Stealing Signs with Binoculars?
May 13, 2010I love it, a little sign stealing controversy. The Colorado Rockies have accused Phillies bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer of using binoculars to pick signs from the catcher. So, first off, let’s refer to Billy Martin’s famous quote, “cheating is as much a part of baseball as hot dogs and score cards.” And that’s the truth.
But it’s all really fuzzy terrain from there. Some cheating is alright while some goes against the “unwritten rules” of the game. For example, a first or third base coach or someone in the dugout or a baserunner picking signs off a catcher who sets up too early is cool. On the other hand, batters peeking in or the use of electronics (ie. scoreboards or TV cameras) or binoculars, not so cool.
But binoculars in the bullpen? I’m not buying it. Unless Billmeyer was trying to put some Jedi mind trick on us, it’s just too obvious, right? There’s far better and far sneakier ways of doing it. It’s my guess that the binoculars were in the bullpen for the reason they’re in just about every team’s bullpen….to check out chicks. Check the game tape. I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts there’s a hot looking girl sitting somewhere around home plate during that game.
Why is it always the really good teams that get accused of this stuff? How come Kansas City doesn’t encounter this kind of controversy? It’s always the telescope used during Bobby Thomson’s “shot heard round the world” which propelled the Giants to the World Series. Or binoculars from the champion Phillies. Or the scoreboard lighting up to give pitches to the great Cleveland teams of the mid 90’s.
I wrote a past blog about a game I caught with no signs that happened against that particular Cleveland team. I’m pretty sure (and I’m not the only one) that they were doing something squirrelly with the scoreboard to relay signals to the hitters. And come to think of it, wasn’t Charlie Manuel the hitting coach there at that time? I have to do a bit more research, but maybe we’ve got something here…..nah.
