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SPORTS Saturday 20 OctOber 2018

New technology only adds to

baseball’s culture of paranoia

Continued from Page 17 the National League pen- “There’s a lot of technol-
nant on Bobby Thomson’s ogy in ballparks these days,
The latest flare-up came playoff-winning homer . video cameras and high-
when a man associated A half-century later, New speed cameras and high-
with the Houston Astros York’s sign-stealing system magnification cameras,”
was pointing his cellphone was laid bare in a Wall Luhnow said.
into opposing dugouts dur- Street Journal story that “When we go into an op- In this June 8, 2011 file photo, Arizona Diamondbacks bench
ing playoff games against quoted members of that posing ballpark, we tend coach Alan Trammell, left, gives signals standing next to
Cleveland and Boston. team. to look around and make manager Kirk Gibson during the fifth inning of a baseball game
The Astros said they were The bullpen would receive sure that we don’t see any against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh.
just trying to defend them- the signs from the club- suspicious activity. We’ve Associated Press
selves against any suspi- house via a buzzer system. been doing that as a mat-
cious activity from oppo- Catcher Sal Yvars said he ter of course for a while.”
nents. relayed them to hitters. Watch any game, and you
There’s clearly plenty of Fast forward to the present can find evidence of the
paranoia to go around. era, and the possibilities for lengths teams might go if
“The game is so ultra- surreptitious surveillance they’re worried about who
competitive and there’s so seem endless. is watching.
small margins between re- “If they’re in the dugout, It’s one thing for a catcher
ally good teams and really and they’re in there trying to switch to more complex
good players and there’s a to steal our signs, I think signs to avoid giving away
lot at stake,” Houston man- that’s part of the game,” the next pitch to a runner
ager AJ Hinch said before said Dave Dombrowski, on second — but now a
losing to the Red Sox in the president of baseball op- team might do that even if
AL Championship Series. erations for the Red Sox. the bases are empty.
“So we do have to find a “If you’re doing electronic “We utilize multiple signs
healthy place for everyone devices, that’s against the with nobody on base. Oth-
to be comfortable moving rules. We were penalized er teams do that as well,”
forward competitively be- last year.” Hinch said.
cause it’s a bigger topic The Red Sox were indeed “We ask a lot out of our
than even one instance.” fined last year for using an catchers. We have 12, 13,
The art of sign stealing rang- Apple Watch while trying sometimes 14 pitchers on
es from the mundane — a to steal signs from the New a roster that can all have
baserunner trying to de- York Yankees. different signs and different
code the catcher’s signals Major League Baseball sequences.”
and let the batter know says before this postsea- One way to avoid hav-
what’s coming — to more son, teams contacted ing signs stolen is for the
complex spying schemes. the commissioner’s office catcher and pitcher to
Even 19th century technol- about sign stealing and have a private meeting
ogy could apparently be “the inappropriate use of — but mound visits were
useful. video equipment” — and slowing the game so much
In his 2007 book “The it wasn’t just one team that that baseball put a limit on
Cheater’s Guide to Base- was the target of those them.
ball,” Derek Zumsteg men- concerns. There have already been
tions an 1898 incident in This week’s controversy seven passed balls in the
Philadelphia when a visit- brought suspicion upon the postseason this year —
ing player found a buried Astros — and Houston in there were six in the whole
wire in the area around turn expressed its own sus- 2017 postseason — so per-
third base. picions of other teams. haps pitchers and catch-
“The wire ran all the way MLB essentially agreed with ers are getting crossed up
to the home team’s club- the Astros’ explanation, more often.
house in the outfield,” Zum- saying an investigation of For decades, sign stealing
steg wrote, “where a play- recent incidents conclud- was a mysterious, almost
er would sit with binoculars ed “that an Astros employ- charming addition to base-
and signal the pitch by set- ee was monitoring the field ball’s culture, but too much
ting the ground under the to ensure that the oppos- suspicion can certainly hurt
third base coach shaking, ing club was not violating the sport.
and the coach would in any rules.” “I think there is a paranoia
turn alert the batter. Houston general manager about what you’re do-
”The 1951 Giants famously Jeff Luhnow said his team ing competitively to try to
beat out the Dodgers for always has its guard up. be your best,” Hinch said.
“And when teams are curi-
ous about us or we’re curi-
ous about other teams, it’s
largely a distraction away
from the best part of the
game, which is on the field
linda.reijnders@cspnv.com with the players.”q