Every team in baseball uses signs to relay messages from the coaches to the players. In lower divisions of the game, it may be the coaches instructing their catcher on the desired pitch, but at all levels, signs often include a third-base coach relaying them to the batter.
It isn’t illegal to try to steal an opposing team’s signs. If you can crack their system, you are allowed to abuse it. That doesn’t mean that they will like it. Pitchers especially take exception to the signs getting stolen when they are on the mound, giving the opposition an unfair advantage in the pitcher-hitter duel.
Ahead of the Red Sox-Angels matchup on Wednesday, a skirmish broke out between players and coaches during practice, involving sign stealing.
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Here is what happened between the Red Sox and the Angels and why they exchanged heated words.
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Red Sox-Angels altercation, explained
The Red Sox and the Angels are in the middle of a three-game series. Los Angeles took each of the first two games of the series, but had some pre-game fireworks ahead of Game 3.
Coaches and players chirping before the game. Everything is going great at Fenway. pic.twitter.com/TAMQZUvjYC
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Los Angeles pitcher Tyler Anderson was the starter for Game 1 of the series on Monday. He allowed five earned runs in 4.1 innings. The Angels ended up winning the game 7-6, so he avoided the loss, but it was still a bad outing for the veteran southpaw.
Anderson reportedly confronted Boston’s first base coach ahead of Game 3 after the pitcher learned that the Red Sox coaching staff had figured out Los Angeles’s signs during Anderson’s starts, per MLB Insider Mike Rodriguez.
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Anderson decided to address the issue during pre-game warm-ups at practice. This led to an exchange of words and a lot of fingers being pointed. The L.A. coaches started jawing at each other, and someone had to get between them to get them separated.
This was the extent of the scuffle, at least before the game. The coaches may have stolen each other’s signs for the series finale, though, because nine total runs were scored in the first inning of Game 3.
