Boston Red Sox Under Investigation For Using Apple Watches To Steal Signs

The New York Times reported early on Tuesday that the New York Yankees have filed a complaint against the Boston Red Sox for stealing signs. It is believed that the Sox were using Apple Watch’s and other tech devices to pick signs from the pitcher.

The complaint came originally on July 18th, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Specifically: the Yankees formally filed their complaint with MLB about the Red Sox on July 18.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) September 5, 2017

Apparently, the Red Sox had staff watching a live feed of the game, they would then pass on the information to a coach’s Apple Watch in the dugout, who would finally pass on the information to the batter.

Michael S. Schmidt – The New York Times

The Red Sox admitted to league investigators that they were able to significantly shorten this communications chain by using electronics. In what mimicked the rhythm of a double play, the information would rapidly go from video personnel to a trainer to the players.

Currently, the MLB does not have a policy for stealing signs. Although it feels like cheating, they didn’t break any rules technically there. However, the rule broken was the use of devices that may not have been approved by the MLB. However, stealing signs didn’t seem to work so well for the Sox. They ended up losing the series to the Yanks and made it three straight losses after losing to the Blue Jay’s yesterday.

Here is what Commissioner of Baseball Robert Manfred had to say about the matter:

There is an ongoing investigation on the Red Sox that is expected to be finished by the end of the regular season. It is unknown what kind of punishment will be dealt if the Red Sox are found guilty.