According to Reports- Boston Red Sox Used Video Replay Room to Steal Signs During 2018 MLB Season

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On Tuesday, January 7^th, 2020 a report was published by the Athletic regarding the Boston Red Sox using the video replay room to steal signs from their opponents’ pitchers and catchers during the 2018 Major League Baseball season. This report cites three anonymous individuals that were with the Boston Red Sox organization throughout the 2018 baseball year.

The Red Sox won the World Series in 2018, and they may have cheated in order to do so. The people involved in reporting this story claimed that the team electronically stole signs during the 2018 MLB season, and that gave the franchise an extremely unfair advantage over their competition that year. Multiple sources from the Red Sox recently explained that Boston was unable to conduct this sign stealing process during the 2018 MLB postseason due to the fact that Major League Baseball stationed in person supervisors in all video replay rooms throughout the playoffs that year.

The Red Sox Sign Stealing Procedure:

Apparently, players from the Boston Red Sox would enter the video replay room in order to decipher the sign sequences from the catcher. Those players would then provide that information to Red Sox personnel in the dugout. Finally, the Boston dugout would relay the information to a baserunner who would use body language and body movement to signal the batter which pitch was coming.

The Houston Astros Stealing Signs in 2017:

In a separate but similar sign stealing scandal the Houston Astros were accused of stealing signs and cheating as well, but the Astros are implicated in this offense during the 2017 MLB season. In 2017 the Houston Astros won the World Series. Their bench coach at that time was Alex Cora who was also the manager of the Red Sox the following year in 2018. He is now facing possible discipline from Major League Baseball for being involved in both of these isolated ordeals.

Sign Stealing has always been a Part of the Game:

Although stealing signs in baseball has always been an acceptable and tolerated part of the game, it is absolutely unacceptable and not permitted to do so with use of electronics or technology. It is an unwritten rule in professional baseball that sign stealing naturally should be defended by the pitchers and catchers changing their sign sequences occasionally, but if the method that is being reported here is utilized by a team it is illegal and it will be reprimanded. Major League Baseball is currently conducting a thorough investigation into both of these sign stealing situations from 2017 as well as 2018. Once completed the findings and disciplinary actions will be announced by the MLB.

The Boston Red Sox 2018 Batting Statistics:

