A Case of Mixed, and Nixed, Signals

It’s the silliest, most juvenile element of baseball.

Every game, a coach acts like a 5-year-old with chicken pox, scratching his nose, grabbing his ears, touching his stomach, wiping his eyebrow, all with the intent of flashing a sign -- or disguising one.

At the same time, a counterintelligence operation is underway by the opposing team trying to steal signs.

It’s a cat-and-mouse game in which coaches match wits and challenge their own players to get experience in FBI-like code-breaking skills.

“For every kid who picks off a sign and it works, I’ll buy them a pizza,” Newbury Park Coach Scott Drootin said.

Anyone who plays baseball, from Little League to the major leagues, will end up memorizing signs. They can be simple or sophisticated in the way they are communicated, depending on how paranoid a coach is about having his signs stolen.

Mike Curran, Anaheim Esperanza’s coach, remembers years ago an opposing coach who simply shouted out numbers to players as a way to communicate commands

“He says, ‘403, 206. You, 708, 506,’ ” Curran recalled. I go, ‘What the heck?’ I had a headache thinking about it.”

Figuring out a team’s signs is a big deal.

“If we can get them, we want them,” said Matt Mosiello, Huntington Beach Edison coach. “I’m sure a football coach would want to know what play is coming.”

According to Michael Josephson of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, stealing signs in baseball does not constitute cheating unless technology is used, such as a microphone or binoculars.

“Part of expectations is hand signals go on and teams try to figure them out,” Josephson said. “It’s unsportsmanlike conduct or cheating when you violate informal or formal rules. There are certain traditions every sport embraces.”

There are many opportunities to steal signs, from the third-base coach giving signals to bunt, steal, hit-and-run or take a pitch, to the pitching coach flashing signs to the catcher calling for a fastball, curve or changeup.

Encino Crespi Coach Scott Muckey said when he was coaching at Los Angeles Valley College, one of his players counted 103 signs he needed to know.

“I think I’ve given signs when I didn’t know and it worked,” Muckey said. “Then you look like a genius.”

The question is, why do coaches need to have so many signs?

“To let the kids know what you want done,” Muckey said. “The coach is thinking about the game. The kids are thinking about performing their task. You want to help them be their brain.”

The most important clue to stealing signs is figuring out the team’s indicator. The indicator is what makes a sign operational. A coach can go through a series of hand signals that mean nothing. But once he shows the indicator, such as touching his ear, then the next sign is for real.

Coaches tell reserve players on the bench to observe and study, with the hope one might figure out the indicator.

“There’s an art to giving signs and an art to stealing signs, and you want to be as nonchalant as you can because you don’t want anyone to know you have their signs,” Crescenta Valley Coach Phil Torres said.

The well-prepared teams will use different versions of their signs during games.

“We prepare for teams to pick our signs,” said Coach Matt LaCour of Woodland Hills El Camino Real. “We have a couple different sets and different indicators, and I know there’s guys who’ve gotten me in the past.”

One player LaCour intends to keep a close eye on is sophomore shortstop Mike Moustakas of Chatsworth. He’s known for figuring out signs, especially when he’s standing on second base.

“Being able to relay signs to the hitter gives him that much better a chance,” Moustakas said. “It’s just a bonus. If you can do it, do it.”

Moustakas is hardly batting .999 in his sign-breaking skills. He recalled signaling to teammate Matt Dominguez that a pitcher was about to throw a curveball.

“He throws a fastball right past him,” Moustakas said. “And [Dominguez] looked at me, ‘What was that?’ ”

There have been coaches who blamed defeats on having signs stolen, but Muckey warned, “If you’re going to have signs, then you better have good signs.”

Coaches are so protective of their signs that they wouldn’t even trust telling a sportswriter some of their indicators.

“That’s not going to be disclosed,” Muckey said.

Of course, a minute later, Muckey added, “Touching my nose is the secret to everything.”

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.