(02-27-2018 09:51 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  It doesn't matter what the potential is if it doesn't translate into wins.

I'm concerned about the mental state and preparedness of the team.

It's difficult to not score with bases loaded three times in one game. It requires subconscious effort to avoid scoring runs.

The fielding errors when the starting pitching is on the verge of greatness seems the same way.

Tense, on edge, and finding ways to lose. That negates talent.

Well said. Our good teams in the past have been rock solid mentally. They thrived in pressure situations. It seems part of this decline the past few years starts with questionable mental toughness that leads to poor execution.

(02-27-2018 10:46 AM)Clad Scheme Owl Wrote:  

(02-27-2018 09:51 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  It doesn't matter what the potential is if it doesn't translate into wins.

I'm concerned about the mental state and preparedness of the team.

It's difficult to not score with bases loaded three times in one game. It requires subconscious effort to avoid scoring runs.

The fielding errors when the starting pitching is on the verge of greatness seems the same way.

Tense, on edge, and finding ways to lose. That negates talent.

Well said. Our good teams in the past have been rock solid mentally. They thrived in pressure situations. It seems part of this decline the past few years starts with questionable mental toughness that leads to poor execution.

IMO it can be traced to our meltdown in the 2014 home regional vs. A&M.

We were up 6-0 and blew it.

It shouldn't take the likes of Dunlap and DiCaprio to bring in a runner from third with less than 2 outs. Right now I can only comment anecdotally on that. I'll start tracking the number of runners stranded on 3rd after a sacrifice opportunity and see if I'm just imagining an execution problem (and perhaps I am).

One thing we haven't seen this year is sacrifice bunting in the early innings. Not sure what that says about the team or coaching. But I for one like the change.

Its weird to me that we have Rice baseball fans that defend the team in the preseason reports and then are the first to turn on them. You all can see the reports on RUBPA on how the team is doing in Fall ball and you defend them saying they are going to be promising. Then once the season starts and is not going the way you guys expected, those people who were defending the team go against the team when they already knew exactly how they were going to play.

(02-27-2018 12:14 PM)HootyHoot05 Wrote:  Its weird to me that we have Rice baseball fans that defend the team in the preseason reports and then are the first to turn on them. You all can see the reports on RUBPA on how the team is doing in Fall ball and you defend them saying they are going to be promising. Then once the season starts and is not going the way you guys expected, those people who were defending the team go against the team when they already knew exactly how they were going to play.

I'm not "turning on them". I'll be there for all three games this weekend. Surely it's understandable that I'm unhappy with last weekend's results?

Besides, fans that complain are fans that care. It's worse when fans no longer care enough to complain - cf. football attendance.

(02-27-2018 10:48 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(02-27-2018 10:46 AM)Clad Scheme Owl Wrote:  

(02-27-2018 09:51 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  It doesn't matter what the potential is if it doesn't translate into wins.

I'm concerned about the mental state and preparedness of the team.

It's difficult to not score with bases loaded three times in one game. It requires subconscious effort to avoid scoring runs.

The fielding errors when the starting pitching is on the verge of greatness seems the same way.

Tense, on edge, and finding ways to lose. That negates talent.

Well said. Our good teams in the past have been rock solid mentally. They thrived in pressure situations. It seems part of this decline the past few years starts with questionable mental toughness that leads to poor execution.

IMO it can be traced to our meltdown in the 2014 home regional vs. A&M.

We were up 6-0 and blew it.

Yeah I would have to agree with you there. Ironically enough the mental errors happened in the first inning and we got out of it. The swinging bunts and stolen signs that led to a grand slam didn't help though.

(02-27-2018 12:17 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(02-27-2018 12:14 PM)HootyHoot05 Wrote:  Its weird to me that we have Rice baseball fans that defend the team in the preseason reports and then are the first to turn on them. You all can see the reports on RUBPA on how the team is doing in Fall ball and you defend them saying they are going to be promising. Then once the season starts and is not going the way you guys expected, those people who were defending the team go against the team when they already knew exactly how they were going to play.

I'm not "turning on them". I'll be there for all three games this weekend. Surely it's understandable that I'm unhappy with last weekend's results?

Besides, fans that complain are fans that care. It's worse when fans no longer care enough to complain - cf. football attendance.

Frizzy,

I was not calling you out personally, so relax bud. I know you are a true fan of Rice Baseball. I just stated what I have noticed in this year baseball threads.

Another thing I have noticed is that everyone is bringing up "PAST" baseball teams and how this team compares to them. In your opinion, why are so many fans doing that? This team is nothing like Graham's past teams. He has a whole new coaching staff and starting lineup.

Why are past teams even relevant in the conversation at this point?

Yeah I would have to agree with you there. Ironically enough the mental errors happened in the first inning and we got out of it. The swinging bunts and stolen signs that led to a grand slam didn't help though.
[/quote]

pardon my ignorance re baseball, but who steals the signs ? The runner on 2nd base? Or is the batter looking out of the corner of his eye?

(02-27-2018 01:22 PM)davidw Wrote:  Yeah I would have to agree with you there. Ironically enough the mental errors happened in the first inning and we got out of it. The swinging bunts and stolen signs that led to a grand slam didn't help though.

pardon my ignorance re baseball, but who steals the signs ? The runner on 2nd base? Or is the batter looking out of the corner of his eye?
[/quote]

The runner on 2nd signals to the hitter typically. I believe that is what happened.

I am not sure what happened in this instance, but in my (admittedly dated) experience, west coast teams generally work much harder at stealing signs that other teams. It could be the runner at 2nd, or pitchers or positions players on the bench. In summer ball, my experience was that Pitchers on the bench would make a game of trying to figure out the other teams signs to steal them.

