Baseball Rules Corner.(how baseball teams steal signs from each other in the past and present)

Stealing signs during a game has been part of baseball for years

SIGN STEALING HAS BEEN A BASEBALL art longer than we've been singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame". Pilfering an opposing pitcher's habits or tendencies before throwing certain pitches is fair game, as is surreptitiously picking up the signs of the catcher or third base coach.

If done by those in uniform with the human eye, it's not only legal but admirably acceptable. But when electronic or other high tech devices are used to gather such information, this crosses the line and candidly speaking is cheating.

On January 31, an article appeared in The Wall Street Journal that quoted Hall of Fame outfielder Monte Irvin, catcher Sal Yvars and pitcher Al Gettel as admitting the 1951 National League pennant-winning New York Giants stole signs by means of electrical equipment.

The Associated Press first reported the elaborate ruse on March 22, 1962, citing an unidentified source with the Giants. I reported it about six years ago after a conversation I had with Yvars, who was a backup catcher with the Giants in '51. Yvars revealed, "We had a wiring system in the Polo Grounds that ran from the center field clubhouse to the bullpen to the dugout. Herman Franks, one of our coaches, would station himself upstairs in the center field clubhouse with high powered Navy binoculars. His mission was to pick off the opposing catcher's signs. If Herman grave one buzz to the bullpen, a fastball was on its way. Two buzzes meant a breaking pitch. If I tossed a ball in the air when I was in the bullpen, it signaled a fastball for the batter. If I didn't toss a ball, it meant the pitcher was going to throw a breaking pitch."

Yvars recently told the New York Times that if he tossed the ball in the air, it was going to be a fastball. If he held the baseball in his hand, a fastball was coming. Well, maybe details gel a little fuzzy through time but whatever signal keyed the pitch, Yvars, who was located in the Giants' bullpen along the wall in foul territory in right field, was the tip-off guy.

The Journal also reported that infielder Henry Schenz aided Franks who was probably more than 500 feet away from the catcher in the distant center field clubhouse.