Taking signs from the stands

[ozzy6900]

Originally posted by bigwes68
Last night, Cal Ripken area championship. OBR, more or less. Pitcher's dad is standing outside the fence but is doing at least as much coaching as the ones in uniform, if not more so. I notice early on that the guy is giving signs to the catcher, who is then relaying them to the pitcher.

My partner and I talked about this, but we couldn't figure out what, if anything, we could do by rule to prevent this. We know the pitcher can't take signs from anyone but the catcher, but can the catcher take signs from anyone he wants, whether it be a coach or a spectator?

The opposing coach tried to point it out to us, but we had already noticed it. I guess it's one of those things that you just don't see that often, especially with 10-year-olds.

MLB 8.01
Legal pitching delivery. There are two legal pitching positions, the Windup Position and the Set Position, and either position may be used at any time. Pitchers shall take signs from the catcher while standing on the rubber....(my emphisis)

*** Note ***
If we are talking about an ejected coach giving signs to the catcher from that stands, that's an entirely different story. That is not allowed.