Caught in a neck-in-neck race for first place in the AL East, the Red Sox and Yankees may have used a little espionage to get an advantage over each other. The Yankees accused the Red Sox of an elaborate scheme to figure out the signs Yankees' pitchers and catchers use to communicate to give Sox batters an advantage at the plate.
Boston Globe Media Sports Columnist Chad Finn says scouting opposing teams' signs is a legal and widely-used practice across the league. What has the Red Sox in hot water is accusations that trainers used an Apple watch to tip off players at the plate about what pitch is coming next. Scouts notified trainers in the dugout through an Apple watch and the trainers relayed that information to players on the field. It's against league rules to use technology to scout other teams' signs.
The Red Sox filed a counterclaim that Yankees used TV cameras to do the same. Finn says bringing technology to a method that used to require a keen eye and understanding of the game detracts from the sportsmanship of the practice.
To hear the full conversation between Finn and Morning Edition's Joe Mathieu, click on the audio player above.
