Prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic bringing Major League Baseball to a grinding halt, there was focus on moving past the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal before.
During that time much of the conversation centered around rule changes being implemented this season regarding how teams can utilize technology. Among the ideas floated around included the banishment of non-uniformed personnel from clubhouses during games.
MLB is also reportedly planning to close video replay rooms to prevent future sign-stealing from occurring. The video rooms have become an integral part of baseball over recent seasons, as they grant players the ability to review footage of at-bats in the middle of a game.
While Clayton Kershaw doesn’t personally benefit from video replay rooms, he opined that his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates and other players shouldn’t necessarily be denied access to them during games, via Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated:
“I wish it was that black and white. Me personally, I don’t need it a bit. I know what I’m trying to do and it’s not going to make sense for me to use it there. I just need to go compete. Some guys just love to see their swing and see how they approach the ball, and that helps them in whatever way. I don’t think you should take that away from them.
“That stuff is valuable, so to me it’s not super black and white. What is black and white is no ability to relay signs in real time to the hitter. We do away with that. Whatever it may be—put the TVs on a delay, take away the centerfield Hawkeye camera for that game and let them see it after the game … But once the game starts it’s off. Whatever it is. I don’t know the answer, but to me that’s plenty. I’m great with that and it’ll get back to the way it was.”
While video replay rooms can be a helpful resource to players, there are also some downsides that became evident in the findings of MLB’s investigation against the Astros.
Team employees decoded the signs of opposing players in the video replay room via the live feed from the center-field camera at Minute Maid Park.
As Kershaw noted, removing the cameras until after the game could be a logical solution to ensuring this type of sign-stealing never happens again.
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