2:40pm: Major League Baseball has issued the following statement on the investigation:
“Before the Postseason began, a number of Clubs called the Commissioner’s Office about sign stealing and the inappropriate use of video equipment. The concerns expressed related to a number of Clubs, not any one specific Club. In response to these calls, the Commissioner’s Office reinforced the existing rules with all playoff Clubs and undertook proactive measures, including instituting a new prohibition on the use of certain in-stadium cameras, increasing the presence of operations and security personnel from Major League Baseball at all Postseason games and instituting a program of monitoring Club video rooms.
With respect to both incidents regarding a Houston Astros employee, security identified an issue, addressed it and turned the matter over to the Department of Investigations. A thorough investigation concluded that an Astros employee was monitoring the field to ensure that the opposing Club was not violating any rules. All Clubs remaining in the playoffs have been notified to refrain from these types of efforts and to direct complaints about any in-stadium rules violations to MLB staff for investigation and resolution. We consider the matter closed.”
8:45am: There was no shortage of drama surrounding the Red Sox and Astros last night following a series of reports regarding an Astros employee who was removed from the photo well next to the Red Sox’ dugout in Fenway Park during Game 1 of the ALCS, as first reported by Danny Picard of the Metro News. The employee, reported by Yahoo’s Jeff Passan to be Kyle McLaughlin, was said to be pointing a small camera into the Boston dugout. However, both Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Joel Sherman of the New York Post report that the league’s investigation was concluded by the time Game 3 began. That probe actually revealed that McLaughlin was trying to determine whether the Red Sox themselves were illegally using video monitors to steal signs from the Astros.
Passan writes that the league has not punished the Astros for any illegal behavior following the investigation. Picard’s initial report even indicates that McLaughlin wasn’t removed from the stadium — only the media area in which he’d been set up. However, it does not appear as though this was an isolated incident.
Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer further reports that the Indians filed a complaint with the league against the Astros following a pair of similar incidents in the ALDS and also reached out to the Red Sox to warn them prior to the start of the ALCS. Passan also details a complaint filed by the Athletics, who alleged that the Astros were using a clapping-based system from the dugout to relay stolen signs to the players on the field during an August game. To this point, though, there’s been no word on whether Houston was punished in that incident.
Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski does not believe the matter had any influence on the outcome of Game 1, which Boston lost 7-2. Red Sox manager (and former Astros bench coach) Alex Cora agreed. The series of complaints against the Astros, Sherman notes, could stem in part from a reputation in the industry that portrays them as a “[New England] Patriots-like” organization — that is, one that “pushes to the limits of the rules — and perhaps beyond.” Passan adds that some clubs are “wary” that Houston may utilize its Edgertronic ballpark cameras, which can record 2,000 frames per second, in sign-stealing schemes.
As Passan notes, however, the Astros aren’t the only organization that has been accused of this manner of sign-stealing efforts. While he doesn’t cite specific teams that have been placed under the microscope, it’s worth remembering that the Red Sox themselves were fined in 2017 for illegal use of an Apple Watch in the dugout in an effort to steal signs from the division-rival Yankees. The Yankees, too, were also fined for violating a rule pertaining to the use of the dugout phone, and there have been similar reports that other teams believe the Yankees use the YES Network to steal signs from opponents. Back in 2015, the Royals believed the Blue Jays were stealing signs during the 2015 ALCS (to say nothing of the infamous “man in white” conspiracy in Toronto a few years prior).
If anything, the series of reports serves as a reminder and/or an eye-opener that most, if not all teams throughout the league are willing to push the boundaries and utilize technology in an effort to gain a competitive edge. It’s arguable that these tactics are of in the spirit of more “traditional” sign-stealing methods that have been employed for decades (e.g. runner on second base looking in on a catcher’s signs), though the advent of technology obviously presents new methods of gaining that edge — methods that exist in what is at best an ethical gray area.
The utilization of technology in sign-stealing efforts isn’t likely to go away, and it’ll continue to force teams and players into more rigorous efforts to protect signs. Hoynes notes in his column that Cleveland worked so diligently to protect its signs in the weeks leading up to the ALDS that the efforts “bordered on paranoia.” Players, too, recognize the need for increased caution.
“It’s part of the game now,” Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart tells Speier. “…The game is changing. It’s making it tougher. You see a lot of pitchers and catchers get crossed up now — it’s crazy. The game sequences, the signals that you come up with are crazy. You’ve just got to stay in tune with everything.”
Perhaps the greater issue in all of this, Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston writes, is Major League Baseball’s lack of transparency on matters of this regard. As Drellich examines, the lack of clear rules in place and the unnecessarily hushed manner in which the league handles such scenarios only incentivizes teams to continue rule-bending/breaking and to make accusations in the first place.
