Right Or Wrong, Stealing Signs Is A Part Of Baseball

Photo courtesy: Keith Allison

 

Yesterday’s report from the New York Times that the Red Sox stole signs from the Yankees using Apple Watches put the internet into a frenzy. Some don’t believe the stealing of signs to be a huge issue, while others have suggested MLB commissioner Rob Manfred vacate some wins from the Red Sox. It’s clear everyone just needs to calm down, take a step back, and assess the situation.

 

According to the New York Times report, the people in the Red Sox dugout would use their Apple Watch to look at video of the catcher giving signs to the pitcher, which they would then relay to a player, who would relay it to the batter. The report accurately states that teams normally do this with runners from a television to the dugout, but the difference is Boston did it using electronics.

 

Because the majority if not all MLB teams likely do steal signs in some way, this shouldn’t be a huge deal. On a micro level, it’s not a great look for the Red Sox. But on a macro level, the real problem is sign stealing and cheating overall.

 

Stealing signs has been around probably for as long as baseball has been around. It’s certainly one of the leading causes of brush-back pitches and benches clearing. The catcher is in plain sight for runners on second base, and televisions give access for all viewers to see the signs. Why do you think the catcher frequently comes out and talks to the pitcher when a runner is on second base?

 

The issue isn’t the Red Sox using electronics, more specifically an Apple Watch, to steal signs. The issue is that it’s become a normal competitive advantage people try to gain when playing the game of baseball. You might’ve seen something similar a few months ago: a runner was on second base and decided to totally skip third and run home because the umpires couldn’t see it. Many people seemed to be OK with this player cheating in that circumstance, and it’s 100 times worse than stealing signs.

 

The “Watchgate” scandal comes down to morality. I played baseball and never liked the idea of stealing signs—it just didn’t feel right. When I was up to bat, I didn’t even like getting signs from my teammates either because there’s a chance they’re wrong.

 

If you don’t think it’s right to steal signs from opposing teams, that’s fine. It’s a justifiable take to have. But there’s no rule in the MLB rulebook that states sign-stealing is illegal. So let’s stop calling for Commissioner Manfred to vacate wins from the Red Sox, and let’s get back to allowing the players to enforce the code of the game again.

 

And congrats to Apple on the free marketing, as if they needed it.