The Boston Red Sox have created a modern twist to stealing signs by using Apple watches to get a leg up on plays by the New York Yankees and other teams.
About two weeks ago, the Yankees’ general manager, Brian Cashman, filed a detailed complaint with the commissioner’s office that included video the Yankees shot of the Red Sox dugout last month.
The Yankees have been suspicious of the Red Sox for a long time now, only now they have footage of the act. They contest that the video shows a member of the Red Sox training staff looking at his Apple watch and then relaying a message to players.
Fans of the other 28 MLB teams when they hear that the Red Sox cheated, but they did it against the Yankees pic.twitter.com/rFtoa2uYsd
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) September 5, 2017
Baseball investigators corroborated the Yankees claim based on video they use in the commissioner’s office for instant replays and broadcasts. When the office confronted the Red Sox, they admitted that their trainers had received signals from video replay personnel and then relayed that information to some players, an operation that had been in place for at least several weeks.
The Red Sox then followed suit by filing a complaint against the Yankees, saying that they use footage from their television network, YES, exclusively to steal signs. Don’t they know that a defensive act like that makes them look even more guilty? Although they already admitted to it, so this is just to bring the Yankees down with them, if they can.
The most infamous case of sign stealing was in 1951 when the New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in a playoff that produced the home run dubbed the “shot heard round the world” by Bobby Thompson. The Giants had come off a 13.5-game deficit in the standings over the final two months of the season against the Dodgers.
FIFTY YEARS LATER, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Giants had spies in the center-field clubhouse at the Polo Grounds who used a telescope to steal signs from the opposing catcher, which were then relayed to players by a backup player. How times have changed, from a telescope to an Apple watch.
Cheating with an Apple Watch is the closest MLB has ever come to trying to market to millennials https://t.co/gFUqb9esw5
— Anthony Vitale (@antsvitale) September 5, 2017
At this moment in time, there is no news about how Commissioner Rob Manfred will proceed with either complaint. Since the Red Sox investigation showed clear evidence of sign stealing, action should be taken.
Some believe that the Red Sox should have some winning games revoked, while others believe a significant fine and docking draft picks would suffice.
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