The Houston Astros may be in hot water with Major League Baseball after former pitcher Mike Fiers went on record this week, saying the team used cameras in the outfield to steal signals during their 2017 World Series win.
Fiers told The Athletic about a system in which at least two Astros — a hitter on the team and a coach — set up a camera in the outfield that was focused on opposing catchers. Astros players would watch the other team’s signs on a video monitor near their dugout and then clank on a garbage can to signal what pitch was coming.
Yahoo Sports, which reported on The Athletic’s story suggests that other teams were already engaged in high-tech sign stealing and the Astros decided to follow suit.
The Astros released the following statement regarding the matter:
“Regarding the story posted by The Athletic earlier today, the Houston Astros organization has begun an investigation in cooperation with Major League Baseball. It would not be appropriate to comment further on this matter at this time.”
For his part, Fiers says he hopes that by coming out, the game will benefit:
“I just want the game to be cleaned up a little bit because there are guys who are losing their jobs because they’re going in there not knowing,” Fiers told The Athletic. “Young guys getting hit around in the first couple of innings starting a game, and then they get sent down. It’s (B.S.) on that end. It’s ruining jobs for younger guys. The guys who know are more prepared. But most people don’t. That’s why I told my team. We had a lot of young guys with Detroit (in 2018) trying to make a name and establish themselves. I wanted to help them out and say, ‘Hey, this stuff really does go on. Just be prepared.’”
“I told the teams I was on, I didn’t know how far the rules went with MLB, but I knew they (the Astros) were up to date, if not beyond,” said Fiers, who became a free agent on Dec. 1, 2017. “I had to let my team know so that we were prepared when we went to go play them at Minute Maid.”
