MLB: The cheaters don’t always prosper

MLB: The Cheaters Don’t Always Prosper

* The 1899 Philadelphia Phillies. Caught stealing signs by way of a reserve player with binoculars behind a billboard past the fence buzzing a third base coach under the coaching line. They finished third in that year’s National League race with the Brooklyn Superbas (the Dodgers-to-be) winning the pennant.

* The 1940 Detroit Tigers. They took their best shot at sign-stealing—literally: the day after pitching a game, pitcher Tommy Bridges showed infielder Pinky Higgins in the upper deck how to steal signs through the scope that belonged to Bridges’s high-powered hunting rifle. Bang! Those Tigers won the pennant and led the American League in runs scored—but they lost the World Series in seven to the Cincinnati Reds.

* The 1951 New York Giants. That staggering comeback from thirteen MLB games out of first, by way of Leo Durocher’s scheme to have coach Herman Franks in the Polo Grounds clubhouse behind center field steal signs with a Wollensak spyglass—provided by former Cub reserve Hank Schenz (who’d used it previously to steal signs from the Wrigley Field scoreboard)—and buzz them to the Giants’ bullpen. The Giants stole the pennant! The Giants stole the pennant! And, got flattened by the Yankees in five in the World Series.

* The 1960 Milwaukee Braves.  Two presumed fans sitting in the Wrigley Field bleachers turned out to be Braves pitchers Bob Buhl and Joey Jay, stealing signs with binoculars and relaying them to the Braves dugout. Supposedly, a Cub fan caught on and sent the message to the Cub bullpen, whose men let the dugout know there was espionage afoot. The ’60 Braves finished in second place, seven back of the pennant- and World Series-winning Pirates.

* The 1960 Chicago White Sox. They, too, had a binocular sign-stealing system in full swing, from inside Comiskey Park’s fabled exploding scoreboard. Newly-acquired relief pitcher Al Worthington—who’d actually talked Giants manager Bill Rigney (an infielder on the ’51 team) out of one the year before—couldn’t persuade White Sox general manager Hank Greenberg to stop the scheme. The same Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg who played first base on the 1940 Tigers . . . and eventually admitted their sign-stealing shot in his autobiography.

* The 2010 Philadelphia Phillies. Bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer was caught on camera with binoculars up to his eyes. Billmeyer claimed he was doing nothing more than monitoring Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz’s positioning, but the Colorado Rockies’ television broadcast caught Billmeyer training his binoculars on Rockies catcher Miguel Olivo. After moving on to the Tigers, Billmeyer swore it was cherchez le femme—he’d left a ticket for his girlfriend and wanted to be sure she’d found her seat. The Phillies went on to win the National League East but lose the National League Championship Series to the Giants.

* The 2010 San Diego Padres. St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina caught onto a San Diego Padres employee in the camera well behind Petco Park’s center field, wearing a Padres sports shirt, brandishing binoculars, and clutching a walkie-talkie while he was at it. If you believe he was just keeping in touch with his kids in the stands between innings, I have a Siberian beach club sell you cheap. Those Padres finished second to the Giants in the National League West.

* The early 2010s Toronto Blue Jays. Perhaps no team was more suspect for subterfuge than they. The suspicion centered around their notorious Man in White, believed to be sitting behind center field in Rogers Centre stealing signs. The Blue Jays haven’t even entered a World Series since the Clinton Administration.