On the Huston Astros Sign Stealing Scandal—A Sign of the Times?

Our world is changing (deteriorating)so fast. Can our national sport not be immune? 

The allure of baseball...the quintessential American game— is its promise of spring training,  thrill of opening day, the sight of the green infield diamond and sandy pitcher’s mound,  the white pentagon of home plate, as well  the green, oh so bright  green of an the outfield grass in an urban park. It is the brings the promise of a 162 game season,  number-crunching of batting and pitching statistics, and the easy relaxed pace of play on a summer day....all interspersed with the roar of the crowd when a homer scorches through the sky and into the bleachers.  And most importantly for America the game supports feelings of decency and good sportsmanship.

The recent scandal of the Huston Astros has smeared our national game.  

What did they do? 

The essence of  baseball is a duel in the sun  between a burly  batter of team one and a slim, lithe pitcher of the other team. The latter  stands on a slight elevated mound where he gracefully delivers a sewn, leather-covered sphere —the hardball—so it speeds over the white pentagon of home plate 60.5 feet away.  The contest combines elements of.deadly Spanish bull fighting, and dangerous  swordplay, with the quiet strategy of (boring and horribly confusing) British cricket.  Sadly the mental and physical combat between pitcher and batter—the main contestants—  is mostly hidden from the fans—even those in the best box seats down near home plate.   It is this pure essence of combat between equal opponents which the Astros schemed to overturn and upset for their own base motives. 

In this silent battle, the catcher, garbed like a medieval jouster  in his face mask and padded outfit and armed with a huge  round leather “mitt” to safely intercept the 95 + mile per hour hardball thrown from pitcher’s mound to batter.  The batter’s goal is to hit the ball and drive it as far as he can. While the objective of the pitcher is  to prevent his opponent from achieving his goal.  

The pitcher and catcher work together to achieve their goal in this sun drenched  ballet  on grass and sand supported by massive amounts of money, notoriety all organized by Major League Baseball teams in two major leagues..

The catcher is the only player who can see the entire field, arrayed behind the pitcher where threats like baserunners and shifting player positions can be seen.  He also knows the batting predilections and propensities of the particular opposing player in the batter’s box.. He knows where this guy likes to swing his fat hickory stick to possibly send the ball driving just over the pitcher’s head or skyward into the bleachers.  To facilitate their strategy to strike out  this batter catcher and pitcher work together as a team.  The catcher  signals the pitcher as to what type of pitch to throw, and where to direct it  so as to fool the batter so his mighty swings miss the ball three times.  Or he is fooled by passing up balls within  the strike zone that he passes p on. In either case—swinging out or being called out—after “three” he must retire him in defeat to his  dugout.  

How it works.  After agreeing to the signal from the catcher, the pitcher in his windup arches backward like  a  limber fishing rod then lurches forward  his lower body moving faster and his upper body, arm and ball hand  lagging behind to accentuate the  slinging motion that must be made as he springs forward. Then with a final crisp snap of his wrist, the ball flies off —-aimed at the narrow 17 inch wide (batter’s shoulders to kneecap height) target of home plate.  

The ball speeds away from the relaxed hand, taking only 1/4 of a second  to reach the plate. In that instant  the batter must decide— is this ball a strike (over the plate and above my knees up to about elbow height ), or a ball (out of the strike zone). If its within the strike zone and the batter does not swing—he is penalized with a called “strike”. The umpire standing behind, watching all, will call “strike!”. (It’s of course “three strikes —you’re out”).  So in that 0.25 second interval the batter must decide—“shall I swing or not?”.  The batter box  is no place for slow thinkers or “pitch shoppers”. 

Those are the essential elements, but the  actual contest is more complex—and intriguing. While the batter wields a fearsome looking 2.6 inch thick mass of hickory wood club to swing in an powerful arc to intercept the speeding ball (the ball is a tiny bit wider at 3 inches in diameter), the pitcher also has an array of tricks and stratagems to prevent the colossal  collision of wood and leather—and a “hit” or home run— from happening.  As a result the contest between batter and pitcher are always in delicate exquisite balance.  Only the most talented and best trained pitcher can strike out a great hitter and visa versa. 

