The Green Light

If you have been given the green light, your coach thinks you can steal at any time. RUn as often as possible. Don't overthink it, just get a good jump and run.

Give a 16 year old kid the green light is only asking for trouble. What he thinks and what you think during a game could be miles apart.

Will,

I totally disagree. Why can't the coach communicate to him what his expectations are? How will th eplayer learn if he doesn't get picked off or thrown out stealing?

Using your logic, what is an acceptable age to have the green light?

I have to agree with redbird here.

We have all our good baserunners with green lights --when we dont want them to run we have a "Red lught" signal

We like it this weay because it gives the player a chance to think and use good opportunities when he knows he can steal the base. Yet with the red light we have control of the critical situations if we so desire to do so.

Sometimes the "16 year old" has a better feel on the base paths than the coach does and we do not give the green light to just any player.

"it gives the player a chance to think and use good opportunities "

but when is a good opportunity? I don't think I should run as often as possible. I'm not Kenny Lofton, but I am the fastest runner on the college team.

And...if you aren't sure about a 16 yr old giving him the green or red light, why not the yellow light?

There are no "yellow lights" in baseball-- you either go or don't go !!!!

A good opportunity cannot be taught it is mostly instinct -- that is why our good base runners get the green light--- note also I did not say fatsest runners-- in many cases the fastest runners are not necessarily the best base runners.

I didn't mean skillwise, I meant more strategic-wise. Like when is a good count to run of a pitcher? Or is there? Maybe I just think to hard.

The right count depends on the game situation and who the runner is--- what is right for one runner may not be right for another

See that's what I want to find out. I guess I need to find out for myself on the ballfield.

we have 3 players greenlighted and they all have 12 + steals on the year toping out at 26. The best thing here is for the player to talk to his coach and get a feel for what the coach is thinking. Example, some very good teams in our area will throw changeups and breaking pitches when the pitcher is behind in the count. You need to know when you are playing a quality team that will throw an off speed pitch any time the hitter is sitting dead red. Some school will not throw over often and some will throw over every other time they throw to the plate. What are the number of times the team you play doubles up on pick off attempts? What is the arm strength of the catcher? Does the pitcher use a slide step or does he lift for better control? Well, as you see, being greenlighted is not as simple as it seems. Oh, one more thing, how are you going to deal with lefties? It should be communicated. JMHO!

Thanks B25. One coach told me it's the little things like that that you need to notice in order to win ballgames. That's what I would call "tinyball". And that's why I asked those questions, cause I worry a lot about taking off and then the hitter knocking one right into the 1bman's glove and getting double off. Having the greenlight doesn't mean just "taking off" to me. It means knowing when to run. Otherwise Lofton and Pierre would be running on the very very 1st pitch of every at-bat.

Good post CoachB25. I would also like to add last year I had a player on my team that I would almost never ask to steal but he always had the green light. When I tell people this they say what are you talking about. Well the kid had average to slow speed but he was the smartest base runner I ever saw at the high school level. He even stole home once all on his own (ie it was not a called play). Now this I questioned after all the kid could have run into a foul ball. His response, I have been playing with Joey for three years and he almost never pulls a ball down the line and with this pitcher living on the outside corner the risk was worth taking because they were completely ignoring me and I knew I could get us the run. I also liked the part where he said he could get us the run rather than I knew I could score, but I digress.

Now I don’t know if I will ever have a player like that again but bottom line is every player is different and some need to be given the green light. But as redbird stated the coach must communicate what his expectations are.

Underground,

Getting doubled off happens and you cannot worry about it - otherewise, you won't steal any bases.

RED

I agree -- a player cannot screw up if he isnt aggressive--- you have to try and make things happen--sometimes we as coaches look like geniuses and more often than not we look stupid!!!

Smart players make for Smart Coaches !!!!

Underground
If you are playing at the college level you should have some baseball savvy. You should be able to pick up tendicies of pitchers and trust your ability of baserunning. If you get thrown out you get thrown out. I trust you are smart enough to know when to run and not run yourself out of an inning. But when you pick up the tendicies it makes it easy to run. Some pitchers are on a second count, look count, or have a high leg kick or slow delivery w/ a slide step, or pitch selection tendicies. I tell my high school guys not to really think too much on the baseball field. I have confidence that we have practiced enough situations and it should be to the point where you should be able to just see it and react and trust your ability.