The MLB world is in chaos, and the fallout of the Astros’ cheating scandal may be triggering a massive outpouring of claims and allegations about various players and organizations. On Thursday, fans ran wild with a theory that Astros players were wearing buzzers under their uniforms, and burner accounts spreading unverified rumors went viral. It was madness, and we may only be scratching the surface.
On Friday, former MLB pitcher Jack McDowell – a three-time All-Star and the 1993 AL Cy Young winner with the White Sox – claimed that the Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa orchestrated a sign stealing scheme in Chicago in the 1980s. According to McDowell, the White Sox used a camera to steal signs from the catcher, and then used a light on the scoreboard to signal batters.
“We had a system in the old Comiskey Park in the late 1980s – the Gatorade sign out in center had a light, there was a toggle switch in the manager’s office and camera zoomed in on the catcher. I’m gonna whistle blow this now because I’m getting tired of this crap. There was that, Tony La Russa is the one who put it in. He was also the head of the first team where everyone was doing steroids. Yet, he’s still in the game making half a million, you know? No one is going to go after that. It’s just, this stuff is getting old where they target certain guys and let other people off the hook…. Everyone who’s been around the game knows all this stuff.”
La Russa managed the White Sox from 1979 to 1986, and McDowell made his MLB debut with the team the following year in 1987. McDowell said that he wasn’t sure if the White Sox were still stealing signs using a camera once the team’s new stadium opened, but speculated that other teams likely had sign-stealing systems in place as well. McDowell pitched for the White Sox through the 1994 season before being traded to the Yankees.
“I’ve never said about the old system we had because once we got to new Comiskey [in 1991], I didn’t know if there was one or not. There were rumors that we had one, but it wasn’t as out there as the first one was, where they forced the pitcher who was pitching the next day had to go in there and flip on the toggle switch and stuff.”
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