Rk	Pos	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1	C	Sandy Leon#	29	89	288	265	30	47	12	0	5	22	1	0	15	75	.177	.232	.279	.511	37	74	6	4	3	1	0
2	1B	Mitch Moreland*	32	124	459	404	57	99	23	4	15	68	2	0	50	102	.245	.325	.433	.758	102	175	12	0	0	5	2
3	2B	Eduardo Nunez	31	127	502	480	56	127	23	3	10	44	7	2	16	69	.265	.289	.388	.677	81	186	17	2	1	3	0
4	SS	Xander Bogaerts	25	136	580	513	72	148	45	3	23	103	8	2	55	102	.288	.360	.522	.883	135	268	14	6	0	6	4
5	3B	Rafael Devers*	21	121	490	450	59	108	24	0	21	66	5	2	38	121	.240	.298	.433	.731	94	195	9	0	0	2	6
6	LF	Andrew Benintendi*	23	148	661	579	103	168	41	6	16	87	21	3	71	106	.290	.366	.465	.830	123	269	9	2	2	7	1
7	CF	Jackie Bradley Jr.*	28	144	535	474	76	111	33	4	13	59	17	1	46	137	.234	.314	.403	.717	92	191	6	11	0	4	3
8	RF	Mookie Betts	25	136	614	520	129	180	47	5	32	80	30	6	81	91	.346	.438	.640	1.078	186	333	5	8	0	5	8
9	DH	J.D. Martinez	30	150	649	569	111	188	37	2	43	130	6	1	69	146	.330	.402	.629	1.031	173	358	19	4	0	7	11
Rk	Pos	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
10	MI	Brock Holt*	30	109	367	321	41	89	18	2	7	46	7	7	37	73	.277	.362	.411	.774	109	132	7	7	0	2	2
11	C	Christian Vazquez	27	80	269	251	24	52	10	0	3	16	4	1	13	41	.207	.257	.283	.540	46	71	5	4	1	0	1
12	UT	Blake Swihart#	26	82	207	192	28	44	10	0	3	18	6	1	15	57	.229	.285	.328	.613	65	63	4	0	0	0	0
13	1B	Hanley Ramirez	34	44	195	177	25	45	7	0	6	29	4	1	14	35	.254	.313	.395	.708	90	70	9	2	0	2	0
14	1B	Steve Pearce	35	50	165	136	19	38	8	1	7	26	0	0	22	27	.279	.394	.507	.901	141	69	1	5	0	2	0
15	2B	Ian Kinsler	36	37	143	132	17	32	6	0	1	16	7	3	10	24	.242	.294	.311	.604	64	41	5	0	0	1	0
16	SS	Tzu-Wei Lin*	24	37	73	65	15	16	6	1	1	6	0	1	8	17	.246	.329	.415	.744	100	27	0	0	0	0	0
17	UT	Sam Travis	24	19	38	36	5	8	3	0	1	7	0	0	2	10	.222	.263	.389	.652	73	14	1	0	0	0	0
18	IF	Brandon Phillips	37	9	27	23	4	3	0	0	1	2	0	0	4	7	.130	.259	.261	.520	42	6	1	0	0	0	0
19	2B	Dustin Pedroia	34	3	13	11	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.091	.231	.091	.322	-7	1	0	0	0	0	0
20	C	Dan Butler	31	2	7	6	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	.167	.143	.167	.310	-17	1	0	0	0	1	0
21		Tony Renda	27	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
22	P	Rick Porcello	29	3	7	7	1	3	2	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	.429	.429	.714	1.143	201	5	0	0	0	0	0
23	P	Brian Johnson*	27	2	4	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.250	.250	.250	.500	36	1	0	0	0	0	0
24	P	Nathan Eovaldi	28	2	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.000	.333	.000	.333	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	P	Chris Sale*	29	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	P	Eduardo Rodriguez*	25	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	P	Hector Velazquez	29	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	P	Heath Hembree	29	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	P	Carson Smith	28	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
30	P	Jalen Beeks*	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
31	P	Steven Wright	33	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
32	P	Drew Pomeranz	29	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
33	P	Bobby Poyner*	25	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
34	P	Craig Kimbrel	30	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
35	P	Brandon Workman	29	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
36	P	Joe Kelly	30	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
37	P	David Price*	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
38	P	Justin Haley*	27	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
39	P	William Cuevas#	27	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
40	P	Ryan Brasier	30	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
41	P	Tyler Thornburg	29	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
42	P	Matt Barnes	28	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
43	P	Robby Scott#	28	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
44	P	Marcus Walden	29	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0						0	0	0	0	0	0
		Team Totals	27.8	162	6302	5623	876	1509	355	31	208	829	125	31	569	1253	.268	.339	.453	.792	112	2550	130	55	7	48	38
		Rank in 15 AL teams				1	1	1	1	5	6		3	9	2	4	1	1	1	1		1		13		3
		Non-Pitcher Totals	27.8	162	6282	5604	873	1505	353	31	208	826	125	31	568	1243	.269	.339	.454	.793	112	2544	130	55	7	48	38
		Pitcher Totals	25.2	162	20	19	3	4	2	0	0	3	0	0	1	10	.211	.250	.316	.566	52	6	0	0	0	0	0
Rk	Pos	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB

Media Statements:

“We were recently made aware of allegations suggesting the inappropriate use of our video replay room,” says the Boston team in a statement released to The Athletic. “We take these allegations seriously and will fully cooperate with MLB as they investigate the matter.”

“It’s cheating,” an anonymous source who was with the Red Sox in 2018 explained to The Athletic. “Because if you’re using a camera to zoom in on the crotch of the catcher, to break down the sign system, and then take that information and give it out to the runner, then he doesn’t have to steal it.”

“The Commissioner made clear in a September 15, 2017, memorandum to clubs how seriously he would take any future violation of the regulations regarding use of electronic equipment or the inappropriate use of the video replay room,” Major League Baseball expressed in their statement to The Athletic. “Given these allegations, MLB will commence an investigation into this matter.”

Major League Baseball warned all 30 professional baseball teams in a memo regarding electronic sign stealing in late 2017 by stating, “Electronic equipment, including game feeds in the Club replay room and/or video room, may never be used during a game for the purpose of stealing the opposing team’s signs.”

According to Reports- Boston Red Sox Used Video Replay Room to Steal Signs During 2018 MLB Season