Voices in their heads: the Pitch Com audio narration

[The Gray Eagle]

The Athletic has a fun article about the recorded voices in the Pitch Com system:
https://theathletic.com/4975147/2023/10/19/pitchcom-mlb-playoffs-pitchers-catchers-voices/

The PitchCom system was approved by Major League Baseball in 2022 to combat sign stealing. It is now used by all 30 teams and comes standard with tracks recorded by a voice-over artist. Teams are welcome to record their own tracks, and some immediately did upon figuring out how to work the thing.
PitchCom has four modes, each essentially a playlist offering between 18 and 27 signals, but the most basic setup is this: there are nine buttons arranged in a three-by-three grid. Each button can give two different signals. Press 1, and it might signal “fastball.” Press and hold 1, and it might signal “inside.” Through various combinations of presses and buttons, catchers can signal pitch type and location, call a pickoff play, or simply send a message.

View: https://twitter.com/PitchCom_Sports/status/1712977681732796631


In addition to the pitching signals, there are also some extra tracks that some teams use:

Then-Guardians catcher Austin Hedges had recorded a “F— yeah!” track to cue, sometimes two or three times, after a nasty pitch. Not only could Hedges call pitches without putting a finger down. He could have a mini conversation not meant for public consumption with his pitchers.
Once Hedges got some press, others followed suit. Other teams asked Hankins for their own “F— yeah” track. That was an interesting ask for the voice-over guy. (That track is now available in the library.)

A common request Hankins has heard — mostly from fans, but sometimes from teams — is to have a more authoritative voice for PitchCom’s standard tracks. He gets tweets about James Earl Jones a lot. (That one’s not in the budget.) A couple teams tried a voice changer, but in action it always sounded a little off. The Giants had minor league coach Craig Albernaz, who has a thick Boston accent, voice their PitchCom tracks for spring training. “SLYDAH, SLYDAH, BACKFOOT,” catcher Blake Sabol told MLB.com, mimicking Albernaz. “When I was getting quizzed by my fiancée, she was like, ‘Did you change the accent on this thing?’ And I was like, ‘No, that’s my catching coach.’”

Josh Hader likes to talk to himself:

Padres closer Josh Hader voiced his own mode this season, recording his pitch types and locations on the Voice Memos app on his iPhone. So, while the rest of the Padres pitchers heard catcher Austin Nola’s commands, Hader heard himself.
“It’s self-talk for whatever you’re going to do,” Hader said. “If you keep telling yourself what you’re going to do, your mind is going to tell your body that’s what you’re going to do. Whether you do it or not, I mean, that’s after the fact. But when you only have that one thought on what you got to do, you’re not putting thoughts elsewhere and losing focus on what the goal is.”

And of course there is the crucial pranking option:

This spring, the Red Sox pranked one of their pitchers by customizing PitchCom to make every button say: Are you mad?

More Red Sox content:

In the spring of 2022, Charlie Madden just wanted to be useful.
A 24th-round pick out of Mercer, Madden reached Double A as a player before transitioning to Red Sox bullpen catcher. His first official assignment to a staff locker room just happened to be the same spring when PitchCom was introduced as a possibility at the major league level.
“I was just always looking to be more a part of the team and add value anywhere,” Madden said. “So, I just grabbed the manual.”
Want to avoid calling PitchCom headquarters for customization? Have a 26-year-old pro catcher figure it out. Madden tinkered with the device enough that when manager Alex Cora decided in April 2022 he wanted to start using it in games, Madden was ready. The Red Sox were on the road, so Madden sat pregame in the left-field pavilion of St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field and recorded tracks using downloaded software and a set of headphones with an attached microphone. PitchCom recommends each track be less than a second.
“You have to kind of play with being clear, while being loud, while being short and concise,” Madden said. “It’s not hard, but it takes a little feel for it.”

After reading this article, I want the Red Sox to get Pedro to do the Spanish voice-overs. Maybe get Pedroia to do the English ones-- him yelling at them might motivate some pitchers to throw with total conviction.
I wish I could have my own Pitch Com system where I could press buttons to tell the pitchers what to do. Looks like one team already had a similar idea:

One team requested something to the effect of: Throw it over the plate, you [expletive].”

 

[santadevil]

This is pretty cool. Thanks for posting
I'm sure I wasn't the only one wondering how it sounded

 

[Jordu]

Interesting quote from Garrett Whitlock.

With the pitch clock limiting the battery to 15 or 20 seconds between pitches, depending on whether there’s a runner on base, there’s no time for a protracted negotiation between pitcher and catcher. There’s sometimes a slight delay between the pitch type and the pitch location — catchers might take a second to make sure they initially hit the right button — and shaking off a pitch means starting over again.

“With 15 seconds, you only get two or three shakes before you’re like, I gotta throw whatever they call,” Whitlock said.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Great article - thanks for posting. Austin Hedges gets what his jobs is on a fundamental level as does Charlie Madden.