Sign stealing is a constant concern for pitchers in Major League Baseball.
A pitcher's job becomes that much harder if the opponent is stealing signs, or if they are just tipping their pitches in some way that alerts the batter before the ball is on its way to the plate. But most of sign stealing falls under baseball's unwritten rules, meaning it isn't often punished by the league.
Despite that, MLB has reportedly investigated the Astros following accusations from the Yankees that they have been stealing signs in the ALCS. According to Fox Sport's Ken Rosenthal, the league has cleared Houston of any wrongdoing.
As first reported by @martinonyc, the #Yankees suspected the #Astros used a whistling sound from their dugout in Game 1 of the ALCS as a way to convey signs to hitters. Per sources, MLB investigated and found Astros did not engage in any activities prohibited by MLB policies.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 17, 2019It seems all of this started in Game 1 of the series. SNY's Andy Martino reports that the two opposing dugouts got into a shouting match after the Yankees had taken issue with a whistling sound coming from the direction of the Astros' dugout, which they believed to be part of a sign-stealing operation.
Houston manager AJ Hinch laughed off the accusations Wednesday, saying they were "kind of funny."
This is Major League Baseball, so every team is out there trying to find competitive advantages, some of which push the boundaries of the rules. Still, this isn't the first time the Astros have been accused of stealing signs. Last year, the Cleveland Indians filed a complaint with the league about a supposed Astros employee who they claimed was filming their dugout with a small camera during the ALDS.
Stealing signs can sometimes cross into illegality, but pitch tipping is something that a pitcher needs to root out himself. Yankees employee (and former Astro) Carlos Beltran told James Paxton that he was tipping his pitches after he was rocked by Houston during a start back in April. Beltran was notorious during his career for picking up on pitching signs and mannerisms to get an advantage in the box.
It's possible that the issues the Yankees were having had to do with tipping pitches, as opposed to some sort of organized sign stealing. That being said, the whistling apparently stopped for Game 2.
Aaron Boone's hurlers haven't pitched that poorly in the series. Instead, the issue since a 7-0 win in Game 1 has been that the Yankees bats have completely disappeared. New York has only scored three runs combined over the last two contests. That certainly isn't enough to beat a team as talented as the Astros.
