Tag: Houston Astros

Pete Rose offered a weak defense for the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal

Uh, no.

The Houston Astros have been embroiled in scandal amid accusations that the club instituted a technology-aided system to steal signs from opponents beginning with the 2017 season.

In the month since those initial comments from former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers and three anonymous Astros sources were published in The Athletic, MLB fans have taken a deep dive into game video to expose a relay system that involved a banging noise to signify off-speed pitches. Even the Astros’ World Series documentary revealed the likely sign-stealing setup just off from the dugout.

No part of the operation was subtle, but former MLB legend Pete Rose still isn’t buying that the Astros were cheating. According to Rose — who, at 78, is still banned for life by MLB for gambling on baseball — the Astros couldn’t have had the time to properly relay pitches to the batter.

In addition to throwing in a creepy catcalling whistle to make an argument against the Astros’ whistling, Rose’s Astros defense came off as someone entirely unaware of the scandal’s details.

Rose said:

“I can’t imagine when a pitcher gets a sign and throws a pitch to me, how someone had time to tell me what the pitch was.”

Well, Pete, this was how:

Even the game’s quickest working pitchers need around 15 seconds between pitches — guys like Wade Miley or Steven Matz. The Astros allegedly had a live feed of the game on a monitor just off from the dugout. There was more than enough time for a team employee to recognize the pitch signal and to bang an object against a trashcan before the delivery even started.

Like, we can hear and see it, Pete. It’s all on video.

The Astros will need to mount a defense with MLB, sure, but their chances won’t look great if they take after Rose’s argument here.

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Watch: Daniel Jones, Clint Frazier poke fun at Astros while playing COD

New York Giants QB Daniel Jones and New York Yankees OF Clint Frazier had some fun at the Houston Astros’ expense while playing Call of Duty.

New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones and New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier had a little fun at the expense of the Houston Astros recently, making light of the ongoing cheating scandal while playing a game of Call of Duty online.

In the game, Frazier’s character can be seen hitting a trash can with the butt of his fictional firearm as Jones is heard laughing on. Frazier goes on to say that he knows a “heater” is coming because of the number of bangs on the trash can.

Frazier then says he’ll “hit a homer” because he knows what pitch is incoming.

That is, of course, a direct reference to one of the cheating systems the Astros had in place in Houston — banging a trash can a certain number of times to let the batter know if a fastball or off-speed pitch was coming.

Later on in the game, Frazier does it again and his entire team, including Jones, cracks up again.

Major League Baseball is currently in the midst of an investigation into the Astros’ cheating scandal and are expected to hand down one of the most harsh punishments in sports history, although no one is entirely sure what that will be.

In the mean time, Jones and Frazier intend to have a little fun with it.

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Deshaun Watson gives jersey to Astros’ Justin Verlander after Texans 20-17 win vs. Colts

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson gave his jersey to Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander after win over the Indianapolis Colts.

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Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has Houston in his corner, including the city’s fellow stars. After attending the Texans’ 20-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander met up with Watson post-game.

Included in the visit was some memorabilia for Verlander. Watson gave the 2019 AL Cy Young winner a signed, game-worn jersey — though not the color rush one he won in the win.

Though an age difference — Watson at 24, Verlander at 36 — and a sport one, Watson and Verlander have formed a tight bond since their own 2017 arrivals in Houston. The two have had dinners together and breakdown film.

“I guess we just kind of relate that way, but honestly, I was blown away after the first time meeting him,” said Verlander on Oct. 17. “Just his demeanor how smart he was. His charisma, all the things that you want to see a young athlete.”

Regular, while walking the streets of Houston, you will see Watson and Verlander jerseys littered through the crowd. You may also see Verlander rocking a Watson one and vice-versa.

Report: MLB took steps to stop the Astros from stealing signs during the 2019 season

Did MLB already know?

The recent allegations relating to the Houston Astros’ elaborate sign-stealing system came as a surprise to much of baseball world. While the Astros had been suspected of stealing signs by teams, the use of technology was crossing a line from gamesmanship into cheating.

