Stealing signs is an issue that has surrounded MLB games for a decades, but it has been especially prevalent recently as technology continues to evolve.
MLB recently had to launch an investigation of the Houston Astros as the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox accused them of cheating by placing a man named Kyle McLaughlin in the camera well near the opposing team’s dugout to try and steal signs.
The investigation determined that no foul play was involved, so the Astros were not penalized. They claimed that McLaughlin was just there to surveil the opposing dugouts to ensure their opponents weren’t using any illegal tactics to steal the Astros’ signs.
In addition to the Astros, the investigation revealed that some other teams have been attempting to steal signs as well. One situation in particular that came up was the Game 163 that decided the National League West division championship between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies.
Although, it was not revealed which team was trying to gain the advantage, via Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports:
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ and Colorado Rockies’ tiebreaker, sources told Yahoo Sports, had multiple accusations of deceit as well, with concerns of someone signaling batters from center field and another in which signals were relayed to a third-base coach from the tunnel and then passed along to the batter.
The report is a bit vague, but it doesn’t look like any action will be taken on either the Dodgers or Rockies for the incident.
All 30 MLB teams have now been put on notice though, so even though there was not a penalty for the Astros or anyone else this time around, it seems like the league will be willing to come down hard if there are any future instances surrounding sign stealing and technology.
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