Is Miguel Tejada a cheater, and will Jose Valverde be an Astro after 2009?

Even if Cruz and Tejada did everything that Capps alleges, it’s not against the rules. In fact, in the time honored tradition of the game, the Astros should give the two plaudits if they were able to steal signs. If the Astros had installed a video system in the ballpark in order to steal signs, that would be against the rules. But players who arrive at second base, for instance, should try and steal signs for the batter, if they can figure it out. If they can’t protect their signs, it’s the fault of the catcher and pitcher (and perhaps the coach in the dugout, if the pitch signs are signalled in, which seems like the only way the 1st base coach would see it). That’s why the catcher and pitcher frequently meet on the mound when a player gets to 2d base…so that they can change the signs if necessary.

Ozzie Guillen stole the Astros’ signals during the 2005 World Series. That is no longer a secret. Do I blame Ozzie? No, I blame Phil Garner and his staff for being too lackadaisical on devising the signs, failing to detect the sign stealing, and thereby failing to changes their signs. The next thing you know, Capps will accuse hitters of being cheaters if they detect a “tell” in his delivery and use that knowledge to anticipate pitches.

By the way, if Tejada stole the signs in that one at bat, it didn’t do any good since he popped up. Moreover, if Jose Cruz had figured out how to steal the Pirates’ signs, do you think he would give the information only to Tejada (rather than every other Astros batter)? No. Likely the information would be available to any Astros batter who wants it (other than those who don’t want to know it because they think it screws up their approach). And how is that the Astros couldn’t score a run for 8 innings if they knew the signs?

“To be honest with you,” former Cy Young Award winner Steve Stone said, “sign-stealing used to be much more of an art than it is now. But as long as you are not stealing signs from the scoreboard, using a camera or something, then you are stealing legitimately.”

(I recall reading that baseball teams of the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s used to assign coaches with the responsibility for breaking as many signaling systems as possible.)

former New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter, now an analyst on ESPN, lamented that sign-stealing is becoming less prevelant.

Free agency, he said, keeps players from sticking together over the years, and building the camaraderie needed for a good, healthy sign-stealing scheme.

“I don’t really have a problem with stealing signs,” Showalter said. "The important thing is that there are ways to keep it from happening to you.

“I don’t understand how somebody gets upset about it. It’s not shame on them for stealing, but shame on you for allowing it to happen. A lot of times, paranoia sets in. You see guys who aren’t very good but are taking good swings at breaking balls for a whole series, and you start to wonder what he knows.

Frank Robinson talks about a sign stealing allegation:

It has gone on forever. And it is so accepted that even Major League Baseball’s former cop, Montreal Expos manager Frank Robinson, told the Miami Herald: “There’s nothing wrong with trying to find an edge. That’s smart. That’s not cheating.”

Jose Ortiz’s blog says that Capps brought up Tejada’s and Cruz’s ethnicity as part of his suspcion. Capps apparently believes that Cruz is only helping Latin hitters on the team. Now that really sounds like paranoia.