Red Sox admit using Apple Watch to steal Yankees’ signs

NEW YORK — The AL Eastleading Red Sox have reportedly admitted to Major League Baseball that they used electronic devices to steal signs from the New York Yankees.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday the Red Sox used a high-tech Apple Watch to relay signs by the Yankees catchers during a series last month at Fenway Park.

The newspaper said the Red Sox told MLB investigators that Boston manager John Farrell, general Dave Dombrowski and other team executives were not aware of the scheme.

Commissioner Rob Manfred, who was at Fenway Park on Tuesday night as part of a previously planned visit, said he wanted to get the matter resolved quickly.

He didn’t comment about possible penalties.

“The only thing I can tell you about repercussions is that to the extent that there was a violation on either side — and I’m not saying that there was — we are 100 percent comfortable that it is not an ongoing issue and it is no longer happening,” he said.

Farrell said he knew the rule.

“Electronic devices are not to be used in the dugout,” he said before Boston beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 in a 19-innng marathon. “Beyond that, the only thing I can say is that it’s a league matter.”

Dombrowski said it was the first time a team he’d worked for had been formally accused of stealing signs.

The Times, according to unidentified sources, said the MLB probe started after Yankees general manager Brian Cashman filed a complaint with the commissioner’s office that included video.

The newspaper said the video showed a member of Boston’s training staff looking at his Apple Watch in the dugout and relaying a message to players.

In the video, Boston assistant athletic trainer Jon Jochim is seen checking his Apple Watch and relaying the info to Red Sox players Brock Holt and second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

The newspaper said one clip showed Pedroia passing along the intelligence to Boston outfielder Chris Young, who formerly played for the Yankees.

“I think there was something that was suspected of going on,” Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner said before New York lost 7-6 in Baltimore on Tuesday night.

The Red Sox hold a narrow lead over the Yankees in the AL East race with a month left in the regular season. The teams don’t play again this season.

The Times said the Red Sox filed a complaint against the Yankees on Tuesday, alleging the club used a camera from its YES television network to steal opponents’ signs.

“No chance,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

The Times said the Red Sox told MLB investigators that club personnel watched instant-replay video and then electronically sent pitch signals to team trainers in the dugout, who relayed the information to players.

The Red Sox won two of three from the Yankees during the Aug 18-20 series to pad their lead atop the AL East.

The Times reported that in the first game, after Boston first put a runner on second, Rafael Devers hit a home run.

The Red Sox went 5-for-8 in that game when they had a runner at second and won it 9-6.

Stealing signs to help hitters know what pitch is coming has long been a part of baseball lore.

Most often it happens when a runner at second base peers in to see the catcher’s sign and then subtly flashes a signal — maybe a hand movement, or the positioning of his feet — to the batter to let him know whether the next pitch will be a fastball, curveball or something else.

The most famous case of sign stealing was a secret for almost a half-century. It took that long before it was positively revealed the New York Giants used a spyglass-andbuzzer system to relay pitch signals to their hitters during their famed 1951 chase of the Brooklyn Dodgers, which culminated with Bobby Thomson’s bottom-of-the-ninth, winning homer in the decisive Game 3 of the NL playoffs.

Players are allowed to try to figure out the opponents’ signals on their own, but computers, cameras and electronic devices are not permitted.

To combat signs being stolen, teams often change their signals when an opposing runner advances to second base.

Signs can change from batter to batter and even pitch to pitch.

The Yankees are a team that frequently sends it catchers to the mound to discuss pitch selection and location with both starters and relievers.

We are 100 percent comfortable that it is not an ongoing issue — that if it happened, it is no longer happening.”

Rob Manfred,