(02-27-2018 01:22 PM)davidw Wrote:  pardon my ignorance re baseball, but who steals the signs ? The runner on 2nd base? Or is the batter looking out of the corner of his eye?

My understanding is that if the batter were to look at the catcher's signs, the next pitch would be at the batter's ear -- and the batter would be lucky to have it called a ball.

(02-27-2018 02:45 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(02-27-2018 01:22 PM)davidw Wrote:  pardon my ignorance re baseball, but who steals the signs ? The runner on 2nd base? Or is the batter looking out of the corner of his eye?

My understanding is that if the batter were to look at the catcher's signs, the next pitch would be at the batter's ear -- and the batter would be lucky to have it called a ball.

Players will do anything to steal signs. Baserunners can talk about what they saw from the catcher while they were on 2nd base. Like mrbig said, even players in the dugout will try to steal a pitcher's pitches. Look for any sort of tendency that will tip a pitch.

I have even heard of players writing down every sign a coach gives the catcher and then trying to decipher the signals in between innings. Many ways to steal signs. Whether we in the stands can see it or not, it is happening.

(02-27-2018 03:33 PM)esposito Wrote:  I have even heard of players writing down every sign a coach gives the catcher and then trying to decipher the signals in between innings. Many ways to steal signs. Whether we in the stands can see it or not, it is happening.

Yep. This is particularly true if a coach is calling pitches from the dugout and signalling those to the catcher. That is when the real magic happens for those west coast demons!

(02-25-2018 07:01 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(02-25-2018 02:40 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(02-25-2018 11:59 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(02-25-2018 10:51 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Agree with Walt on this. I am disappointed with our overall showing so far, but I remain Optimistic for the season.

I dont quite know how to interpret that last clause. One interpretation implies you might be contemplating a change to your screen name at the end of the season for some strange reason....

I am glad Owl1998 didnt capitalize "optimistic" in his post, because then I would be utterly confused (a good guess at a natural state for me, I guess)

That’s a very optoMYSTIC view.

That is a good idea. At the end of the season I shall become MysticOwl. My druid friend will be pleased.

Will the Wiccans you hang with be as pleased?

Honest question. Is "stealing signs" illegal? If so, how is it policed (other than George's old school "put one in his ear hole" approach). If not, what can a team do to stop/make it more difficult for a team to steal signs?

Finally, if it is not illegal, why aren't the Owls doing the same?

(02-27-2018 04:37 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  Honest question. Is "stealing signs" illegal? If so, how is it policed (other than George's old school "put one in his ear hole" approach). If not, what can a team do to stop/make it more difficult for a team to steal signs?

Finally, if it is not illegal, why aren't the Owls doing the same?

IIRC, it isn't illegal - it is just one of those bajillion unwritten rules that baseball seems to have. In MLB, the only rule against it is using a device (mechanical or electrical) to steal signs. Changing signs is one way to prevent it. Much like football players change their audibles regularly and at what point on a hard count the center snaps the ball.

I am sure Rice does it too. If not, that would be pretty silly, IMO - it would be like knowing or figuring out a poker players tell and choosing to not use it.

(02-27-2018 04:43 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-27-2018 04:37 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  Honest question. Is "stealing signs" illegal? If so, how is it policed (other than George's old school "put one in his ear hole" approach). If not, what can a team do to stop/make it more difficult for a team to steal signs?

Finally, if it is not illegal, why aren't the Owls doing the same?

IIRC, it isn't illegal - it is just one of those bajillion unwritten rules that baseball seems to have. In MLB, the only rule against it is using a device (mechanical or electrical) to steal signs. Changing signs is one way to prevent it. Much like football players change their audibles regularly and at what point on a hard count the center snaps the ball.

I am sure Rice does it too. If not, that would be pretty silly, IMO - it would be like knowing or figuring out a poker players tell and choosing to not use it.

I'm sure Rice is trying to steal the signs as well. However, a lot of teams these days will go as far to change their signs every single inning. Some will even have a different sign for every single pitch. One example would be "strikes plus 1." However many strikes the hitter has, that number plus 1 will be the hot number. If the hitter has a 2-1 count, whatever the catcher puts down 2nd will be the sign for that pitch.

Can be pretty complicated.

I've heard several of his players talk about how great the system that Dierker had when managing the Astros was. I don't remember details, but the players all swore by it, that it was difficult to steal but easy to remember in the field.

(02-27-2018 04:48 PM)esposito Wrote:  

(02-27-2018 04:43 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(02-27-2018 04:37 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  Honest question. Is "stealing signs" illegal? If so, how is it policed (other than George's old school "put one in his ear hole" approach). If not, what can a team do to stop/make it more difficult for a team to steal signs?

Finally, if it is not illegal, why aren't the Owls doing the same?

IIRC, it isn't illegal - it is just one of those bajillion unwritten rules that baseball seems to have. In MLB, the only rule against it is using a device (mechanical or electrical) to steal signs. Changing signs is one way to prevent it. Much like football players change their audibles regularly and at what point on a hard count the center snaps the ball.

I am sure Rice does it too. If not, that would be pretty silly, IMO - it would be like knowing or figuring out a poker players tell and choosing to not use it.

I'm sure Rice is trying to steal the signs as well. However, a lot of teams these days will go as far to change their signs every single inning. Some will even have a different sign for every single pitch. One example would be "strikes plus 1." However many strikes the hitter has, that number plus 1 will be the hot number. If the hitter has a 2-1 count, whatever the catcher puts down 2nd will be the sign for that pitch.

Can be pretty complicated.

Esposito,

Seems like you really know what you are talking about when it comes to stealing signs! Any chance you played collegiate baseball?