After Monday night’s win over the Colorado Rockies, the Rockies accused the Phillies of stealing their catcher’s signs. They think that bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer was using binoculars from the bullpen to steal their signs.
Apparently, Rockies manager Jim Tracy saw Billmeyer out there with his binoculars staring at the action. He ordered FSN to get a good shot of it so he had evidence to send to the league, which he did.
“As far as I am concerned, it’s out of line,” Tracy said Wednesday, according to CSNPhilly.com. “It’s one thing to play a club as hard as you can possibly play it. But, if you are cheating and you get caught, then you better do something about it.
“A pair of binoculars staring down the barrel of the hitting area, I don’t think any team would take too kindly to that. You can come up with all kinds of reasons, but are we to believe that or believe that they are trying to gain a competitive advantage? It makes you wonder,” Tracy said.
The Phillies claim that he was using the binoculars to stare at their own catcher, which would make absolutely no sense unless Carlos Ruiz was batting. Not too difficult to figure out who is pitching and who is batting. Still, manager Charlie Manuel defended his club.
“Absolutely not,” Manuel said, according to CSNPhilly.com. “Absolutely [bleeping] not. In no way were we stealing signs. We don’t do that.
“I understand why they’d be concerned about it, but that’s the truth. We’re not trying to steal signs. That’s it. I didn’t know [Billmeyer] did that. He watches our catcher to help him where he’s setting up. It definitely had nothing to do with signs,” Manuel told CSNPhilly.com.
While MLB didn’t find anything conclusive, they did call the Phillies and issue them a warning, so the team will be watched moving forward.
Has everyone forgotten that while it might be poor sportsmanship, there really isn’t a value to stealing signs like this? How could they possibly get the information into the batter in time for the pitch? Such a waste of time. With the Phils bullpen ailing, I think Billmeyer needs to focus on his pitchers and not his binoculars. Watch the game on television if you want to see the stupid signs.
But it seems that the Rockies aren’t alone. Apparently, the New York Mets complained about possible sign stealing as well after the Phils rocked Johan Santana for 10 runs a couple weeks ago.
“Keep crying,” Manuel said.
How great is that? Remember when we used to think this guy was a dufus? Now he has a World Series ring, swears in interviews and tells other teams to cram it. Go get ’em, Charlie.
