Can you hear this reminder from the bench?
Houston, we got a problem!
Entering mid-November, it was supposed to be the week of awarding various major league heavyweight awards in 2019 (Best Rookie, Best Coach, Pitcher Cy Young Award, MVP). It should be the players Coaches, the media and fans in this ecosystem are eagerly anticipating and celebrating the harvest season. However, at this moment, a controversial incident centered on this year's American League champions, the Houston Astros, is spreading rapidly. Later, it became a huge shock that spread throughout the major league world.
On November 12, senior baseball reporter Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic magazine reported on his interview with current Oakland Athletics A's starting pitcher Mike Fiers and three others. Who is Fiers? He played for the Houston Astros for three seasons from 2015 to 2017. He left immediately after the season and threw a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds in May 2019.
Current Oakland A's starting pitcher Mike Fiers (Source: SF Chronicle)
According to Fiers, the Houston Astros he was playing for at the time systematically stole pitches from the opposing team on a large scale at their home court during the 2017 season. Signal. The specific operation is: Set up a camera in the center field auditorium of the stadium to aim at the pitcher's mound and catcher in the center of the field. During the game, when the opponent's team is pitching, the video signal collected by the camera is transmitted to the team's field in real time. A monitoring screen is installed between the bench and the locker room, and then the coach or player of the team can quickly determine whether the next ball will be a fast ball, a changeup ball or a curve ball based on the hand signals seen by the opponent's catcher to the pitcher. ; Players of the team who are preparing to hit the ball on the field will hear the sound of the bat hitting the trash can from the bench, which means that the pitcher facing them will throw a changeup ball; if no sound is heard, it means that the pitcher will throw a changeup ball; The ball is coming.
Are you sure you want me to stay here for three or four hours, and my task is just to knock on the trash can from time to time?
If what Fiers and the other four say is true, this will be the biggest scandal in Major League Baseball this century, especially considering the Houston Astros' meteoric rise and dominance of the American League in the past five years. Some readers may ask, what is a pitching signal, and why is this signal so important to the direction of a baseball game? Answering this question is a comprehensive review of the core content of the baseball game "pitching". Let’s take a look at some important basics of the game of baseball.
Baseball has been developed as the national sport of the United States for more than 100 years. It has an extremely long history and is closely connected with American culture. As professional ball sports, baseball, American football, NBA and ice hockey have very different genes. In the latter three games, the offense and defense are clear at a glance, the gains and scores are easy to understand, and the physical advantages of the players and the resulting confrontational advantages are obvious; Baseball, known as a game of frustration, is a sport of frustration. In a baseball game, a baseball season, and a player's baseball career, frustration is always with him and lingers most of the time. In a baseball game, winning without scoring is commonplace, and the conversion between advantages and disadvantages can The flow is smooth, the sense of achievement and the hatred always coexist. The offense and defense of being as quiet as a virgin and as active as a rabbit is different from the motto of faster, higher and stronger in other competitive ball games. It is confusing but addicting.
The basis of all this is because baseball is first and foremost a game of inches, and success or failure is only a matter of millimeters of baseball. There are nine offensive and defensive transitions in a nine-inning baseball game. The home team/visiting team each have nine defensive/offensive opportunities in the first half of the inning and offensive/defensive opportunities in the second half of the inning. When defending, pitchers, catchers, and infield and outfield players on the field will do their best. Prevent the opponent's batter from getting on base and try to slow down the progression from home plate to first, second and third base. The most critical aspect of a game is how well the pitcher prevents the batter from getting hits, and the pitcher's mastery of different pitches determines his degree of dominance over the game.
Five different pitches thrown by pitchers (Source: i.minus.com)
In the duel between pitchers and batters, pitchers always have an advantage. Why? Because the batter only has the opportunity to make a quick judgment in a few tenths of a second when the pitcher throws the baseball. Does this ball look most like a fastball, a curveball, a sinker, or a slider? Will it fall in the strike zone? A fastball with an initial speed of 95 miles per hour only takes 0.45 seconds from leaving the pitcher's mound to landing in the catcher's glove 18 meters away, and it takes 0.15 seconds for a major league player to swing the bat and fully expand it, which means that the batter At most, you only have 0.3 seconds to make the above judgment to decide whether to throw the ball or not. The pitcher has a complete information advantage in this matchup. In a fierce game, you can see that after two good balls are formed in a batting, the batter adopts the strategy of swinging the bat as much as possible to hit the next ball to cause an out ball for the sake of insurance, so that the pitcher has to repeat The psychology of pitching is that you are afraid that the pitcher will throw a deceptive ball path and you will not swing the bat, and then the ball will fall into the strike zone and cause a strikeout. The psychological competition between each other can make a pitcher throw a dozen pitches to eliminate a player. The hitter.
