(Photo: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
On September 5th news broke of yet another Massachusetts sports team attempting to go around the rules in their favor. The Boston Red Sox were accused of using an Apple Watch to relay stolen signs during games against the New York Yankees. The club has admitted to the claims being true.
While it is widely accepted for runners on second base to steal the signs used by the catcher, once the element of technology was introduced it became a crime in the eyes of the baseball world.
The Red Sox, who are leading the American League East, were caught on tape by the Yankees communicating in the dugout with a member of the training staff, who had just been looking at his Apple Watch.
Investigators believe that there were members of the video replay team reviewing footage of the catcher in order to decode the signs used to call pitches. After the code was broken it was relayed to the trainer in the dugout, who then passed the information to the players. This made it easier for the runner on second to tip off the batter as to what pitch was going to be thrown next.
The Red Sox responded in turn by accusing the Yankees of using one of their TV cameras to steal signs; the Yankees have denied these claims. The commissioner's office has yet to respond to whether or not there will be any punishments.
The historic rivalry between these two teams continues, while being complicated by the use of technology.
Hayley Lokken
Staff Reporter