Cubs stealing signs?

[TruffleShuffle]

There is growing sentiment among baseball people that the Cubs might be relaying the catcher’s signs from the hand-operated scoreboard at Wrigley Field to the hitters. The Cubs are averaging 6.5 runs a game at home and 4.4 on the road.

 

"baseball people" probably = "tony larussa"

[RonnieWooWooSanto]

So the scoreboard has been there; it's nothing new. Yet, here it is 2008 and the Cubs have just decided to steal signs with the help of someone perched inside.

 

One word: Finally!

[Ding Dong Johnson]

or Ozzie

[Jon]

There is growing sentiment among baseball people that the Cubs might be relaying the catcher’s signs from the hand-operated scoreboard at Wrigley Field to the hitters. The Cubs are averaging 6.5 runs a game at home and 4.4 on the road.

 

"baseball people" probably = "tony larussa"

I'd love to hear their theories as to how it happens. Perhaps someone out there is holding up a sign written in invisible ink that the can only be picked up by the special contact lenses that Cubs hitters wear? Or maybe they've fine-tuned radio frequencies to be picked up by cavity fillings.

[TruffleShuffle]

yeah good point, the scoreboard is out there and everyone can see it, so if the scoreboard operator is doing something to relay signs to the batter, everyone could see it. the only other possibility is that the guy is telling someone in the dugout who is then relaying the sign to the batter, but i highly doubt that there is time to go through all that before the pitcher makes his pitch.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

There is growing sentiment among baseball people that the Cubs might be relaying the catcher’s signs from the hand-operated scoreboard at Wrigley Field to the hitters. The Cubs are averaging 6.5 runs a game at home and 4.4 on the road.

 

"baseball people" probably = "tony larussa"

Well, he really should just be concentrating on the signs needed to pass his next field sobriety test.

[Jon]

yeah good point, the scoreboard is out there and everyone can see it, so if the scoreboard operator is doing something to relay signs to the batter, everyone could see it. the only other possibility is that the guy is telling someone in the dugout who is then relaying the sign to the batter, but i highly doubt that there is time to go through all that before the pitcher makes his pitch.

Not to mention the fact that right-handed batters are facing the wrong direction. And it would be a tad obvious if the hitters were looking at the same spot away from the pitcher right before every pitch.

 

It would be too easy to spot someone in the dugout wearing a radio receiver, so it would have to be someone in the tunnel, who then relayed the signal to someone else visible to the hitter. By the time the hitter got the signal, the pitcher would be looking in for the next pitch.

 

It would be nice if people at least made their conspiracy theories plausible.

[Abe Frohman]

Well, whoever it is needs to be replaced because it didn't work last night with bases loaded and nobody out....

[Clem Fandango]

How the hell could they catch the signal and relay it to the hitter in time for him to know what it is before the pitch comes across the plate.

 

They can't put a panel up on the board in time to give it away, and even if they did, it'd change ALL THE TIME, at the same moments in every pitch. It'd be ridiculously obvious

[UMFan83]

I'll tell you who was stealing signs. The Rays in Tampa last week. The way Eyre was getting shelled, vs. both lefties and righties, it was pretty bad.

[Tracer Bullet]

So someone with binoculars in the scoreboard is reading the catchers sign and then relaying it to the batter in the 2 seconds between the time the sign is given and the ball is pitched. And the batter is able to pick up this sign from some 400-500 feet without the aid to his eyesight, but NO ONE else in the entire stadium has picked up on it?

[jersey cubs fan]

While I wouldn't say it's impossible, I have a hard time understanding how this can go down. Teams mix up signs. Brenley has, on numerous occasions, watched the signs being given, said what he thought was coming, and been wrong.

[CubinNY]

It's a terrible piece of garbage. A lot of players don't want to know. Those that do can't hit the ball if it is located. What a load of crap.

 

How about all the other teams that win at home?

[Soul]

It's a terrible piece of garbage. A lot of players don't want to know. Those that do can't hit the ball if it is located. What a load of crap.

 

How about all the other teams that win at home?

 

Shhhh, you might be in danger of making sense here. Wouldn't want that.

 

How about the Yankees all these years. Red Sox? No, can't be them. Could only be the Cubs!

[rawaction]

The Cubs are scoring more runs at home, so it's obvious they are cheating. Of course, every team in baseball probably scores more runs at home. And it doesn't hurt that Wrigley is a hitter's park.

[Soul]

Cedeno/Blanco/Fuku sure as hell must have "missed the stolen signs" in the 9th last night then.

[Wilson A2000]

Sometimes hitters don't want to know what is coming. I think Lee is like that.

[forbez18]

It is possible, and not as unthinkable as people are making it sound like. I don't know if it would come from the scoreboard or just a natural observer.