Three different pitches, from back to front: curveball, changeup, fastball (Source: Pitcher Giffer)
An excellent major league pitcher, especially a starting pitcher, usually masters more than three variations of the pitch. , while confusing the batter, it is necessary to communicate with the catcher of the team in advance. The catcher needs to clearly understand the path of the ball flying over, otherwise the glove will not be able to catch the ball and let the ball pass behind him. Under certain circumstances, it will be beneficial for the opponent to continue to get on base; and this method of communication is the pitching signal. Each team will have its own pitching signal system. The catcher squats during the game and before pitching, he will give a hand signal to the pitcher on the pitcher's mound 18 meters away. In order to prevent the opponent from seeing the gesture, the fingers are pointed downward and hidden between the knees for protection, so that the players and coaches on the opponent's bench in the side direction of first base or third base cannot see it. There can be several sets of signals, which can be switched during the game. For example, one finger represents a fastball, two fingers represent a slider, three fingers represent a curveball, the lower left finger represents a low ball close to the batter, the lower right finger represents a low ball away from the batter, etc. .
The catcher secretly makes a hand signal to the pitcher.
It is conceivable that if the batter guesses the pitcher's ball path in advance and makes corresponding preparations, he will not be busy swinging for the curve ball but wait in advance. There is an ambush on the ball's falling path, and the changeup ball is not as exhausted as the fastball. However, for the fastball, because the change in the ball path is relatively small, you can completely find the path and swing immediately. In this way, the pitcher's information advantage will be completely lost, and the hitter's own success rate will jump significantly. It is not difficult to imagine that if the offensive team can obtain and successfully decipher the signal between the pitcher and the catcher, and promptly pass the known path of the upcoming next ball to the batter who is preparing to hit the ball on the field, the game will be better. The result trend will be clear at a glance.
In reality, over the long years of the major leagues, there have been many attempts to decipher the opponent's pitching signals, but most of them were limited to situations where the offensive player of the team was already on second base. why? Because if the offensive player is at first base or third base, due to the aforementioned reasons, the catcher’s finger signal to the pitcher on the pitcher’s mound will be hidden between the squatting knees. The technique is quick and concealed. What cannot be seen is that only when there is someone on second base, because the second base is on the diagonal of the diamond-shaped infield home plate, the catcher's action may be intercepted by the offensive player on second base.However, even if the offensive player on second base clearly sees the catcher's gesture, he needs to decipher the code and quickly and timely pass it to the batter standing next to the batter's box in front of home plate. How difficult is it!
The offensive player standing on second base is most likely to see the home plate catcher
In an actual game, it is almost impossible for only one player on second base to do this. It is more likely that he will see The received gestures are then used within the team's internal signaling system, that is, various hidden small movements are made, and are transmitted back to the team's bench, and then the coaching staff deciphers them, and then the coaching staff signals them back, and then passes the results to the team's bench. Base hitter. This complete process may not be completed by one second base player in one inning. It may take several offensive players successively to second base to decipher the gestures of different pitches. The final signal transmission may not be completed by the second base player. When the runner on the offensive side passes the signal to the batter, it is likely that the coach standing at first base or third base is responsible for playing a more complex signal, and this is different from the covert signal given by the second base. It will look like A collection of small movements covering the entire body, like scratching the head and head.
Example of a third-base coach’s signal call (Source: Giphy)
Baseball culture is profound and profound. On the field, trying to gain the offensive initiative by deciphering the opponent’s pitching signal is actually a part of the long-standing baseball culture, and it is understandable. However, with the aid of modern electronic technology, information obtained outside the stadium is transmitted back to the stadium and has an obvious and significant impact on the final result of the game. This is undoubtedly a serious transgression and is essentially deceptive behavior. If the Houston Astros really rely on these methods to win some games that they should not have won, then they should be punished accordingly. Let's first take a look at the Astros' record in recent years.
The Houston Astros have been a strong team in the National League West since the 1970s, but they have long been in the shadow of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. After losing 106 games in the 2011 season and being taken over by a new owner, the Astros made a big move from the National League West to the American League West in 2012, joining the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Los Angeles Angels. Team LA Angels and Oakland A's queue. In the two seasons of 2012 and 2013, Houston lost more than 100 games in a row, and in 2013 it recorded the worst record in the team's history with 51 wins and 111 losses. However, the advantage of being so bad is that the Astros can continuously occupy extremely high rounds in the draft. With a good position, the cornerstone of a strong future team can be laid in the next few years. In the 2014 season, the Astros' losses were reduced to 92 games. In the 2015 season, they successfully entered the playoffs as a wild card and defeated the New York Yankees in a wild card qualifying game. In the Division Championship Series (ALDS), they lost to the later champions Kansas Royals Kansas City Royals 2:3 in five games. Failed to make the playoffs in 2016. It was against this background that the Astros ushered in 2017, a year of explosive performance.
