Former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers rocked the baseball world by telling The Athletic that Houston used outfield cameras to steal signs in 2017, the year the Astros won the World Series.
Since that report was published this week, Twitter user @Jomboy_ has uncovered multiple clips that explain the Astros’ apparent system to alert batters in the box about upcoming pitches. In one instance, White Sox pitcher Danny Farquhar noticed that there was a banging noise coming from the Astros’ dugout just before he threw a changeup in an extended at-bat.
The Astros were accused of sign stealing during the 2019 MLB playoffs by the Yankees, who claimed they could hear whistling from the Astros dugout to signal pitches.
Major League Baseball is investigating the issue, and several people involved with the 2017 Astros team will be interviewed by the league, according to a report by ESPN.
Via ESPN:
“The initial stages of the investigation already have begun, sources said, with league personnel contacting people from both the Astros and Boston Red Sox organizations on Wednesday. The league is attempting to cull tangible evidence from the widespread paranoia of front offices and teams around the game about others cheating and has indicated it will consider levying long suspensions against interviewees who are found to have lied, according to sources.
…. Among those the league plans to interview in its investigation are Astros manager AJ Hinch, Red Sox manager Alex Cora and New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran, according to sources.”
Earlier this year, Hinch laughed off accusations of sign-stealing in the ALCS.
Via the AP:
“In reality, it’s a joke. But Major League Baseball does a lot to ensure the fairness of the game. There’s people everywhere. If you go through the dugouts and the clubhouses and the hallways, there’s like so many people around.
And then when I get contacted about some questions about whistling, it made me laugh because it’s ridiculous. And had I known that it would take something like that to set off the Yankees or any other team, we would have practiced it in spring training,” he added. “It apparently works, even when it doesn’t happen.”
