Stealing information from other teams in sports to gain a competitive advantage is nothing new. Just ask the New England Patriots and the "victims" of Deflategate. This time around, another Boston-area sports team is being accused of some major trickery when it comes to their opponent's tactics. The Red Sox, one of the most well-known and respected organizations in professional baseball have reportedly used the Apple Watch to steal the pitching signals from their bitter rivals, the New York Yankees.
According to the New York Times, the Yankees accused the BoSox of using the wearable tech device to steal some valuable information from the men behind the plate during a three-game series in Boston last month. Major League Baseball officials have been investigating the claims for nearly two weeks, shortly after Brian Cashman, the Yankees' general manager, filed an official complaint with the league. Cashman supposedly included multiple video clips that showed Red Sox assistant athletic trainer Jon Jochim using his Apple Watch to glean information that he then passed on to several of the Red Sox players, including outfielder Chris Young.
For their part, the Red Sox didn't put up much of a fight when they were confronted with the video evidence. They admitted that their staff was using Apple Watches to receive signals from video replay personnel, adding that the scheme had been running for several weeks. However, the Red Sox also filed a countercomplaint with the league, accusing the Bronx Bombers of also stealing hand signals, but instead of Apple Watches, using their television network YES as the conduit.
As per the report, stealing pitching signals is technically legal and has become common practice when it comes to gaining an advantage on an opposing team. The catch is that, by the letter of baseball law, it is not acceptable to observe any pitching cues using anything but the human eye. As such, it would mean that the Red Sox violated the rules if they were using the Apple Watch for such a purpose. There's no word yet on whether or not the Red Sox, who are in first place in the AL East division, will face any penalties from the league.