One of the allegations against Alex Rodriguez to come out in the paparazzi-style book about him was that he would tip pitches to opponents late in games in hopes that they would return the favor. This was said to occur only in blowouts as a way to boost statistics. Well it appears as if A-Rod’s tipping ways are still in effect, just now he’s doing it to help his teammates. In a rare instance where a color analyst actually provided some excellent insight into a game, ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe may have picked up on something quite interesting during the Rangers/Yankees Wednesday night game.
Sutcliffe claims that in the first inning Alex Rodriguez used a verbal sign to indicate pitch location for Mark Teixeira while A-Rod was in the on-deck circle. Rangers catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia gave his pitcher the sign early and set up inside before his pitcher began his windup. According to Sutcliffe, that gave A-Rod plenty of time to whistle to Teixeira, indicating that the catcher was setting up inside. Teixeira wound up turning on the pitch and launching it above the bleachers in left field, a pretty brilliant blast to be sure. When they got into the dugout after each player’s at-bat, the two sluggers appeared to flash the “O.K.” sign at each other as a way of saying “nice job, that worked perfectly.”
Now if you want to say that they weren’t setting each other up with help, you would argue that they were flashing the O.K. sign as a way to signify that the pitcher threw him a circle changeup (the circle changeup is held with an O.K. sign as a grip). Believe me, Tex didn’t bash a changeup so I’m not buying that one. Sutcliffe showed a whistling sound when they replayed the highlight and he was dead certain that A-Rod and Tex were in cahoots. If that’s the case, is that crossing the line or them just taking advantage of circumstance? I know opposing teams frown upon stealing signs like that, but it seems to me like Tex and A-Rod are doing a good job helping each other out. It also really would support the assertions in the book too. Besides, I have to admit, I’ve had third base coaches tip pitches or location to me using verbal cues when I played, so I won’t say this is playing dirty. I’m not sure how other teams will see it other than to say they’ll be more careful next time if they’re smart. Check out video of the Teixeira 2-run home run below:
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More Hot Stories at larrybrownsports.comThis entry was posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 and is filed under Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
If someone in the front row whistles, doesn’t that kill the plan?
somebody better be careful, especially the next time they got a “tip” that the pitch is supposed to be low and away.
I’m pretty sure they can tell the difference between their teammate in the ondeck circle whistling and a fan in the stands
This post is beyond ignorant. Aren’t teammates supposed to help each other defeat their opponent? Isn’t that what “team-mate” means? Isn’t it the catchers fault for setting up so early so the batter could relay a signal before a 90+ pitch is coming his way? What if Damon is leading off second and touches his left knee to indicate outside setup? Is he “cheating” too? Once again, a very ignorant post.
Also, If you would check the NY Times last week you would know that they debunked the ARod tipping of teammates years ago. His , AND his opponents, offensive numbers were well below normal when his team was +4 or -4 runs ahead/behind and he was clutch when they were close games.
I’m a Braves fan, hate the Yankees, but I hate ignorant spreading of stupid shit.