(670 The Score) A day after White Sox reliever Ryan Tepera suggested the Astros stole signs in the first two games of the American League Division Series, manager Tony La Russa on Monday shared an out-of-the-box idea that he has previously pitched to the MLB office to prevent sign stealing.
La Russa has floated the idea of requiring baserunners on second to turn around and look toward center field when the catcher puts down signs for the pitchers. As part of another idea, La Russa has suggested that a middle infielder could stand in front of a baserunner at second, though he doesn’t like that one as much.
Not surprisingly, neither idea gained traction.
“The thing that the commissioner (Rob Manfred) has talked about, actually when Joe Torre was there and more active, there were issues, they were being concerned about using electronic stuff, iPads in the dugout, all that stuff,” La Russa said Monday. “And we’d been warned to stop it. I think that stealing the catcher’s signs, the third-base coach’s signs, looking into the dugout to see if you can pick up the run defense signs, I mean that goes on all the time. What you do is you change your signs.
“I have a novel approach that I remember when I left (the) MLB (office) that I suggested would put an end to some of that stuff. It’s been totally ignored. You’ll hear me say it and you’ll say, ‘I can see why they ignore it.’ And it was really, I put it on pace of game. I would have the runner on second base face center field while the catcher is putting the sign down. I really would. Then the umpire would say, ‘Turn around.’ And then you wouldn’t go through all this thing (of long sign sequences between the catcher and pitcher). Because everybody’s defending it. Everybody has all these five different (sets of signs). It would speed the game up.
“The other thought I had when I was upstairs (in MLB office) was I’d just have an infielder stand in front of the runner … But I don’t like having an infielder stand in front of them because that sets up possible confrontation. I think the easiest thing is just have the guy turn around.
“It’d put an end to it, and it’s pretty simple. But it hasn’t gotten past my recommendation.”
After the White Sox’s 12-6 win against the Astros in Game 3 on Sunday night, Tepera implied the Astros were stealing signs in the first two games of the series, which Houston now leads 2-1. An MLB investigation found that the Astros illegally used technology to steal signs during their 2017 World Series championship run and again in the 2018 season.
"Obviously, it's a different game here at our field," Tepera said. "They play at Minute Maid and they're doing something over there that's a little different. It shows you how many swings and misses they had tonight compared to at Minute Maid. That's why you have home-field advantage.
“It is what it is. They’ve obviously had a reputation of doing some sketchy stuff over there. It’s just, we can say that it’s a little bit of a difference. I think you saw the swings and misses tonight compared to, you know, the first two games at Minute Maid.
But that’s not really the story, you know?
"We come here to play. We’re going to compete. We’re not going to worry about what they’re going to do. All we have to do is execute pitches, and they can't hit them anyways.”
Game 4 between the White Sox and Astros was postponed from Monday to Tuesday due to rain in the forecast. During his press conference Monday, La Russa expressed little concern about the Astros potentially stealing signs.
“I hear something about it when I got here,” La Russa said. “I don’t get into that stuff. I just don’t get into it. This is America. Players on our side can say what they want to, and I can say I don’t get into it if I want to. I think they’re a very good team, and they’re tough to beat. That’s what I think.
“I think Major League Baseball has looked into whatever was happening and they’re on top of it. That’s why I don’t get into it. It’s tough enough to try to play against a team like Houston without getting distracted.
So we try to concentrate.”