But it turns out that MLB wasn’t all too shocked about the Astros’ sign-stealing tactics. In fact, the league took measures in the 2019 season to prevent the Astros from relaying signals for off-speed pitches to the batter. The league just reportedly did so while letting the Astros’ apparent 2017 and 2018 cheating go unpunished until former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers blew the whistle on the operation.

According to a report from The Houston Chronicle, the league instructed video monitors at Minute Maid Park to listen for that same banging noise for off-speed pitches that Fiers described to The Athletic.

Via The Chronicle:

Part of that revised policy included a group of video monitors at each ballpark responsible for ensuring clubs adhered to the new regulations. Each game last regular season had at least one person around both the home and visiting dugouts monitoring the replay room, clubhouse, tunnel and any other area.

“What they told us was we were essentially looking for people who were using technology to steal signs,” said one video monitor.

The report continued:

One person familiar with the Astros’ video monitoring said those who worked at Minute Maid Park were instructed “early on” to “make sure there was no one in the dugout banging.”

Last week, MLB acknowledged that teams expressed concerns about sign stealing. The league said that it put protocols in place to prevent technology being used to steal signs.

But a specific directive relating to the Astros’ banging noise would imply that MLB at least had some prior knowledge of tactics that have since been exposed in various Twitter videos and possibly the Astros’ own World Series documentary.

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The Astros’ sign-stealing setup may have been revealed in their World Series documentary

So many questions.

MLB has launched an investigation into the Houston Astros’ apparent technology-aided tactics to steal signs dating back to the 2017 season. And the league investigators may want to check out the Astros’ own commemorative World Series documentary.

It may reveal where the sign stealing unfolded.

Ever since former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers blew the whistle on the Astros’ system to steal signs, plenty of MLB fans have taken a dive into old highlights and looked to uncover blatant examples of this cheating. The Athletic report described a system where someone around the Astros dugout would hit a bat against a trashcan to signify an incoming off-speed pitch.

This system, which wasn’t exactly subtle, raised suspicion among opponents at the time. But for that banging noise to be audible from the plate, it would have needed to be coming from somewhere both close to the field and out of view. This clip from the 2017 World Series documentary would fit that bill.

Jomboy Media’s Jimmy O’Brien uncovered a clip that showed both Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman walking past a trashcan in a hallway just off the dugout. The entire setup was curious, to say the least.

You can see an apparent work station set up right next to that trashcan, and all the shells on the ground would suggest that someone was seated at that spot for an extended amount of time. Whoever was stationed at that chair apparently needed a power strip to plug in electronics and opted to throw the shells on the ground rather than use the trashcan directly to the right.

The open-air setup of that brick hallway would allow any sound to make its way to the field.

O’Brien also pointed out the towel placement, which could have been used to block the view of the trashcan from the field.

And yes, while the setup from the clip is rather circumstantial, it does present an area that MLB should look into. At the very least, there are questions from that hallway that need to be answered.

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MLB fans turned the Astros’ sign-stealing tactics into a hilarious meme

Can’t stop laughing.

From the moment a report in The Athletic detailed how the Houston Astros evidently stole signs from opponents in 2017 (and beyond), multiple video examples of the Astros using a banging noise to communicate off-speed pitches hit Twitter.

The tactics, which allegedly involved the use of an outfield camera, were brazenly shameless. You could see how pitchers suspected that the Astros had a read on the signs. You could see how catchers obstructed their signals even with the bases empty.

While MLB will investigate the Astros’ alleged cheating, MLB fans reacted to the news by turning the blatant cheating into an excellent meme. And really, the effort was great. Here are some of our favorites to hit Twitter over the past few days.

Seriously, take a bow. That’s Hall-of-Fame work, MLB Twitter.

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Leaked email shows Astros asked for scouts’ help stealing signs in 2017

An email sent in 2017 from a Houston Astros executive asked scouts to help steal signs.

It started as whispers around the league, but they were just that, whispers. It was a rumor, something talked about around the league, that the Houston Astros had worked out a way to steal opposing teams’ signs.

