(AUDACY) Tigers veteran slugger Miguel Cabrera wasn't having it Tuesday night when he heard White Sox rookie second baseman Nick Madrigal accuse Detroit of stealing signs in a 5-2 win at Chicago, and Cabrera wasn't having it a day later either.
As Cabrera told the story Wednesday, Madrigal accused Tigers baserunners of relaying signs between White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal and ace Lucas Giolito to their teammates at the plate. Cabrera, who hit a solo homer off Giolito in the first inning, began jawing with Madrigal during his next at-bat in the fourth.
"It was the second baseman," Cabrera said Wednesday prior to the second game of the series. "He tried to tell the catcher and the pitcher that we passed the signs. I mean, come on, that’s some bullshit. I don’t play that game. You need to respect the game. You don’t need to show up me or the runner on second, trying to say we passed the sign from second. Come on, get the f*** out of here."
Given the history of Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who managed the Astros during their infamous sign-stealing scandal, opposing players might be wary of his new team. When that was suggested to Cabrera, he replied: "I don't care why they're doing it, but they need to stop because we don’t play that game. That’s why I said something to him right away."
"Everybody is paranoid about (sign-stealing) right now, but (the White Sox) are over the limit," Cabrera said. "They need to respect that because if we didn’t say that, the next day we’re going to be a hit by pitch or something like that. And we don’t play that game, we respect the game."