I just skimmed through a couple of hundred "tell" threads returned by search, most of which take the form of "Tell Me About..."--everything from the Lovin' Spoonful to the biggest moron you know. With no end in sight, I'll take it that there are no threads about actual tells, those little mannerisms that unwittingly give your intentions away. I took the title from the movie Rounders, where John Malkovich's tell is that he unscrews a cookie and takes a bite every time he (can't remember which) has a great hand or is bluffing.
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/blog/juiyinjong/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/teddykbg.jpg
So post any tells here, either those you have yourself, those you've encountered in others, or anything at all relating to the subject. An anecdote from Bill James today, when asked about the Blue Jays tipping off their pitches in the ALCS:
About 8 to 10 years ago, with the Red Sox in the playoffs, one of our coaches tripped to something that seems impossibly obscure, but which makes sense when you think it through. An opposing catcher (still in the game) would, when he settled himself behind home plate an instant before the pitch was on the way, would put his right foot down first, then his left foot down, then squat. But, WHEN THERE WAS A RUNNER ON FIRST, he would do the same when he called a fastball, but when there was a runner on first and he called for a breaking pitch, then he would settle himself by putting his left foot down first, then his right, then squat. It makes sense when you really think it through to the end. Somehow a coach picked this up, and the guys watched video and realized it was true and 100% reliable, so for the rest of that series, they knew when a fastball was coming or a breaking pitch was coming, with a runner on first base (and a right-handed pitcher on the mound.) We dominated that series because of that.
― clemenza, Sunday, 1 November 2015 21:35 (nine years ago)
I have't looked anyone in the eye in two years.
Unless I did, and in which case, I was being dishonest.
― monster mash, Sunday, 1 November 2015 21:48 (nine years ago)