On the pitcher’s side  he  can snap his wrist at the last millisecond of ball-release to alter the flight of the ball in several subtle and different ways. The wrist snap is often coupled with a grip of the ball  dominated by one or more of his fingers in such a way that the ball will leave the hand rotating one way or another in the air —and this rotation affects ball flight—generating various curving paths over its only one-quarter second flight.  Most pitchers can throw a “fast ball”( straight, no curve and very fast flight); a “change up” (slow and curving flight), a “curve ball” (slower,  but with a sharp change in direction just before reaching the plate) and several variations of these—such as the slider and screw ball.  

In addition to this the catcher-pitcher team use psychology in an attempt to “play” the batter by accustoming him  to one ball speed, curving flight or direction, and then confusing him with a change of speed or type of pitch.  Typically a series of curve balls might be followed by a “fast ball”,  or a  “change up”.  Strategy:Get him to see your curve ball.  Make him miss it. Then follow this pitch with a “change up”, a slow ball that may make him swing too early.  It is a cat and mouse game between two highly trained, practiced and determined opponents.  There are other stratagems as well.  The pitcher-catcher team my direct the ball to the outside of the plate—just inside enough to be  a  strike, then throw the next one on the inside—so close that the batter may have to back up. These stratagems are the essence, of the real contest going on at home plate.  

To effectively play this game, the pitcher-catcher team must cooperate and effectively communicate.  The catcher uses hand signals (generally) to indicate to the pitcher what pitch to throw.  When the catcher crouches down behind the plate ready to catch the pitch,  he uses his throwing hand, held close to his crotch to signal to the pitcher. Down in his crouch only the pitcher can see his hand and the signals he is sending.  Often one finger held down between the catcher’s thighs is a call for a fast ball, two fingers—a curve ball, three fingers a change up, four fingers calls for a slider (etc)   These signals can be modified to be used to designate “in” (close to the batter)  and “out” pitches too. 

These are the intriguing aspects  of play that most fans do no see, but are the essential—critical components of the game that decide wins or losses. . The central contest of the game is that between the batter and pitcher.  The infielders and outfielders —the part the fans can observe  clearly on field —and roar or boo over—are only one-half of the game—the defense side.  The offensive part —the main part—of the game is that which is taking place mostly unseen between batter and the pitcher-catcher team. 

It now must be clear to you my readers,  that if a batter knows exactly  just what type of pitch is coming next, he has a great advantage over the pitcher.  He could  more effectively hit it. And he can not be “played” by the pitcher.  Such knowledge could change the outcomes of games—enabling a less proficient team to win over a more practiced better trained team.   That’s just what the Huston Astro’s did in 2017 -2018 games.

Stealing catcher’s hand signs is cheating.  Just as a golfer moving his ball to a better lie, or ignoring the  two extra strokes he or she took in that sand bunker is—- cheating. Stealing signs in baseball goes to the essence, the heart of the game—it should not be tolerated. 

But that’s just what the Huston Astros did in the 2017 and 2018 seasons.  They used elaborate scheme and modern technology to video-graph the opposing team catcher with a telephoto lens set in the bleachers in a centerfield position. From that position they could telescopes in on the catcher’s legs while he is in his crouch. The video of the catcher signaling the pitcher was was transmitted to a bunker behind the Astro’s dugout, where a team member would be posted. The Astro team member viewing the video screen would identify the sign and then signal the batter at the plate  by some means.  The Astro’s  used various methods to indicate to the batter shat pitch was coming—such as flashing lights, loud whistles, and most often the sound generated by rapping a baseball bat against an empty metal garbage can.  These signals indicated the next pitch would be.  

A recent investigation by MLB just released (January 2020) revealed the details of the scheme , who participated, and what technology  they used. They stole signs mostly at home games during the 2017 season, and post season 2017, during which they won the league Pennant and then won the World Series.  

The Astros gave baseball and the MLB organization a black eye.  They hurt us all.