JUPITER, Fla. • Each morning, at what Cardinals manager Mike Matheny calls “Catcher University,” one of the topics taught is signals and impromptu sign language.
There have been times during games – notably against Pittsburgh – that starting catcher Yadier Molina abandons pitch signs entirely and goes to a more creative way of calling the game. He might devise a way to tell the pitch to throw a fastball by placing his mitt on his left knee, or when he tucks his hand behind his left knee that’s the sign for a curve – anything to throw the other team off when he feels they have deduced the sign.