Am I missing something?

[Dakota]

Originally posted by TruBlu
Yes, but isn't there something to not letting players, coaches, fans make a travesty of the game? Following the "letter of the law" I believe only works 99.9% of the time. If allowed, some people (read: coaches) will bend the rules to the breaking point.

Yes, there is, but your example is not making a travesty of the game, IMO.

The ONLY thing I would care about in the situation you presented is the timing and the decibels of the coach's instructions to his batter. If he was disrupting the pitcher's concentration during her delivery by yelling very loudly timed with her delivery, then I would put a stop to it, just as I would the dugout players banging on the fence or shouting at a similar time in the pitcher's motion, or the defensive players shouting "SWING" just as the ball reaches the plate.

But the issue would be timing and decibels, not content.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a coach giving his batter instruction about what pitch to watch for, whether it is based on his knowledge of general game strategy, his knowledge of the particular team/coach's tendancies, his knowledge of the particular pitcher's skill/tendancies, his stealing of the signs from the catcher, or his observing the grip on the ball. In fact, I don't even consider this "bending" the rules - it is just plain not illegal.