Tag: sign stealing

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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