Posted on 01/15/2020 2:47:45 PM PST by nickcarraway
The number of people here defending cheating is disheartening.
There are reports, which MLB is staunchly denying, that the Astros used buzzers under their shirts to get signs in 2019. That may be why the Nationals were changing signals constantly in the World Series.
MLB says they investigated this allegation and it didn’t happen, but multiple sources say that it did.
A Twitter user claiming to be Carlos Beltran’s niece says they used the buzzers and specifically names Altuve and Bregman. The family says the account is not that of Beltran’s niece, but whoever it is had the news of Beltran’s hiring and his firing before it became public.
This was retweeted by a user called Jomboy, who has posted the first reports on some stories, retweeted the tweets from “Bletran’s niece,” with video of Altuve after his ALCS-winning homerun telling his teammates to be careful not to remove his shirt. (Apparently, that’s an Astros thing.) Jomboy said that he had five sources who told him about the buzzers.
Jomboy’s tweet, with the tweet from “Beltran’s niece” and the video attached, was then retweeted by Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer, who said he had heard this from multiple sources.
But MLB insists there is no evidence that they used the devices.
The World Champion Nationals were changing signals constantly.
The Staten Island Yankees are having a miniature trash can giveaway this summer.
So how did the Nationals beat them? Better, more sophisticated cheating?
I guess I wouldn’t be shocked now. The independent camera with a feed of the catcher’s signs hooked up to a buzzer under clothing seems to be pretty unbeatable. Who knows if it’s true, but I do recall Altuve getting pretty upset that his teammates were trying to rip his jersey off in celebration after a win. He said his wife was upset at him being shirtless I think. On the other hand, you would think his teammates wouldn’t have tried that if there was something to expose and everyone was in on it.
I also recall that teams were going to start measuring biometric feedback, I wonder if that involves electrodes and wires. Of course that in itself would be a pretty good cover to explain the hardware I guess.
Freegards
They had a strategy going into the series because there were rumblings about the Astros and sign stealing. I recall some whistling that might have been signals and Strasburg legitimately tipping and then correcting it. I think the Nats used a rotating sign designator system which stops any sort of sign stealing, whether legitimate or relayed video like the Astros used. It’s kind of amazing to me that it isn’t a universal and standard practice between catchers and pitchers with today’s technology.
Freegards
“And the bottom line is MLB has warned teams explicitly for years about doing this very thing.”
From the beginning of baseball, a man on 2nd base has endeavored to convey the called pitch to the batter. They’ve developed innumerable schemes and signs for it. It’s expected, and it’s unreliable.
But putting a hidden camera, giving a TV view of signs in real time is a whole nuther level of dirty. They can see every sign in every situation and begin building a database to decode the entire signing scheme and it’s rotations.
And they can play it back over and over to be sure, comparing the signs to the resultant pitch, or the Manager’s signs to the steal/non-steal etc.
By the time you’re 1/2 through the season, you know with relative certainty what the other team intends to do in the moment and it’s easy to convey that info to players on the field with your own signs, or miniature electronic devices.
The advantage in a game that truly is decided in millimeters and milliseconds is incalculable. But very big.
Filthy, Rotten. Far worse than the gamblers and the dopers.
Yes, Aaron Boone complained about the whistling in the ALCS.
If you do it with your own eyes and ears, on the field, that is part of the game. If you use technological means to gain an advantage that isn’t available to the other team, that’s cheating.
The buzzer system would probably be less detectable than banging on the trash can. Especially if it’s more in vibrate mode.
You could have a coach in the dugout with a Jeopardy! style buzzer device setting off the buzzer under the shirt and others would have a hard time detecting it.
The poster Jomboy says he has five sources who say the Astros were using a buzzer system, naming Altuve and Bregman, among others, and Trevor Bauer says several different people have mentioned it to him. Yet MLB says there is no evidence of any such system.
There were more cheers than boos. We had that discussion at the time.
The Nats were on to you and took extraordinary measures to protect themselves.
Don’t think Rendon won’t share those methods with the Angels.
There has been talk about instituting electronic communication between the dugout and the pitcher and catcher. Something similar to the devices in a quarterback’s helmet.
Especially in the commissioner’s memo after the Apple Watch scandal.
If MLB really really wanted to make a statement, they should suspend every player on that 2017 Astros roster for the first 10 games of the 2020 season. No matter what club they play for now. That would get the player’s and owner’s attention.
Freegards
How is the use of signs not cheating?
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