What about the use of pine tar?
What about it?
I love that the patriots are mentioned there lol
Perfectly legal as long as you’re not George Brett or Michael Pineda.
Legal for Bret too
None will ever surpass Dodgers now pitching coach Rick Honeycut, who got busted for having a thumb tack taped inside of his glove.. What a dumb-a&&
How about the energy board falling out pf Niekro’s back pocket.
Maybe not so much…….How long had he been using the tack and how effective was it for him??? Maybe the opposing teams and umpires who never noticed it till he got caught were bigger dumba&&es
Did that “energy board” increase his fastball velocity?
I seen some expert say it’s pretty widely known that all teams use some sort of substance once the weather gets cold. I guess it’s kind of an acceptable rule to break that’s ignored in October.
Chris Sale looks like he has some shiny substance on his pitching arm. Maybe it’s just sweat?
The comment you got upset about does not really warrant getting that upset about……smh…..
It seems like most if not all Red Sox pitchers have that “mystery substance” on their arms or some random mystery spot on their hat. I guess people only care when Pineda did it because he’s a Yankee.
Regular season is apparently a different animal than postseason when it comes to foreign substances. Kind of an unwritten rule known throughout baseball I guess. And yes, your Yankees were probably also using something.
You must belong to the “Ortiz was a cheater, A-Rod was a hero” club.
Pineda was ridiculously obvious. The camera caught him.
They both cheated along with Clemens, Andy, Manny and probably many others on both clubs. Keep every one out of the HOF.
Few years back they were searching bucholz when he started out 11-1 for pine tar. It goes in cycles. Rumors start when a guy comes out of nowhere and goes on a run. In honeycut’s case? the guy was finished and really never was anything to begin with really and looking to prolong his career.
Perry was a 200G winner and a good pitcher for years and years.. Decades really and went with the flow. Realizing the hype would make him better as it got into the opponents heads. His book went into it some. Been years since read it.
Listen to basically any baseball person or intelligent journalist talk about this. Using something (sunscreen, pine tar, etc.) to help get a better grip is widely done by basically all pitchers. Hitters are fine with it because they don’t want to be hit constantly. As long as the pitcher is not being ridiculously obvious and overdo it (Pineida) then it is one of those unwritten things that everyone in the game accepts and people on Twitter go crazy over sometimes
Define over do it? You cant have that type of subjective language in the rules… or else you’ll have guys like Yadier Molina walking around with balls stuck to them.
It needs to be modified to where it can be used if both pitchers and hitters agree. I’m so tired of the pine tar crap, it doesn’t effect the movement of the ball
espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/24975783/pine-tar-…
Read the last paragraph before it hits the paywall. Or listen to monday’s baseball tonight podcast. Don’t listen to me, listen to journalists and beat writers that actually go to games all the time and former players
Pine tar absolutely can add spin. Especially an abundance
(Spiderman pointing at Spiderman meme)
A small earpiece for the pitcher would put this issue to rest once and for all.
how is the catcher gonna get the signs then
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That way the front office can call every pitch.
A small screen with numbers like 1-5 that displays on only the pitchers gloves, the catcher keys the pitch on his wristband and no signs to steal or way to manipulate it.
Infielders need the signs too but you may have an idea. My guess is teams will have IT experts intercepting the signal.
Who would’ve thought QBs and one designated defender would have headpieces that the coach could call plays into? Technology has taken over sports. Sooner or later the HP ump with be behind the catcher for judgment calls and will look down to a handheld device that will show pitch locations versus the strike zone; Pitchtrack and umpire egos/incompetence will drive this.
Wasting your time.. Investigate the spin rates… Astros are Gods of the spin rates Lol
kidding by the way.. It’s cool they exceed at that.
I think the word you’re looking for is “excel.”
If there’s one thing wastes of oxygen from Texas are good at, it’s cheating.
I regularly partake in various competitive fantasy baseball leagues. Have scoured pitching stats over the course of two decades, one thing I’ve noticed is the astronomical ERAs opposing pitchers post against the Yankees and Red Sox. Not to imply they’re the only teams doing it, but they are the best at it. Even elite pitchers get lit up against marginal hitters elsewhere, who suddenly “find their stroke” in pinstripes. MLB purists call it gamesmanship, and that’s fine as long as they aren’t using cameras and undisclosed individuals who aren’t actually players on the team. I would call that for what it is: cheating.
Sooooo what about Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury? And Hundley. And Sanchez this year. And. And. And. I’ve seen plenty of players tank once they put on pinstripes. (Obviously not meaning Sanchez but added him because he hit terribly this year.)
Same goes for Boston with Crawford and Panda and. And. And. And. And.
