Beantown fined by MLB After Secretly Getting “Technical” with Yankees

By: Eric Ransom

(Boston, MA, 06/02/15) Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell takes questions during a press conference at Fenway Park on Tuesday, June 2, 2015) staff photo by Christopher Evans of the Boston Herald)

The Red Sox have been caught using an Apple Watch to steal pitching signs from the Yankees, stemming from a series earlier this month.

The Yankee’s film showed what appeared to be an athletic trainer in the Red Sox dugout reviewing information sent electronically to him from a video room to his Apple Watch.

The information sent to the device were signs being flashed to the Yankee’s pitcher from either the catcher or manager, stolen by the Red Sox through their cameras, and converted into some form of communication, tipping off the pitches to the batters before they were thrown.

After an investigation by MLB and Commissioner Rob Manfred ensued, the issue resulted in only a fine.

Although the punishment is lighter than expected, the Red Sox admitted to the act and fully complied with the investigation.

The Red Sox and Yankees played a series in New York back in early September where the actions occurred, and with Yankee footage recording inside the Red Sox dugout, the act was caught on camera.

Only a single game out of the four game series was won by the Red Sox, a 4-1 victory back on September 1.

Since both dugouts have cameras surveying each dugout, the cameras weren’t the issue- at least at the time.

In accordance with the accusation, the Red Sox countered, saying the footage provided was spy footage from the cameras used by the YES network, the Yankee’s home channel.

This situation had a lack of evidence, yet MLB found a separate incident: illegal use of the Yankees phone in their dugout in an earlier season, which was enough to have an investigation of their own.

In all, both the Red Sox and Yankees were fined for their actions, both containing undisclosed amounts.

As a result, each fine has been donated to hurricane relief funds in light of the recent disasters that have ravaged both Texas and Florida.

Because the device thought to be used by the Red Sox in the scandal was an Apple Watch, the name given to this scandal has been “Applegate”.  

However, other sources like CNET, have claimed that the watch in question was actually a FitBit. New York Times, who broke the story with an exclusive, claimed it was indeed an Apple Watch.

Manfred has issued warnings to all 30 MLB teams, stating that a loss of draft picks would be the consequence of committing these scandals.

Red Sox manager John Farrell commented on the situation by saying, “We’re focused on what is ahead of us… moving forward.”

Dave Dombrowski, the Red Sox President of Baseball Operations, went on to say “I’m glad it’s over with and I’m satisfied the commissioner’s office did a thorough investigation,” and that “I’m sure this won’t happen again.”

Both the Yankees and Red Sox are in a heated battle for the division crown this season, with the Sox only being a few games ahead of the Bombers for first place in the American League East.

They have played all of their games against each other this season, with the Yankees winning the season series, 11-8.