The back-and-forth between the Red Sox and Dodgers over sign stealing in the 2018 World Series was apparently messier than previously reported.
In Evan Drellich’s new book about the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal, “Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess,” it’s revealed that the Red Sox also suspected the Dodgers were using video to steal signs. (MLB disciplined the Red Sox for stealing the Dodgers’ signs following an investigation.)
An unidentified member of the Red Sox accuses the Dodgers of engaging in the same kind of subterfuge.
“The Dodgers have always been the thing that bothers me the most,” said the member, per the Boston Globe. “Because they’re the biggest cheaters in the whole [expletive] industry. … They were doing it against us in the ’18 World Series. They got caught by Major League Baseball and Major League Baseball did nothing.”
MLB determined that former Red Sox video operator J.T. Watkins was the major culprit in the 2018 scandal. He was suspended for the 2020 season, and then hired by the as part of their game-planning staff.
Though Watkins’ suspension was supposed to be unpaid, Drellich reports that players sent some money his way.
Another Red Sox source told Drellich that Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson ran into the visiting video area at Fenway, where an MLB official and Chase Utley were already sitting.
“‘Hey, did you get his signs yet?,’” Pederson apparently asked. “And they’re just like, ‘[Expletive] — [expletive] idiot,’” said the source.
Last week, an excerpt from the book revealed that Alex Cora boasted to the Red Sox about the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing operation, bragging about how Houston “stole the World Series.”
The book is set to be released Feb. 14.