The whispers got louder, however. Then online sleuths started digging and seemed to find a lot of evidence pointing toward the fact that the Astros had been systematically stealing signs and alerting batters what pitches were coming.

Still, even then, it was just a bit of evidence. Then, last week, The Athletic reported on a camera system, installed in center field, that former pitcher Mike Fiers says they used to steal signs and then quickly communicate them to batters.

Now The Athletic has discovered even more.

In a 2017 email acquired by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich, someone described as a “Houston Astros front-office executive” emailed a list of scouts and asked for their help in stealing signs.

From The Athletic:

“One thing in specific we are looking for is picking up signs coming out of the dugout,” the email’s sender wrote in a message from August of 2017. “What we are looking for is how much we can see, how we would log things, if we need cameras/binoculars, etc. So go to game, see what you can (or can’t) do and report back your findings.”

This story isn’t over. Far from it. Go read more at The Athletic.

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New clip shows that the Astros’ sign-stealing tactics also occurred during the 2018 season

It wasn’t just 2017.

When former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers went on the record to The Athletic that the Astros used technology to steal signs in 2017, much of the focus remained on that 2017 World Series season.

But if newly uncovered video clips are any indication, MLB will have to expand its investigation to cover seasons beyond 2017. Those same tactics described by Fiers — using an outfield camera and hitting a bat against a dugout trashcan to signal an off-speed pitch — were evident in 2018.

A recent article from The Kansas City Star looked to find examples of these sign-stealing tactics taking place during past Royals-Astros games. While the paper did point to a 2017 example that seemed to implicate newly named Mets manager Carlos Beltran (though the video had poor audio), the story’s most damning example didn’t come in 2017. It was from the 2018 season.

A clip from the June 22, 2018 matchup at Minute Maid Park showed Carlos Correa hitting a second-inning double off a changeup from pitcher Danny Duffy.

Once the Royals signaled for a changeup, that same banging noise from other clips was audible on the broadcast. Correa was sitting on that off-speed pitch and hit a double with a 98.5 mph exit velocity off the bat.

Fiers last played for the Astros in 2017, which would explain why his accusation only covered that season. But it’s plainly obvious that the Astros didn’t just stop with that one season. Those tactics carried into the following year.

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Report: MLB to interview Astros, Red Sox managers about sign-stealing

Here’s how MLB is addressing its major sign-stealing controversy.

Former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers rocked the baseball world by telling The Athletic that Houston used outfield cameras to steal signs in 2017, the year the Astros won the World Series.

Since that report was published this week,  Twitter user @Jomboy_ has uncovered multiple clips that explain the Astros’ apparent system to alert batters in the box about upcoming pitches. In one instance, White Sox pitcher Danny Farquhar noticed that there was a banging noise coming from the Astros’ dugout just before he threw a changeup in an extended at-bat.

The Astros were accused of sign stealing during the 2019 MLB playoffs by the Yankees, who claimed they could hear whistling from the Astros dugout to signal pitches.

Major League Baseball is investigating the issue, and several people involved with the 2017 Astros team will be interviewed by the league, according to a report by ESPN.

Via ESPN:

“The initial stages of the investigation already have begun, sources said, with league personnel contacting people from both the Astros and Boston Red Sox organizations on Wednesday. The league is attempting to cull tangible evidence from the widespread paranoia of front offices and teams around the game about others cheating and has indicated it will consider levying long suspensions against interviewees who are found to have lied, according to sources.

…. Among those the league plans to interview in its investigation are Astros manager AJ Hinch, Red Sox manager Alex Cora and New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran, according to sources.”

Earlier this year, Hinch laughed off accusations of sign-stealing in the ALCS.

Via the AP:

“In reality, it’s a joke. But Major League Baseball does a lot to ensure the fairness of the game. There’s people everywhere. If you go through the dugouts and the clubhouses and the hallways, there’s like so many people around.

And then when I get contacted about some questions about whistling, it made me laugh because it’s ridiculous. And had I known that it would take something like that to set off the Yankees or any other team, we would have practiced it in spring training,” he added. “It apparently works, even when it doesn’t happen.”

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