The Boston Red Sox are facing allegations of cheating in a situation reminiscent of the 2007 New England Patriots Spygate controversy.
Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski confirmed accusations that the Red Sox had been stealing pitching signs in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
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The allegations stem from a Red Sox vs Yankees series at Fenway Park in mid-August when, according to the New York Times, staff members and Red Sox players used Apple Watches as a way to share the signals.
“Do I think sign stealing is wrong? No, I don’t," Dombrowski said. “People are trying to win it however they can. It’s an edge we can gain.”
MLB has not prohibited players from looking at catcher signals and relaying the information to others, but they have said any use of technology to see signals is against the rules.
The Times also reports that the Red Sox have filed a complaint against the Yankees for using broadcast cameras to steal pitching signals, and while he would not go into details, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed that there were allegations on both sides.
“We actually do not have a rule against sign stealing, and it has been a part of the game for the long time,” he said. “It’s the electronic equipment that creates the violation, and I think the rule against electronic equipment has a number of reasons behind it.”
Manfred said the investigation is not complete into allegations on either side, and that it was too soon to talk about possible discipline. He did, however, indicate that taking away wins was unlikely because it is difficult to determine "to what extent this impacted the outcome of any particular game."
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