Yorvit Torrealba is a chirpy sort. He doesn’t hide his emotions well when he’s playing, which leads to excitable gestures, whoops, and yelps. It’s probably the sort of thing that endears him to his teammates, and it’s certainly the sort of thing that drives opposing teams and fans nuts -- an easy target for hipsters who think A.J. Pierzynski is too mainstream.
Yorvit Torrealba And The Sign-Stealing Kerfuffle
So it’s no surprise that it was Torrealba who chirped at Andruw Jones on Wednesday for stealing signs. That’s so Yorvit. But is the sin of stealing signs really a serious transgression? Using Baseball Reference’s Play Index, I created a list of teams who have stolen signs throughout baseball history:
- All of them
It happens. It’s why signs are changed when a teammate is traded, and it’s why they’re made more complicated when a runner gets to second. Knowing what the pitcher is going to throw is a huge advantage, and the information is right there. You just have to decode it and secretly pass it along. Baseball is basically cricket crossed with beer and a Tom Clancy novel, and we’re all better off for it.
So here were Torrealba’s options:
1. Chirp
He yelled at Andruw Jones to stop stealing signs. Jones played dumb, then resumed stealing signs because he is a baseball player. This was not an effective strategy for Yorvit to employ.
2. Change the signs
He could have gone out to the mound and said something like, “I think they’re stealing signs and/or location*. Instead of the indicator being the third sign, I’m making it the first sign for the first pitch of the at-bat, the second sign for the second pitch, and so on. If the at-bat goes to five pitches, we’ll start over.” This is what most batteries do -- they have some sort of contingency plan if they think the signs have been compromised. It makes sense.
3. Fight fire with fire and make a concerted effort to steal the Yankees’ signs.
Okay, now if one of you gets to second, here’s what you’ll do: If you think Mariano Rivera is going to throw a cutter, you touch your nose. If he’s going to throw a cutter, though, you tug your ear. If they call for a cutter, you kind of lift your elbow up like this. Now if you think a cutter is coming, you ...
Not a big deal. If a team doesn’t like that their signs are being stolen, they should figure out a way for their signs not to be stolen. It’s what teams have always done, and it’s what they’ll always do. There’s no need to be upset with the other team; if your signs are being stolen, you should only be upset with yourself.
*It should be noted that when Yorvit says “and/or” he literally makes a slashing motion with his right hand to indicate the separation between the two words, and he looks you dead in the eye as he does it.
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