The Yankees, who had long been suspicious of the Red Sox stealing catchers' signs in Fenway Park, contended the video showed a member of the Red Sox training staff looking at his Apple Watch in the dugout and then relaying a message to players, who may have then been able to use the information to know the type of pitch that was going to be thrown, according to the people familiar with the case.
Though the Red Sox declined to comment, they did respond by filing a complaint of their own alleging the Yankees were also stealing signs—albeit in a much lower-tech manner—"claiming that the team uses a camera from its television network, YES, exclusively to steal signs during games."Stealing signs is as prevalent in baseball as pine tar, so it's not surprising that a team was caught stealing. It is somewhat surprising that some teams, apparently, are using newer tech to do it (and then accusing their accusers of stealing signs in possibly the dumbest and most obvious way imaginable).Two weeks ago, the Yankees dropped two of three games at Fenway Park, thanks in part to a shaky bullpen performance. On Sunday, the Yankees beat the Red Sox 9-2 behind a flurry of home runs from Aaron Judge, Chase Headley, Matt Holliday, and Todd Frazier to take three of the four games at Yankee Stadium. Those YES cameras must have been on point.The Times notes that it is unclear what, if any, punishment will be handed down by the commissioner, for either team.Baseball investigators corroborated the Yankees' claims based on video the commissioner's office uses for instant replay and broadcasts, the people said. The commissioner's office then confronted the Red Sox, who admitted that their trainers had received signals from video replay personnel and then relayed that information to some players — an operation that had been in place for at least several weeks.