You Can Consider It Came From Me

"Take a deep breath just before the pitch starts coming," said Waner. "Then hold your breath till you start-to swing. That makes you relax and wait."

I had visions of myself turning blue in the face waiting for a slow curve. I couldn't quite get used to the idea that I should try to hit just part of the ball. It had always been hard enough to see all of the damn thing and to hit any part of it. We gathered the balls from all over the cage, and racked them up for another session. My hands were forming tiny blood blisters as I swung my Wally Moon model at Iron Mike's pitching. But all I could think about was the way the balls sounded when I hit them. A pitcher learns to tell by the sound whether or not a ball is well hit. On the mound you quickly put the three sensations of sight, feel and hearing together, and you know for sure that the ball is gone, man, gone. You watch your pitch go just where you didn't want to throw it, with not quite as much stuff on it as you wish, and...! What a vicious sound a line drive makes.

Why Can't Pitchers Hit?

Just call me tiger, Dad.

MARCH 9: Hemus called a meeting for the last workout before the start of the exhibition season. "We're going to use the same signs in these games as we will all year," he said, "so let's pay attention." He turned to Johnny Keane. "John?"

Keane jumped onto a bat trunk, waving his ever-present fungo stick for quiet. "These are the signs we're gonna give from third base," he said. "Solly will be on the bench." He waved his bat, relegating Hemus forever to the dugout. "You pitchers get together with the catchers later and work out your own signs. These are just for hitters, and we don't want anybody missing signs cause it just messes up everybody, including the guy who messes it up. Now, then, we're gonna have an indicator, signs for bunting, taking and hit-and-run. We're gonna have a take-off sign, and a sign for the squeeze play.

"The most important is the indicator. When I rub my hand over the cardinal on my shirt, that means a sign is on. You see me rub the bird, and you watch my right hand, my right hand only. Forget I got a left hand. With my right hand I'm gonna touch some part of my uniform or body. One touch—it might be my cap, or neck, or pants, or sleeve—one touch and you're taking. Two touches and you're bunting. Three touches, hit-and-run on that pitch cause the runner is going. Those are the three signs you gotta look for when you go up to hit.

"Now, when you're at the plate, look down at me at every pitch. Maybe I don't wanna give you a sign, but I may be pulling at my pants leg, or rubbing my ear, or tugging at my cap, anyway. They will be looking at me, too, trying to steal the signs, so I'll be trying to confuse them by doing the same things when I'm not giving a sign as I do when I am. Get me? Only when you see me hit that bird do you know something's on. And when I give you the indicator, count the number of touches that follow. Maybe I'll give you more than three signs! Maybe I'll give you four or five! I'm just doing that as a decoy, in case they start to pick something up, or we suspect they might. It only means something if I use one, two or three touches after the indicator."

Keane had the earnest manner of a second lieutenant outlining the intricacies of an espionage detail. All major league clubs use indicators, decoys and signs for everything except nose-blowing. Yet, 90% of the time the situation determines the strategy, and an experienced player knows who will bunt or when the batter is taking.

"The steal sign," Keane went on, "will be given to the runner only after the batter gets the take. We don't want you hitting when that runner is trying to steal. If we did, we'd give the hit-and-run. The steal sign is either hand gripping the opposite elbow. It's a figure 4, and that's for stealing!"