The Houston Astros were recently accused of stealing signs electronically in 2017, which of course was the year they went on to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games in one of the most thrilling World Series of all-time.
The report, which included testimony from Mike Fiers, who was on the Astros during that 2017 season before being released, stated that Houston had a camera set up behind the center-field wall for every home game.
They also had a television monitor in the hallway between their dugout and clubhouse, and whenever the opposing catcher would put down the sign for an offspeed pitch, they would loudly bang on a trash can to signal to the hitter what is coming.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently said heading into the series he and his staff were aware of the possibility that the Astros would steal their signs. In addition to restating there wasn’t any clear evidence, Friedman said the Dodgers have improved to protect against their signs being stolen, via Pedro Moura of The Athletic:
“I think we were way better about combating that stuff in subsequent years than we were that year, just not really appreciating steps that people could take,” Friedman said. “We certainly did not know anything definitive at the time.”
Since the report came out, there has been various video evidence supporting the claims, and Major League Baseball is currently investigating the matter. While indications are the sign stealing only occurred on during the regular season, it is possible and likely that it also carried into the postseason and even the World Series against the Dodgers.
One of the videos that circulated was an at-bat of Alex Bregman’s against Clayton Kershaw in the Astros’ thrilling 13-12 Game 5 victory at Minute Maid Park. There are clear whistles coming from the Astros dugout whenever Kershaw is about to throw a curveball, while the same cannot be said when his fastball or slider were called.
The Dodgers lost Game 7 of that series at home, so it is hard to put all of the blame on sign-stealing for them not coming away with their first World Series championship since 1988. Going forward though, it will always be a “what if” when that series is discussed as Los Angeles lost two of the three games played in Houston, largely due to the Astros’ bats coming alive in Games 3 and 5.
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