Manny Machado’s antics have been one of the dominant storylines of this year’s playoffs, and now he’s taking time to respond to the latest controversy.
The Los Angeles Dodgers infielder was the target of the Boston Red Sox’s ire this week when Sox pitching coach Dana LeVangie said that he saw Machado relaying signs to hitters from second base during Game 2 of the World Series.
Speaking with the media on Saturday prior to Game 4 of the series, Machado addressed the allegations.
“Always. People always have to say something,” said the four-time All-Star, per Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. “I’ll play ball and that’s all I can do. Play for my team. That’s it.”
To be clear, Machado’s alleged tactics are not against the rules — sign-stealing is an accepted and time-honored piece of baseball gamesmanship, just as long as it is not aided by video technology or anything similar. However, for a player who continues to rub people the wrong way this postseason, it is inevitable that such behavior by him would attract some extra scrutiny.
