A report from The Athletic detailed how the Houston Astros reportedly stole signs during 2017 to give their hitters a significant advantage behind the plate. The Astros had 101 wins and defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series that season.
The report cites former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers and three unnamed individuals affiliated with the team, who claim the Astros were alerting hitters when the opposing pitcher was planning to throw an off-speed pitch.
Fiers, who now pitches for the Oakland Athletics, said that the team had a camera in centerfield that was hooked up to a monitor in the clubhouse. The camera was able to pick up the catcher's signs, and the employee would tell somebody in the dugout if the catcher was calling for an off-speed pitch. That employee would then bang something to alert the hitter that an off-speed pitch was coming.
This system raised suspicion among opponents at the time. But for that banging noise to be audible from the plate, it would have needed to be coming from somewhere both close to the field and out of view. This clip from the 2017 World Series documentary would for sure match up to the accusations.
You can see a work station set up right next to that trashcan, and all the shells on the ground would suggest that someone was seated at that spot for an extended amount of time.
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