Red Sox Cheating Scam
For many years, the great American sport, baseball has had ways of playing around the rules. The teams have strategies of which pitch to use, and by using signals that only their team can recognize. Yet throughout the years, teams have been spying from across the field to figure out what their opponent has coming up. There is nothing wrong with this, but when the Boston Red Sox played the New York Yankees, there was a high suspicion the Red Sox were directly stealing signs from the Yankees, but not from across the field per usual, through an Apple Watch.
Sign stealing is not formally outlawed, but it is not looked upon lightly, especially when technology is used. Majority of the time, it is done by the runner on second base. They are able to see what the catcher is signaling to the pitcher and communicate with the others on what is coming. The biggest and most famous incident, was in 1951. The New York Giants came back in the last two months of the season after an almost 14 game set back. The Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers to win in playoffs. But, the cheating scandal was not revealed until 50 years later in The Wall Street Journal. The Giants had spies at the far side of the field with telescopes to steal signs from the opponent’s catcher, which were then relayed to Giant players in the bullpen nearby. The Boston Red Sox had their scheme planned and was going smoothly, until the opposing team caught suspicion and looked deeper into the dugout. The Red Sox trainer would look at his Apple Watch before each pitch and call over some players who would then signal to the players on the field to what their method of action should be. The staff on the Yankees side caught this fiasco on video and, after consulting with authorities, sent in the complaint and video to report Boston on their scam. Baseball investigators confronted the Red Sox about the issue, and they admitted to using the Apple watch in order to receive video replay that was broadcasted live on television.
It is not clear what, or if, the Boston Red Sox will be penalized with, but there is a big investigation that will take place on both sides of the issue. The Red Sox have filed their own complaint accusing the Yankees of using technology to steal signs of theirs and record their dugout. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stated to reporters at Fenway Park, “We will conduct a thorough investigation on both sides. We’re 100 percent comfortable that it is not an ongoing issue.” The Red Sox manager, John Farrell, informed the public that he was indeed aware of the team trying to steal signs from the Yankees, as many teams do and have done for years, but he was unaware of the use of technology, which is against the rules to use in the dugout. The end of the cheating, using technology, from the Boston Red Sox is under control, but the investigation will continue until something is decided upon for the penalty upon either, or both sides of the conflict. But the question still remains: is sign stealing actually cheating?
Emma is a Senior at Wheeler and the opinions editor for the print edition of The Catalyst. She stays involved as the Varsity Cheer Captain and President...