2017 playoff matchup chart (Source: CBS Sports)
In the 2017 season, the Astros won 101 games, crossing the 100-game mark for the second time in history, and easily eliminated the Boston Red Sox in the first round of the playoffs Later, the American League Championship Series (ALCS) ushered in the young New York Yankees, who had also completed reorganization in the past three years and were gaining momentum. In the seven-game series, the Yankees and Astros won all home games. In the end, the Yankees lost to the Astros 3:4 due to the disadvantage of one more game on the road. In the subsequent World Series, the Astros also defeated the National League champion Western Division champion Los Angeles Dodgers 4:3 in the seven-game series, lifting the championship trophy and winning a championship ring for the first time in history.
Astros 2017 championship ring (Source: Astros)
In the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the Astros continued their strong performance in 2017, winning 103 and 107 games respectively, continuing to maintain their dominance in the American League West.In the 2018 playoffs, the Astros faced off against the Boston Red Sox, who had just eliminated the New York Yankees, in the ALCS. The Red Sox created the best record of 108 wins in the team's history in 2018. They were fully fired up in the ALCS and won 4:1. The Astros went on to defeat the Dodgers 4-1 in the World Series. In 2019, the Astros already had two giant pitchers in Verlander and Cole during the season, and traded the third giant pitcher Zack Greinke from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Their 107 wins in the season were the best in the major leagues and became the first in the history of the major leagues. A team that has lost 100 games in three consecutive seasons and won 100 games in three consecutive seasons in the past ten years. In the playoffs, they first defeated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a surprise wild card in the American League East, 3:2. In the ALCS, they faced off against the New York Yankees again. This time, the series ended 4:2 in six games, and in the second game In Game 6, they won the game with bye home runs, both at home. The 2019 World Series was a monster in baseball history. The Washington Nationals and the Astros fought in seven games. The visiting team won all games and the Nationals won the championship.
looks back at the Astros' record. In addition to the just-concluded 2019 World Series, the Astros' home record in the past three seasons has been astonishingly good. Each season's home regular season record is the best in the division, and it is even more so in 2019. A record of 60 wins and 21 losses, the best in the major leagues. In comparison, the Red Sox's home record, which had the best record in the major leagues in 2018 with 108 wins, actually had 3 fewer wins than this, which shows the horror of their home court. So, the question is, if the Astros relied on electronic technology to gain an unfair advantage, could their home record still be so good?
As The Athletic's coverage of Fiers and others continues, more unfavorable information about the Astros' cheating in 2017 has gradually surfaced over the past few days. On November 14, two days after the original report appeared, another blockbuster news came out. In 2017, there were actually two people inside the Astros who actually designed the system for stealing pitch signals. They were the then bench coach. Alex Cora (!) and early 2017 free agent signing, veteran Carlos Beltran (!). This is very interesting. First of all, this system even has a camera outside center field to read the catcher's hand signals, transmit them to the monitoring screen between the bench and the locker room, and then immediately pass the sound of hitting the trash can after being interpreted. Passing to the hitter on the field usually requires the coordination of more than one person.
Alex Cora was the bench coach of the Astros in 2017 (Source: Getty)
Beltran had a brilliant career and became famous with the Kansas City Royals. He was traded to the Astros in 2004 and blasted in two playoff series. He hit 8 home runs, but unfortunately lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 3:4 in seven games in the National League Championship Series (the home team also won all games in that series). Beltran later played for the New York Mets for a long time and played for the New York Yankees in the 2015-16 season. Beltran has long had a reputation for deciphering opposing pitches. Now we finally know that this statement is true. And what about Alex Cora? After the 2017 season, he joined the Boston Red Sox as head coach, and the Red Sox quickly won the 2018 championship. During the 2018 season, the New York Yankees protested to the Major League Baseball, accusing the Red Sox of unfair play and using a combination of signals from staff members' Apple Watches on the bench and cameras outside center field to steal Yankee pitchers. signal of. Sound familiar?
2017 is Carlos Beltran's last year as a player (Source: AP)
The major leagues have now announced that they have launched a search for Astros head coach AJ Hinch, the current Red Sox head coach Cora, and was just hired by the New York Mets ten days ago. Formal investigation into new head coach Beltran trio. What does it mean to be covered in chicken feathers? This is it. All strong fortresses are breached from the inside. Did the Houston Astros, who have been arrogant for the past three years, embark on a turning road of detailed investigation, severe punishment, and record decline by the major leagues because of reports from insiders? Now it seems that it has Inevitable. Did the Astros only implement this cheating system during the 2017 season? This still needs to be verified by further information in the future, and it may never be conclusive. All we know is that some people's fortunes changed permanently after the 2017 season.
