Houston Astros accused of using electronic equipment to steal pitching signs

The Houston Astros have been plunged into controversy. While the Astros have long been suspected by rival teams and industry insiders of using electronic methods to steal opponents’ signs at their home stadium, Minute Maid Park, Major League Baseball (MLB) is now investigating claims that the Houston Astros used electronic equipment to steal pitching signs during their championship season two years ago.

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During the 2017 World Series Championship season, the Houston Astros allegedly used a video feed from a camera stationed in centre field to steal the rival catchers’ signs and relay them to their own hitters. Major League Baseball rules prohibit the use of electronic equipment (including cameras) for the purpose of stealing signs. Four team sources associated with the Houston Astros confirmed the existence of the sign-stealing system set in place by the Astros. 

What is sign stealing?

While the flames of controversy may have been fanned already, here's a lowdown on what entails sign stealing. The concept of sign stealing involves one team intercepting the hand signals of another team in order to gain a tactical advantage over their opposition. Sign stealing is usually done to decode the opposition's signs of the catcher signalling which pitch to throw and has always been a part of baseball. Sign stealing was in practice since way back in 1951 when the New York Giants used a telescope from centre field to read signs from opposing catchers. This decoded information was then sent to the Giants players from a player in the bullpen.

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In a developing world, change is the only constant. As such, sign-stealing methods have also evolved with the times. With technology coming to the fore, the New York Mets were accused of using a small camera near the home plate in Shea Stadium to peek at catchers in 1997. However, the Mets denied these allegations and were never punished by the league. 

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While the Houston Astros did confirm that an investigation was ongoing regarding the sign-stealing incident, the Astros refused to make any further comments on the same. During the 2018 postseason, an unofficial Astros employee was discovered pointing a cellphone camera toward the opposition dugouts. Largely as a result of this, the MLB drafted new rules to teams regarding electronic sign-stealing before the 2019 season. 

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