ACE UP THE SLEEVE
Best revenge will have to be winning division
THE Red Sox are cheaters. Major League Baseball confirmed that fact Friday, fining Boston an undisclosed amount of cash for its role in AppleGate and illegally stealing signs.
No matter what the fine, essentially the Red Sox got away with the baseball crime of using an Apple Watch in an electronic espionage scheme to give their hitters advance notice of what type of pitch was coming.
“If I know a breaking ball is coming instead of a fastball, that’s a huge advantage to the hitter,’’ said one scout at Yankee Stadium on Friday night before the Yankees crushed the Orioles, 8-2. “The hitter can stay back. And if he knows a fastball is coming he can just unload.’’
The Red Sox, who beat the Rays, 13-6, in 15 innings Friday and are three games up on the Yankees, were not hit with any other penalties. No change in the win column. No stripping of any draft picks by commissioner Rob Manfred in his ruling.
No money taken from the international signing pool.
“Now people will want to cheat more,’’ one AL executive said when he learned of the light penalty. A slap on the wrist. For the Yankees it now comes down to street justice.
The way to get the Red Sox to feel pain is to try to steal the division away from them in the final 15 games. That’s a tall order, but the Yankees certainly have even more incentive to beat the Red Sox now.
The Yankees, under orders from MLB, were not allowed to talk about the ruling, but they love the fact they can still take care of business on the field.
“We’ve got to go on one of those Cleveland Indians runs and just win,’’ Todd Frazier told The Post. “We just have to find ways to win and take care of business on the field. Whether that be these 15 games [remaining] or in the playoffs.”
If the Yankees face the Red Sox one more time in 2017 in the postseason, it could be an epic series.
“Hopefully we can leave it all on the field and see what happens,” CC Sabathia said. “It’s going to be fun.’’
They say if you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying. Yet bringing this level of technology to gaining an advantage is wrong.
“It’s over the top,’’ said the AL executive.
The Yankees suspected the Red Sox of stealing signs and used cameras to study the Boston dugout, which helped reveal the scheme. The Red Sox were using video to break down and decode signals given by Yankees catchers and forwarding that decoded information instantly to the dugout to an athletic trainer via an Apple Watch. The info was relayed to players and the hitter was given a heads-up on what pitches were coming.
Essentially, the Red Sox were caught red-handed and in that three-game series at Fenway Park in August, Boston hitters went 9-for-24 with runners on second base and 10-for-30 with runners in scoring position as the Red Sox won two of the three games.
The Yankees were outscored 17-11 in those three games.
Manfred specifically fined the Red Sox for “sending electronic communications from their video replay room to an athletic trainer in the dugout.”
The Yankees were fined by MLB a lesser undisclosed amount for improper use of a dugout phone prior to this season.
Who knows how long the Red Sox were using the Apple Watch scheme? The bottom line is the Red Sox would not have gone to such elaborate lengths if the plan was not helping their hitters.
“I don’t care what you say,’’ said another scout, “every hitter wants to know what type of pitch is coming. If they tell you they do not, they’re lying.’’
The Red Sox assured the commissioner they will no longer steal signs in this manner. That’s nice.
“All 30 clubs have been notified that future violations of this type will be subject to more serious sanctions, including the possible loss of draft picks,’’ Manfred said.
The Red Sox got away with it. The Yankees must find justice on the field.