Since July 1, the Boston Red Sox have been one of the hottest teams in baseball — the second-hottest to be exact. With their 22-8 record heading into Friday’s road-trip opener against the San Diego Padres, only the Milwaukee Brewers have been slightly better over that span, at 23-7.
On June 30, the Red Sox stood at a mediocre 42-44. How did the Red Sox pull off such a sudden, dramatic turnaround — going from a middling team apparently headed for a fourth-straight season of missing the playoffs, to a top postseason contender with the fourth-best record in the American League, only four games behind the top-seeded Toronto Blue Jays?
Was there something in the Charles River water?
Are Red Sox Accused of Cheating? Not Exactly
The real answers are complicated and various, of course, as they always are. Improvement by the starting rotation, the emergence of rookie sensation Roman Anthony, the possible addition-by-subtraction of trading Rafael Devers and his 10-year, $313.5 million contract to the San Francisco Giants — all of those things and more have played a role in Boston’s dramatic improvement.
But according to at least three other teams the answer is a lot simpler — the Red Sox are stealing signs.
Player’s One-Word Response to Accusations
Veteran Red Sox reporter Sean McAdam of MassLive asked the Red Sox about the accusations for a report published Monday, and one player who spoke on condition of anonymity had a one-word reply when McAdam suggested that the team was “‘in the head’ of opponents to the point of paranoia.”
“Good!” said the unnamed player.
“I don’t pay close attention to this stuff around the game,” an opposing manager, also speaking anonymously, told McAdam. “I don’t know if they’re doing it more than other teams. But I also don’t think they’re doing anything illegal.”
Red Sox Not Doing Anything Like 2017 Astros
It should be made clear that, unlike the Houston Astros in their 2017 sign-stealing scandal — a scandal that deeply involved current Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was Houston’s bench coach at the time — the Red Sox have not been accused of doing anything that violates baseball rules. At least not the written ones.
The 2017 Astros were accused of an elaborate scheme using video surveillance, computer databases and other technology to steal opposing signs.
The Red Sox have been suspected of nothing more than “tipping pitching or sharing ‘location,’ the latter of which involves signaling to teammates where a catcher is set up,” McAdam reported.
But players often take offense when opponents find ways, even perfectly legal ones, of reading what a pitcher is going to throw in advance, and that appears to be what the Red Sox are suspected of.
Astros, Phillies and Angels All Upset at BoSox
Most recently, the ire came from, ironically enough, the Houston Astros.
On August 2, in the middle game of what turned out to be a three-game sweep by Boston at Fenway Park, Houston hurler Hector Nevis got into a heated verbal altercation with Red Sox third base coach Kyle Hudson over what he thought was pitch-stealing by Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story who had reached second base on a two-out double.
Neris was so nervous about Story, that he deliberately dropped the baseball on the mound, balking Story to third base. But he continued complaining anyway.
In previous incidents, the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies have griped about what they believe has been the Red Sox’ effort to “steal” pitches, mainly by observing the opposing pitcher and catcher for any body language or movements that indicate what type of pitch is coming.
