Sign stealing or grip stealing, does it really matter?

Carlos Correa tore an ankle ligament during batting practice Tuesday and will miss the rest of the season. Correa moved back to Houston at last year’s deadline in a salary dump from the Minnesota Twins. The Twins, actively trying to sell themselves, reduce their long-term commitments and shed any meaningful players from their roster shipped Correa and $33m to the ‘Stros. Minnesota couldn’t find a buyer however and pivoted to a capital infusion from a trio of minority investors. Craig Leipold, owner of the Minnesota Wild, joined the minority partner group. Leipold married into the SC-Johnson family amongst other business ventures including owning the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Leipold’s Wild are currently down 2 games to none against the Colorado Avalanche in the second round of the NHL playoffs. The Astros are 15-22 to open the season and the Twins sit dead last in the AL Central. Aaaaaaand that’s a wrap on a hybrid breakdown of the Injury Report, Ownership Groups, NHL Playoffs, and two B-market baseball teams trying to stay out of the cellar.

That’s recently canned Red Sox manage Alex Cora above. Cora is widely credited as the Mastermind behind the Astros 2017 sign-stealing scandal because of his propensity to tell people that he was, in fact, the Mastermind. Cora’s success as the bench coach in Houston propelled him to the Red Sox managerial job in 2018 where he again won the World Series (Astros + Red Sox). Baseball suspended Alex for 2020, but the Red Sox would hire him back in 2021 before permanently parting ways a couple weeks ago.

This isn’t the space to unpack the Astros sign-stealing. It’s amazing we’re coming up on 9 years since that season. Rather, we should chat for two seconds about the semi-resurgent Red Sox. Boston hit back to back home runs off Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez yesterday. The third man to dig in, Trevor Story, promptly took a fast ball to the back. A mild skirmish ensued, but nothing worth noting.

The immediate analysis of the situation was simple: Framber hit Trevor on purpose. Which is correct. But that hardly answered the Why? Ex-Royal’s first baseman Eric Hosmer took to X last night to reveal that Red Sox baserunners were peering into Valdez’s glove from second base, and relaying pitches to the hitter. I’ve reviewed his proposal and concur that is exactly what happened. Did that directly lead to back-to-back solo home runs? No. No one was even second for those at-bats. Was Story highlighted as one of the runners to previously reach second and relay signs to a hitter? Yes. So, seeing his opportunity in a blow out, Valdez delivered his message.

I broke ChatGPT looking for a particular quote about Alex Cora. Couldn’t find it, because it was most likely uttered during a broadcast and not actually published. More or less, the quote outlined Cora’s adamant belief that if you watch the game close enough, the answers reveal themselves. If you’re confined to the manager spot in the dugout, then you got plenty of time to watch. A lifelong baseball mind like Cora’s sees and operates on a different level than what we see through the TV. Relaying signs (with signs from second base) to the hitter is no small feat. I’m not here to judge whether it’s Right or Wrong. More than anything, I’m inspired. Am I watching close enough? Will the answers reveal themselves to me before they happen? Can I watch closer?

Forget Alex Cora, because I don’t really care if he ever participates in Major League Baseball again. Next time you attend your local MLB ballpark, try to get the best seats possible. Key in on the infielders with men on. Or a pitchers wind-up for a breaking ball. Let me know if you see anything. Could just win you a World Series.