I think you’re trying to find a fantasy pattern and really you’re just pulling your own leg
what? No creepy Twin Peaks music? (and yes, I know the spelling is different, but I couldn’t resist )
“Harry, I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.”
One day my log will have something to say about this.
The Astros usually use multiple signs when there are runners on base to avoid their signs being stolen. It seems foolish in today’s game for the catcher to just throw down the ‘1’ sign when he wants a fastball, knowing fully well that the sign could be relayed to the hitter.
Most teams are going to multiple signs with no runners on..
Meanwhile the league is investigating reports that the Mets are using carrier pigeons to relay stolen signs. The final report is due via pony express any week now.
ROFL…..couldn’t be tho…Mets can’t afford the pigeon feed…..
I hear the mets are upgrading to the telegraph.
The Astros pitching has not been as good since the umpires checked Maldonado’s catchers mitt in game one. Coincidence?
Astros got bit in the backside by karma over that Osuna trade.
Osuna has never been good vs the Sox. JBJ beat him with a HR once before.
Osuna had gone a long time without pitching for a reliever. Smith did too. They seem to thrive on pitching regularly
It’s kind of impossible that a pitcher will always be bad 100% of the time against a certain team tho
It was sweet that it was Ozuna who IMHO should not be pitching.
The Astro’s blew the Tribe out and it the thing out most to me was how well prepared and coached they were which now explains a lot IMO if they were stealing signals. You don’t just all of a sudden blow up that pitching staff like they were a AA team.
To list the “man in white” comment in here is a joke. The author of that piece should never work in journalism again. It was a completely fabricated story that was easily proven impossible.
Anyone working for the Royals who believed that to be true should have been immediately dumped for being ridiculously stupid.
Though, I guess that is the tag line for how the Royals run things… “Ridiculously Stupid.”
Except for their ballpark. It’s the best one I’ve been to by a fair margin.
Apparently “three strikes and you’re out” doesn’t apply to cheating.
This is such a stupid story
I was a huge fan of the Asstros last year in the playoffs and World Series cause they were classy and underdogs and I wanted them to win. Big turnaround this year for me cause o can’t stand them. Starting with that arrogant Bregman. Doesn’t surprise me they are cheating now
“A thorough investigation concluded that an Astros employee was monitoring the field to ensure that the opposing Club was not violating any rules.”
1. This should set off every person’s BS meter. And it’s blatantly insulting to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that MLB thinks we’d actually believe this.
2. This creates so many loopholes. If I film my opponents dugout to ensure they aren’t breaking the rules, is that okay, regardless of if I learn all their strategies that way?
3. This violates the spirit of the game.
Agree. However attempting to steal the other teams signs is as old as baseball itself. It’s right there with breaking up a double play and barreling into the catcher to score a run. Unfortunately those kind of things are frowned upon in modern baseball because doing that would make you a dirty player. But LA Manny #2 plays like a douche and nothing happens. Anyway, so it’s not like sign stealing is going anywhere or hasn’t been around, but using technology and people in the stands or front office employees is way bellow brow. And yeah this press release is full of BS.
Agree with the comments on this thread. Ever hear of a hidden recall in the auto industry? Would anyone be surprised to learn of levied sanctions at some future point?
IMO The Astros should be fully aware of the repercussions of cheating at this point. At least I hope they are. I’d wager good money that they took every step to cover their behinds before ever deciding to undertake this shady endeavor. How? I dont know, but there are surely ways.
A drunken advisor to the Astros, George Popadickoulous, told me at a bar that A.J.Hinch was colluding with the Peruvian government to get info about the Red Sox……and that he had proof Justin Verlander paid Peruvian women to spank him…..
Film at 11…….
I honestly think MLB should address what Bauer keeps insisting. Foreign substances that the pitchers use could help equalize the low amount of balls in play that we see. Yes I get it, 90% of pitchers use foreign substance, but that sounds like the same argument as “at least 50% of players were juicing”, just enforce it and be clear on the rules.
Along with a level playing field for pitchers, we might see the absurd strikeout numbers go down and more balls in play.
Alright I’m thinking this guy needs to be banned^^^.
Seems to be one of the Massholes who gives Boston a bad reputation and why they’re almost universally hated.
Well it seems that you are notorious an answer for everything & endless trolling
Come again
That’s what she said
Means you take the goat.
So another words if you record your opponents dugout to make sure they are not recording you it’s ok but if you just record your opponents dugout it’s not. WTF are these people smoking? You should be recording at all!!! 5-6 clubs has reported misconduct of cheating by the Astro’s . Also Bringing the Patriots up into baseball about cheating just shows that New England has been on a witch hunt since winning.
