Bill James, baseball historian: “It has always been there. It’s a fact of life that people look for advantages and that there are rules that can’t be easily enforced.”
In the movie A League of Their Own, manager Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks), memorably said, “There’s no crying in baseball!” Unfortunately, he couldn’t say, “There’s no cheating in baseball.” It’s an enormous list, including steroid use, gambling, doctoring the baseball, and corked bats.
In this column, I’ll look at three other categories of fraud.
Sign Stealing and Other Thievery
–In the late 1890s, Tommy Corcoran of the Cincinnati Reds tripped rounding third base and uncovered a telephone wire being used by Philadelphia Phillies players to receive signs stolen by a player looking through binoculars from the stands.
–Hank Greenberg said the primary reason the Detroit Tigers won the 1940 pennant was a sign-stealing scheme where minor leaguers sat in the outfield bleachers and relayed the other team’s signals.
’51 Giants celebrate (photo courtesy Sports Broadcast Journal)
–The New York Giants advanced to the 1951 World Series in a season where they employed a telescope in centerfield to steal signs. The person working the telescope sent a buzzing signal to the Giants’ bullpen to let them know what pitch was coming. The bullpen pitchers relayed the signal to the batter. Several Giants players, including Willie Mays, admitted to the scheme. The Giants used the system in the famous playoff game against the Dodgers that year when Bobby Thompson hit the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.” But Thompson said he did not use the system when he hit the homer,
–In 1960, Milwaukee Braves pitchers Joey Jay and Bob Buhl sat in the Wrigley Field bleachers dressed like fans and used binoculars to relay signs to their team’s batters.
–Jack McDowell, who pitched for the Chicago White Sox, claims that in the 1980s, manager Tony LaRussa used cameras to steal signs and alerted Chicago’s hitters with a light in a Gatorade sign in the outfield at Comiskey Park.
–In 2010, Philadelphia Phillies bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer was caught using binoculars to steal signs from Rockies catcher Miguel Olivo.
–In 2011, ESPN reported the Toronto Blue Jays had someone sitting in the center field bleachers stealing signs and relaying to the Toronto batter by waving his arms over his head on breaking pitches.
–Major League Baseball dealt the St. Louis Cardinals a $2 million fine and docked draft picks after scouting director Chris Correa was found to have hacked into the Astros’ database in 2013 and 2014. MLB banned him for life, and he served a prison sentence.
–MLB determined that the New York Yankees, during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, used the replay room to decode opponents’ signs and relay that information to the dugout.
–Everyone knows that in 2017, the Houston Astros banged trash cans to let batters know what pitch was coming. The team used a video camera in the center field seats to steal the catcher’s signals. Bench coach Alex Cora helped mastermind the system.
–MLB suspended Boston Red Sox video operator J.T. Watkins for a year for using video to steal signs during Boston’s 2018 championship season. Cora, who had become the Red Sox manager that year, reportedly bragged to his players about the Houston scheme, saying, “We stole that [expletive] World Series.” MLB suspended Cora for the 2020 season.
Home Team Advantage
—Baltimore Orioles’ groundskeeper Tom Murphy engineered the field in the 1890s to accommodate the team’s bunters, slap hitters, and base stealers. He built up the ground just outside the third-base line so that bunts would stay fair and packed the path to first base slightly downhill to help Baltimore’s speedsters.
–When Bill Veeck worked for the Chicago Cubs in 1935, the club handed out promotional mirrors to fans in the bleachers to reflect the sunlight at opposing batters.
“Hey! Draw that box longer.” (photo courtesy Facebook)
–On April 25, 1981, Seattle Mariners manager Maury Wills had the Seattle grounds crew draw the batter’s box 12 inches longer than allowed by the rule book because the Oakland A’s had previously complained that Seattle batter Tom Paciorek was stepping outside the box. Oakland manager Billy Martin spotted the modified batter’s box before the game. The box was correctly redrawn, and Wills was suspended for two games.
–The Colorado Rockies, to limit the distance balls are hit in their high-altitude stadium, store their baseballs in a humidor. Although not proven, they are suspected of slipping in non-humidor baseballs when their team is up to bat.
–In 2003, Dick Ericson, who worked in the Minnesota Twins Metrodome from 1982 until 1995, admitted he adjusted the stadium’s ventilation system to ensure the air was blowing out when the Twins were at bat. He said he had the ventilation system turned up when Kirby Puckett hit his dramatic Game 6 home run in the 1991 World Series. Texas Rangers manager Bobby Valentine said his players told him they could feel a breeze inside the Metrodome whenever they were in the field.
Miscellaneous Chicanery
–In 1987, a minor-league catcher for the AA Williamsport Bills hid a potato in his glove and threw the potato past a runner at third base so the runner would attempt to score. He then tagged out the runner with the real baseball. The umpires ruled that the run counted. The manager removed the catcher from the game. The team later released the catcher.
“Who, me?” (photo courtesy MLB)
–After being ejected from a game on June 9, 1999, New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine donned a hat, sunglasses, and a fake mustache to change his appearance, then returned to the dugout. He was spotted and later suspended for two games.
–In May 2007, in a game between the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, baserunner Alex Rodriguez yelled “Ha!” to distract Toronto third baseman Howie Clark from catching a pop fly. It worked, and the ball dropped to the ground for a run-scoring single. Baseball has no rules against what Rodriguez did, but many in baseball called the tactic “bush league.”
So, you can see what I mean. When it comes to cheating in baseball, “Let me count the ways.”