 

However, in college and high school, we used to do this sort of thing all the time. Catchers would look to their coach for a sign and we would have someone on our bench learn the signs and then rellay them to the batter simply by saying "Lets go Johny" or "Here we go Jackson" each sentence would mean a different location and pitch. There are a lot of ways they could do it in the pros (harder for the Cubs I would think with the manual scoreboard but still possible specially with the crowd being so loud) But, if they were to have a guy put his head out of the board it could mean a fast ball with his arm hanging a direction. If he doesn't come out then it is a off speed. Or the scoreboard could flash go cubs meaning a location. All you have to do is come up with a strategy and pass it along.

 

As for batters not wanting to know was is coming, that simply is not the case. I have had a few friends make the minors, one on the Cubs Kitt Kopach, who have told me stories all about how players do everything they can to get an advantage in the game to get moved up. If a batter can know a fastball is coming compared a curveball and they keep it nice and simple, the advantage goes to the hitter. Why would catchers switch up their signs when a base runner is on second. We used to have our 1st and 3rd base coaches relay signs also. If a catcher was lazy and they could pick up the sign they would give us a clue.

 

I am not saying that it is happening, but to rule it out by saying that it is impossible is probrally not right either.

[MembersOnlyJacket]

There is growing sentiment among baseball people that the Cubs might be relaying the catcher’s signs from the hand-operated scoreboard at Wrigley Field to the hitters. The Cubs are averaging 6.5 runs a game at home and 4.4 on the road.

 

"baseball people" probably = "tony larussa"

 

Right. And Boston scores 6.1 runs at home and 4.4 on the road. It's really amazing that good teams tend to win at home and coincidentally, they actually score more runs at home.

 

There will be conspiracy theories because teams and fans have yet to accept that the Cubs are disciplined at the plate. The Cubs are 1st in runs and 1st in OBP at home; they are 11th in runs and 3rd in OBP on the road. The Cubs cannot hit HR's away from Wrigley Field.

[mjohnson71]

There is growing sentiment among baseball people that the Cubs might be relaying the catcher’s signs from the hand-operated scoreboard at Wrigley Field to the hitters. The Cubs are averaging 6.5 runs a game at home and 4.4 on the road.

 

"baseball people" probably = "tony larussa"

 

How? The Cardinals haven't played here yet this season.

 

I'd bet $100 on Ozzie.

[98navigator]

Steve Stone actually implied that the Cubs might be stealing signs last weekend during his broadcast of the sox game. He specifically pointed to the difference in their home and road scoring as well (so he could be the baseball person being referred to in the article). I know teams will try to do things to get an advantage but I thought it was ridiculous then and now. I can't remember which game (actually, I think it was the second game) or inning but I believe it was while the Cubs were batting... Anyone with Gameday Audio, and a little extra time, could go back and find it.

 

The Cubs are really no different than most other teams this season; they play better at home than on the road.

Edited June 25, 2008 by 98navigator

[Derwood]

I heard the Cardinals get magic pixie dust from their scoreboard

[jersey cubs fan]

It is possible, and not as unthinkable as people are making it sound like. I don't know if it would come from the scoreboard or just a natural observer.

 

However, in college and high school, we used to do this sort of thing all the time. Catchers would look to their coach for a sign and we would have someone on our bench learn the signs and then rellay them to the batter simply by saying "Lets go Johny" or "Here we go Jackson" each sentence would mean a different location and pitch. There are a lot of ways they could do it in the pros (harder for the Cubs I would think with the manual scoreboard but still possible specially with the crowd being so loud) But, if they were to have a guy put his head out of the board it could mean a fast ball with his arm hanging a direction. If he doesn't come out then it is a off speed. Or the scoreboard could flash go cubs meaning a location. All you have to do is come up with a strategy and pass it along.

 

As for batters not wanting to know was is coming, that simply is not the case. I have had a few friends make the minors, one on the Cubs Kitt Kopach, who have told me stories all about how players do everything they can to get an advantage in the game to get moved up. If a batter can know a fastball is coming compared a curveball and they keep it nice and simple, the advantage goes to the hitter. Why would catchers switch up their signs when a base runner is on second. We used to have our 1st and 3rd base coaches relay signs also. If a catcher was lazy and they could pick up the sign they would give us a clue.

 

I am not saying that it is happening, but to rule it out by saying that it is impossible is probrally not right either.

 

no doubt it's possible, especially with amateurs at sparsely attended and barely televised games, when signs are relayed from catcher to coach to pitcher. But pulling that off in a major league game would be much more difficult.

[Outshined_One]

no doubt it's possible, especially with amateurs at sparsely attended and barely televised games, when signs are relayed from catcher to coach to pitcher. But pulling that off in a major league game would be much more difficult.

 

Between TV cameras, microphones, 4 umps on the field, the opposing team watching the Cubs' dugout like hawks (come on, like they're not trying to steal signs too?), and tens of thousands of fans in attendance, you'd have to set up an enormously sophisticated system to pull something off with the hand-operated scoreboard and not get caught doing it.

 

Frankly, I'm guessing this load of crap is coming from the White Sox. They've accused the Rangers of something similar to this before and it was just as baseless and stupid.

[Coach C]

Wah wah wah. I bet you that not only just the Cubs that are possibly stealing signs, but every MLB team does the same thing.