There’s also the fact that both the Patriots and Red Sox have been caught “cheating” to various degrees so I wouldn’t exactly call it a witch hunt.
It is a witch hunt. If you you think every other team hasn’t done anything, than your in denial too
Don’t act like every body is out to get Boston. Over the past couple of years St. Louis, New York, Atlanta have all been punished for “cheating” and Houston and Toronto have been accused. Boston is not the victim just because they’re the ones who get caught so much.
You have mental issues? No where did anyone say people are out to get Boston nor does Boston get caught more than anyone else. It’s more of a story when they do because of the media but they’ve done nothing several other teams have.
That’s beside the point. This is clearly rule breaking and MLB is trying to say nothing happened. It’s not just Boston it was the As first then the Indians. More teams have been effected. It’s baffling the MLB is saying nothing to see here when they blatantly told them not to do it to Indians then are caught game 1 against Boston.
Take your Boston bias and shove it because you got Boston derange syndrome
Its so bizarre they keep touting themselves as having “the superior culture” but then trade for an abuser and get caught cheating many times? Whatever this “culture” the Astros is referring to, does not belong in MLB.
Are we really going to call this cheating? They aren’t even going to get punished, and plus it says multiple other teams have done something similar.
Uhhh yes are you kidding me?
Who cares if other teams are doing it, other teams aren’t touting around how much better they are as a squad due to some skewed interpretation of “good clubhouse culture” – if that means yelling at fans defending an abuser, then that sucks, my friend.
Ok I’m not a Astros supporter in any way and do not like Osuna at all but they did not cheat, and apparently the league doesn’t think so either. And Pressly acted like a professional. The only options were to stay quiet or do what he did. And there’s at least a few players on every single ball team that would’ve acted like Pressly. You can’t argue that. And maybe he had a valid point. I bet you he realizes Osuna is a bad person. But does that make it alright to yell and cuss him when there’s others around. Is that really the place to do it?
Again I’m not a Astros guy, but if you think Pressly has a problem or is the problem, you have to acknowledge that your team also has that exact same player on it
Cheaters
A Chicago Cubs substance inside the bats?
The MLB “investigation” smells and sounds like a whitewash.
I agree
mlb’s so soft of course they’ll sweep this under the rug.. carry on
Um yeeeaaahhh, …..I dont think Boston should be complaining about any other team cheating.
I can’t help but feel like the Astros explanation is a bit like being a guy getting caught with his hand on someone else’s wallet and saying “I’m just making sure you don’t steal from me.”
Does anyone else notice that since they caught their “private investigator” the Astros haven’t won a single game after previously not LOSING a single game in the post season? Nothing suspicious there…
They still beat up on Red Sox pitching though….
The biggest cheating came when Cowboy Joe West nullified Altuve’s HR in the first inning last night.. Okay, I can understand West calling the play as he saw it. What is a mystery to me is how the reviewers came to the same conclusion.
What’s so hard to understand? Betts would have caught the ball if the moron fan didn’t reach into the field of play and push his glove. Replay confirmed. Altuve was out. Moron fan ejected. Same call for every ball park in baseball.
I don’t think they reached in though. There does get to the point that a fan has the right to go for the ball. If West calls it a homer, I don’t think there is any way they can over turn it. And did they actually kick the fan out? I’d hope not. That wasn’t egregious like most fan interference, if it even was fan interference.
There’s multiple still still frames online at this point. All 3 fans around Betts glove were over the fence. Cut & dried fan interference.
If you want to argue who knows if Betts would have caught it? That’s semi-legit. But we’ll never know because this fans interfered.
I haven’t seen one picture showing them over the fence. I’ve seen a lot of Boston fans trying to justify it, but none of them actually proves anything.
I’ve seen 15 or more at this point that show it. Not that it matters. Believe what you want but the reality is it’s an out and they would have lost either way. Enjoy The Red Sox back in the World Series!!
When the ball is already over the fence, the fan can do whatever they want, and how did west even make the original call? He thinks he’s bigger than the game and should be punished for cheating.
It could have never been called a homer. It hit Betts glove and came back onto the field. No matter what it never left the park so that would have been overturned definitively.
Ball went off the glove, then a fan’s hand, then back onto the field. It left the park. Ball was over the fence. Therefore it left the park.
We can assume Betts was going to catch the ball. We cannot definitely say Betts was catching that ball. Wrong call, should have been a homerun.
Nope. Sorry. You’re wrong. Replay confirmed that was NOT the case. Enjoy the WS just like the Astros will… from your couch.
Sounds like envy to me because the Astros are cruising and possibly on the verge of repeating WS Tittle.
Oh yeah? “cruising” you say? Lol
MLB Issues a statement confirming that the word “gullible” isn’t even in the dictionary.