· Cora went to the Red Sox and led the team to win the 2018 World Series championship;
· Beltran retired and participated in the campaign for the new New York Yankees head coach in early 2018, but lost to Aaron Boone;
· New York Yankees from Joe Girardi, the head coach of the team for nine years from 2009 to 2017, failed to get a contract extension from the Yankees after losing to the Astros in seven games in the 2017 ALCS playoffs. He resigned as head coach and went to ESPN to work as an MLB analyst and commentator. , and resumed the coaching job in November 2019, going to the Phillies as the head coach;
2017 was Joe Girardi’s last year as the head coach of the New York Yankees (Source: Getty)
· Fiers served as the Astros in 2017 One of the best pitchers in the year, he left the Astros after the season and joined the Oakland A's;
· Another important figure in the center of the whirlpool, Astros head coach AJ Hinch, won the Coach of the Year award after the 2017 season. The baseball world today generally believes that as the head coach, it is impossible for Hinch to know nothing about and turn a blind eye to the system of stealing pitch signals designed and widely used by Cora and Beltran as bench coaches and senior players on the team, so he must approve of this. Behavior, and the identity of the head coach is to participate.
AJ Hinch, the Astros' meritorious head coach in recent years (Source: AP)
· In the 2017 season, the Astros' star second baseman Jose Altuve defeated the New York Yankees with a terrifying 0.346 average batting average (346 hits per 1,000 at-bats). The winner of the Rookie of the Year Award, Aaron Judge, who broke the all-season home run record for a major league rookie, won the American League MVP. The Astros' overall team batting average reached 0.282 in 2017, its highest point since the team was founded in 1962, but dropped to 0.255 in the 2018 season after Cora and Beltran left the team.
Should the 2017 American League MVP Award be awarded to the Yankees' Aaron Judge instead of Altuve? (Source: AP)
· In the 2017 World Series between the Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Dodgers started Game 7 of Japan. The famous pitcher Yu Darvish. He mastered as many as seven or eight different pitches, but he only threw 47 pitches in Game 7. He only completed one and 2/3 innings and gave up five runs. He ended sadly, which ultimately led to the Dodgers losing the series. Darvish started a total of two games in seven games, pitching only three and 1/3 innings in both games. After the season, Darvish was widely considered to be one of the main culprits, as his pitching revealed a lot of information to the Astros. Dodger fans launched a massive crusade against him, which ultimately led to him leaving the Dodgers and signing a long-term contract with the Chicago Cubs. To this day, Dodger fans have left messages on social media, saying they wrongly blamed Darvish. You know, in the two series before the World Series, Darvish started two games, pitched 11 1/3 innings, allowed only two runs, and struck out 14 opponents. Why was his performance so abnormal in the World Series? The reason is self-evident.
Darvish's six pitch changes (Source: Pitcher Giffer)
If the Astros had not benefited from this signal stealing system in 2017, then the New York Yankees might have won at least one game at the Astros' home court, especially the first one. A win in six or seven games would lead to the title, and the Yankees were outscored by a total of 11 points in two games by the Astros. If the Yankees enter the World Series and face the Dodgers, their old enemy from thirty or forty years ago (the last time the Yankees met the Dodgers in the playoffs was in 1981, and the two teams had met in the World Series ten times before that) and win the series , then head coach Girardi will not leave. If the Dodgers win the championship against the Astros, it will end the nearly thirty-year nightmare of missing a championship. . .
In Game 7 of the 2017 World Series, Darvish quickly lost five points and left the game (Photo source: LA Daily)
There is no if in the world, even if the final investigation of the Major League Baseball determines that the Astros cheated, it will not deprive them of the 2017 championship. There is a precedent for the NFL punishing the New England Patriots for spygate in 2007. The intensity of the punishment this time is worthy of attention.As an insider with a sense of justice, Fiers's words may best illustrate what cheating means to baseball and the players who have spent their lives in this game and dedicated their lives to it:
"I just want Make the game cleaner. Some players will lose their jobs because of this. Young pitchers will be hit by home runs in the first two innings against our Astros. I told our young guys when I was with the Detroit Tigers that they had to watch out for them, especially when they were in the major leagues. Home. "
The average annual salary of a Major League Baseball player is $550,000; what about the minor leaguers? Different levels, from A, to AA, to the highest AAA level minor league, the annual salary ranges from 15,000 to 60,000 US dollars. In this pyramid-like industry, many people play in the minor leagues and have to pay for living expenses and travel expenses out of their own pockets. Many players never make it to the major leagues for even one day in their entire lives.
Houston, you are in trouble.
