It seems there’s a scandal brewing in baseball as the Red Sox may have already confessed to stealing the play-calling signs of the New York Yankees by using an Apple Watch. The act of spying on other teams has always been a part of baseball, though there are rules on the books to prevent that type of behavior. Still, teams have become more sophisticated in their techniques over the years, and now it seems the Red Sox have taken spying to an entirely new level.
According to reports, the Red Sox admitted to using an Apple Watch to steal the Yankees’ signals. It was just two weeks ago that the Yankees brought a complaint against the Red Sox that included video surveillance. The video depicted a member of the Red Sox training staff monitoring his Apple Watch from the dugout before relaying the signals to other players nearby. These players then signaled teammates on the field about what pitch to anticipate, allowing the Red Sox to predict what the Yankees had planned.
After the complaint was filed, representatives from Major League Baseball used their own video evidence to corroborate the video taken by the Yankees. With multiple pieces of evidence in their possession, the league went directly to the Red Sox to present the case.
The evidence solidly against them, the Red Sox admitted that members of the team were spying on the Yankees’ signals. However, they also shielded Boston Manager John Farrell and team executives from any guilt, instead arguing that the scheme did not extend to the team’s management.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred emphasized in interviews that the cases of spying seemed limited, although he also warned that electronic devices as a whole were not to be used in the dugout. However, the admission by the Red Sox comes at a pivotal time in the season. With only a month left in baseball’s regular season, the Red Sox cling to a slim lead over the Yankees in the AL East. The Sox took two out of three games against the Yankees in their last series, and now it seems those wins may be tainted with the evidence of cheating. What this will mean in terms of penalties for the Red Sox is not yet known.
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