After Years Of Signals, Pitcher And Catcher Live Happily Ever After

Following three years of shaking off catcher Tommy Belisle’s signals, Tacoma Rainiers pitcher Richie Stein has finally nodded “yes.”

The Triple-A teammates met in 2019, when Stein was called up from Double-A Arkansas for a spot-start against Albuquerque. “Our first mound visit was a disaster,” Belisle said. “He said all catchers were pigs and that I was probably just using him to get to the Majors. He got rosin on my chest protector.”

But on the bus home, the only empty seat was next to Belisle, and the two got talking. “It turns out we had a lot in common. Before we knew it, the mound visits were going hours and hours.”

“We’d go for long walks in the outfield,” Stein said, “just, you know, talking. I was ready to believe I was wrong about catchers.”

Trouble came one afternoon in Reno, when Stein looked up from the bullpen to find Belisle giving signals to another pitcher. 

“I was incensed,” Stein said. “I confronted him in his condo that night and found a pitching machine in his garage. He said he only used it when I was out of town. I was like, ‘We have the same home-away schedule!’” The following day, a mound disagreement led to a passed ball, and a loss to last place El Paso.

Belisle told Tacoma’s manager, “It’s either him or me,” and was sent packing to Arkansas. Meanwhile, Stein got picked up by the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles. The duo disbanded.

A month later, Arkansas took on the Sod Poodles in North Little Rock. “I saw [Belisle] go out to the mound and instinctually wanted to go out there. I even stepped onto the field, but he waved me off.”

In the ninth, Belisle hit a home run to tie the game. “I don’t know what got into me,” Stein said. “I sprang from the dugout and ran the bases after him.”

Since their return to Tacoma, Belisle has agreed to be Stein’s exclusive catcher, entering the lineup every five games. Belisle says they don’t use signals anymore. “I can tell what pitch he’s thinking just by looking at him.”

“People say pitchers and catchers can be ‘just friends,’” said Stein. He and Belisle laughed. “Whoever said that’s probably stuck in Single-A.”