Interesting article about sign stealing that goes back since the turn of the century. I want Hinch and Luhnow back.
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They were banging on a trashcan… if the hitter can hear that so can the catcher, pitcher and first baseman. This is nothing more than Yankees and Dodgers whining.
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This is asinine. Even if the opposing team hears the banging, it means nothing other than that the other team is cheating, and they ought to change their signs. The batter is up there listening for a particular bang, whistle, buzz or whatever, and knows what that particular noise means.
It’s time to face the facts: The Astros cheated, they got caught, and their championship is tainted forever.
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Bean Dip. Bobby Thompson’s shot heard round the world was the result of sign stealing. Its been going on forever.
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Or at least since 1951, which doesn’t make it right.
The article shows it going back to 1899-1900 with the phillies
I agree with Will Clark:
They all do it at some level or another. It is the job of the other team to stop the other team from stealing their signs. The easy way to stop it is you have multiple coaches and players relaying the signs. They are major league ball players for gosh sakes, they can figure something out. If you suspect the catcher is having his sign stolen then the manager relays the signs to the first baseman or 3rd baseman and he gives the signs (stealthily). This is just the Dodgers and the Yankees whining because they haven’t won a championship in a decade.
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Is there a difference between a runner on base relaying signs to a batter and a bench using cameras / technology to see the signs and relay to the batter? I am good with the former but the latter crosses the line.
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Huge difference. One is legal, the other not.
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I agree that is why I think you have to separate the “teams have always done it” into those two categories.
The Astros cheated according to the rules and they got caught. I have no doubt other teams cheated too (we’re looking at you 2018 Red Sox) but that’s not a justification. Just a rationalization.
BTW, Beltran and Cora are the most indictable in all of this and although they were canned, they’re being ignored…why is that? I wonder…hmm.
With that said in terms of taking back championships…how many championships should we take back from the Yankees, Red Sox…for having players on steroids playing for them?
Good grief. Baseball has had cheating forever. Nobody doubts that. Nobody. It doesn’t matter what the 51 Giants did, or the 83 White Sox or any other team. Hell, someone could have been hacking the Hubble telescope to steal signs.
The problem is that the Astros (and everyone else) were told in three memos to stop using the video camera and monitors to steal signs. The Astros chose to ignore it. If they had stopped none of this would have happened.
Astros fans are going to be salty about this for a long time and using the ‘everyone has always cheated’ excuse but they did it, they admitted it. Hinch could have stopped it. He chose not to. They earned this.
I have no vendetta against the Astros. They are my ‘second’ team. I go see them many times a year. I’m an Orioles fan, so I have my own set of baseball problems! 
BTW…I think they hit two homers with the two hires they made. Well done by Bob Crane.
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I agree - and that’s why we should also put an asterisk next to the champions who had steroid users who admitted or were caught (Mitchell Report).
Start with:
Yankees 2000
Red Sox 2004
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They banged a trash can before the pitch. The catcher, pitcher and first baseman did what when they heard it? Give me a break.
Yep.
Not sure what you’re asking. The bangs were to alert the hitter of a certain pitch.
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Commish, these guys are major league ball players. If they hear banging before every pitch they are going to adjust and figure it out, they aren’t going to scratch their head and shrug their shoulders. They are going to know that the signs have been stolen. If they didn’t figure it out…
Apparently they didn’t although Danny Farquhar pretty much did. Interesting story about the fallout from his instincts here.
If you are a major league pitcher and you notice that all the hitters are hitting your off speed stuff like they know its coming, its because they know its coming. Either they have stolen your signs or you are tipping your pitches. Figure it out.
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How many different noises can you get out of a trashcan lid
? Lololol