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The Boston Red Sox are accused of cheating via electronics for 2018

Musky_Cheese

Musky_Cheese

Banned
First it was the Houston Astros in 2017 (Wold Series winners that year). Now it is the Boston RedSox in 2018 (World series winners that year). Is Alex Cora the link? Alex Cora was with Houston in 2017 and Manager of the RedSox in 2018. Both cheating scandals involve the use of stealing catcher signs electronically, tho the RedSox seemed more gentlemanly lol.

First you have the Houston Astros in 2017. And they used a camera placed in Center Field that had a TV setup in the dugout tunnel. They would watch the catcher put down the sign, and make some kind of noise to let the Astro hitter know what type of pitch was coming. No noise for fastball, noise for offspeed. Video by Jomboy below. Short 2 minutes



Just broke today that the Boston RedSox are also accused.

"at least some players visited the video replay room during games to learn the sign sequence opponents were using.”

The sources that spoke with The Athletic make clear that the Sox’ uniformed personnel made dedicated pursuit of electronic sign-stealing. But the approach was fundamentally different from that allegedly employed by the Astros. The Houston organization is said to have had a team employee watching a live game feed, conveying the pitch type via audio signal (banging on a trash can). In Boston, upon sussing out the signs, the Red Sox would reportedly utilize the information in a time-honored manner: runners reaching second base would look in at the catcher and then deliver the news to the hitter by some visual cue.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020...oom-to-ascertain-opponents-signs-in-2018.html

Is stealing signs cheating?
No! but the use of electronics to do so is.

What I mean is say you have a runner on 2nd, if he can see the catchers signs and relay to the hitter what it is... all good and not cheating. Opposing team may frown upon it and throw at you next time you are up, but stealing signs isn't illegal.

So what is illegal and why is this cheating?
The use of doing so electronically is illegal. Using a video feed or any electronics to steal signs is illegal.

Did the Reigning Defending Undisputed World Series Champions save baseball? Yes! Had the Astros won in 2019 this story would be way bigger.

Thank you Washington Nationals

giphy.gif
 
NickFire

NickFire

Member
Musky_Cheese said:
Cheating the year you win it all, especially when beating a big market team like the Yankees would be a big story.
Click to expand...
If you ain't stealing signs in baseball, then you ain't trying.

I know people would promote it as a big story. I only dispute that the average person gives a darn. Much different than steroids.
 
B

Bladed Thesis

Member
Every team is doing stuff to gain a competitive advantage. Every sport. Some closer to the blurred lines than others. Some with one foot over the blurred lines. Then you're got the Astros with both feet over the blurred lines.

But sign stealing using conventional methods is part of the game and in no way cheating in my opinion. It's all part of the in-game strategy. Using technology is another matter.
 
R

Rock And Roll

Member
NickFire said:
If you ain't stealing signs in baseball, then you ain't trying.

I know people would promote it as a big story. I only dispute that the average person gives a darn. Much different than steroids.
Click to expand...

The general consensus around the league is stealing signs is fine if you do it traditionally, runner on second looking in and figuring out the sequence then relaying the pitch to the runner (as Musky stated).

Electronically stealing is a whole different story because there is no runner on second so the catcher is not using signs, just putting down 1 for FB, 2 for Change up, 3 for Breaking etc... You can literally tell what pitch is coming as a fan just from watching what the catcher throws down. That is unacceptable because you don't even have to try to figure out what's coming, the catcher shows you. That is why this is a problem.

I know the general public might not care as much because it's not as flashy as steroids, but this is without a doubt worse than steroids. Even if you're juiced up, you still have to guess what pitch is coming and what location. You still have to time the pitch correctly. However, if all that guesswork is taken away the game becomes a lot easier.

What is all the great Astros hitters regress significantly next year? If all those great numbers are nothing more than inflated by cheating, it's a pretty similar situation to the roids era. You're gonna need an asterisk for those Altuve batting titles.

As for the Red Sox, can't say I'm surprised and I'm sure we'll learn about other teams doing this. But Cora being involved with both and both winning a World Series is fucking gross. Even as a Giants fan I'd rather see the butt fuck Dodgers win a series cleanly than some low life scum blatantly cheating in the easiest way possible.
 
NickFire

NickFire

Member
Rock And Roll said:
The general consensus around the league is stealing signs is fine if you do it traditionally, runner on second looking in and figuring out the sequence then relaying the pitch to the runner (as Musky stated).

Electronically stealing is a whole different story because there is no runner on second so the catcher is not using signs, just putting down 1 for FB, 2 for Change up, 3 for Breaking etc... You can literally tell what pitch is coming as a fan just from watching what the catcher throws down. That is unacceptable because you don't even have to try to figure out what's coming, the catcher shows you. That is why this is a problem.

I know the general public might not care as much because it's not as flashy as steroids, but this is without a doubt worse than steroids. Even if you're juiced up, you still have to guess what pitch is coming and what location. You still have to time the pitch correctly. However, if all that guesswork is taken away the game becomes a lot easier.

What is all the great Astros hitters regress significantly next year? If all those great numbers are nothing more than inflated by cheating, it's a pretty similar situation to the roids era. You're gonna need an asterisk for those Altuve batting titles.

As for the Red Sox, can't say I'm surprised and I'm sure we'll learn about other teams doing this. But Cora being involved with both and both winning a World Series is fucking gross. Even as a Giants fan I'd rather see the butt fuck Dodgers win a series cleanly than some low life scum blatantly cheating in the easiest way possible.
Click to expand...
In my earlier years I would have disagreed with the notion that sign stealing is worse than steroids. Today I will not, although I would say its debatable. I would take your side in said debate however, as it does seem your average big league player can hammer a fastball with ease when it is expected.

But I still say the average person won't get nearly as upset about it. Cheating vs. non cheating gets much more outrage than cheating the right way vs. cheating the wrong way.
 
greyshark

greyshark

Member
I wonder if we could use technology to prevent the need for signs anymore. The NFL started putting earpieces in so they no longer had to rely plays from the sideline, maybe you can do the same for the manager calling pitches? Of course it's more complicated with the catcher needing the same info too.
 
Thabass

Thabass

Member
It should be noted that the Sox didn't do this during the 2018 Playoffs. So, no, the Dodgers didn't get robbed. They sucked.
 
Musky_Cheese

Musky_Cheese

Banned
Thabass said:
Well even the Athletic reported that. So, you can believe what you want to believe.

Sidenote: Yes, I am a Red Sox fan. And yes, I believe they should be punished.
Click to expand...
Just being silly

Punishment will be less severe than the Astros. We should find out shortly what that will be
 
Thabass

Thabass

Member
The Astros are so fucked, you'd need the jaws of life to get Manfred's dick out of the Astros' ass.
 
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