As if banging on trash cans and whistling in an attempt to steal signs wasn’t enough for the Houston Astros, the New York Yankees are also claiming strange blinking lights in centerfield during the ALCS the season gave them an advantage. As the MLB continues to investigate their alleged cheating scheme used during the 2017 regular season, more reports have been emerging from different teams to indicate that the Astros had committed numerous offenses regarding the scandal.
Here is how the athletic described their initial scheme in 2017:
The Astros’ set-up in 2017 was not overly complicated. A feed from a camera in center field, fixed on the opposing catcher’s signs, was hooked up to a television monitor that was placed on a wall steps from the team’s home dugout at Minute Maid Park, in the tunnel that runs between the dugout and the clubhouse. Team employees and players would watch the screen during the game and try to decode signs — sitting opposite the screen on massage tables in a wide hallway.
When the onlookers believed they had decoded the signs, the expected pitch would be communicated via a loud noise — specifically, banging on a trash can, which sat in the tunnel. Normally, the bangs would mean a breaking ball or off-speed pitch was coming.
According to one report from SNY’s Andy Martino, the Yankees have now engaged in allegations regarding the blinking lights.
SNY has learned that the Yankees also complained to the league about blinking lights in center field early on in Game 6 at Minute Maid Park — just days after Hinch responded angrily to SNY’s report about the whistling.
The Yankees also suspected that Houston was alternating whistling and hand signs, depending on the inning, and that the type of whistling varied depending on the pitch.
It only makes logical sense that the Astros would begin to change their methods as time progressed, considering the trends that are now being unearthed from video and audio feeds. Twitter sensation, Jomboy, has done a fantastic job of piecing together a convincing argument that the Astros are indeed guilty of these allegations.
I estimate that the league will determine the punishment in the coming weeks before teams begin to engage heavily in free agency and players report to training.
How did the New York Yankees suffer?
The Yankees complaint centers around the ALCS matchup. A three-run first inning seemed abnormal, considering the Astros were blanked for the remainder of the game until a Jose Altuve walk-off homer to end the series in the ninth inning.