Tag Archives: sign stealing

Sports news

MLB confronts a new season reeling from controversy

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is a man with a spotlight shining on his every move.

MLB is reeling from a controversy involving a recent World Series championship team, the Houston Astros, who were caught in a massive sign-stealing scandal that has put a stain on their 2017 World Series victory.

What is happening now is that other teams’ pitchers are throwing “payback” pitches at Astros hitters. Manfred has vowed to be more aggressive than before in handing out punishment for pitchers who are determined to be exacting revenge on Astros players who were on that winning team three seasons ago.

Throwing “purpose pitches” is part of the game. Pitchers don’t like hitters crowding home plate. They will throw pitches that aim to “brush them back” off the plate. That’s a purpose pitch. Occasionally, pitchers take that practice to an extreme. When a hitter stands in the batter’s box to admire a home he has just hit into the stands, pitchers often take offense at being shown up; the next time up for the batter then becomes personal and pitchers occasionally hit batters on purpose as payback.

This year presents a serious potential problem for Manfred and managers who face the Astros. One of the competing managers, Joe Maddon of the Los Angeles Angels, has said he won’t tolerate that kind of behavior among his staff of pitchers. He said he intends to urge them to not throw at Astros hitters. The game must go on and teams must play it with integrity, Maddon believes.

I am all for that kind of approach.

As for Manfred, well, he has his hands full.

Many players and managers are angry that none of the Astros players involved in the cheating has been punished. I get that. However, that is not the players’ fault. Accordingly, throwing a hardball traveling at 95 mph at a player’s head constitutes a potentially deadly overreaction to a transgression that didn’t put anyone in imminent danger.

Let’s just play ball.

Sports news

Astros cheated their way to World Series title? Yes, but let ’em keep it

I have thought for years that stealing signs is part of baseball’s charm. Players on the field seek to pilfer signals the catcher gives to the pitcher as well as the signals that come to the hitter from the third-base coach.

However, the art of signal stealing has its limits, according to Major League Baseball, which had leveled season-long suspensions to the field manager and the general manager of the Houston Astros, who won the 2017 World Series. The Astro ownership, though, went a step further: the two men suspended got fired; they’re gone.

So what’s the future of this scandal? It’s not over, more than likely.

I was a bit baffled by all the hubbub over the Astros’ cheating scandal. As I said, my sense for many years has been that signal theft is part of the Grand Old Game. I sought the counsel of a gentleman — a former colleague of mine — who knows the game well. He answered in an e-mail to explain it to me. Here is what he said:

It was done via technology. A camera was set up in centerfield directed at the catcher. There was a monitor in a video room next to the Astros dugout and the signal was seen and relayed through claps, whistles or banging on a trash can to the batter. This is much different than the gamesmanship that has gone on for decades of players trying to decipher signals while on the field. In other words, a runner gets on 2nd base, can see the signals and somehow relays that to the batter, or someone in the opposing dugout has figured out the third base coach’s signals.

In 2017, there was some signal-stealing via technology because of the added use of cameras for replay reviews. Commissioner Rob Manfred sent out a harsh memo telling teams to stop or there would be reprisals if they didn’t. The Astros arrogantly continued to do so. 

The Red Sox are also about to get nailed for doing something similar. Alex Cora is the manager. He was the bench coach for the Astros in 2017 and reportedly came up with the system. He may be looking at a lifetime ban.

OK, it’s clear to me now.

The question remains: Should Major League Baseball rescind the World Series title the Astros won? I would argue “no!” I am not sure it can be proven that the cheating was the difference between winning and losing the Series. Absent proof, then the Astros should keep the title as baseball champs.

And if the commissioner drops the hammer on Alex Cora and bans him for life, then a lifetime ban ought to have the weight of … a lifetime ban.

What’s more, my hope is that this mess doesn’t deter players from stealing signs on the field the way they have done since the time they threw out the very first pitch. Hey, it’s part of the game!