal with it. While the players often know a LOT about the opposing team, the manager has in-game access to tons of stats and may want to remind everybody about something.
In a recent game, probably A’s-Tigers game 5, the umpire took a (fouled, I think) ball in the face mask. The catcher Avila got right in the umpires face and spoke with him a bit. It looked like he was doing a concussion check. Is this mandated or "recommended’ now? Or did Avila just do that on his own?
ETA: The ump was OK. I don’t recall if Avila then went out to the mound.
I would guess that was Avila on his own. I can’t imagine baseball having a mandate where the catcher does that check. Now, I could see a case where a catcher would appeal to the crew chief (assuming he’s not working home) or the 2nd senior guy (if he is) that basically says “this guy is out of it and needs to come out”.
Like I said, it’s a complicated relationship and requires some delicate handling from both sides.