Brewers are Stealing Signs

[JackofDiamonds]

It's at least equally based on Ryan Braun being a massive tool, so the analysis is still valid.

All the irrefutable evidence needed to know that the Brewers are cheating:

[SHOW]

Can't argue with science.

[haltz]

world champions and Dale Sveum is a sex trafficker.

[fanforever]

http://deadspin.com/jim-trdinich-is-the ... socialflow

[fanforever]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/pittsburgh ... 00045.html

All kidding aside, Trdinich isn't the only person associated with the Pirates that smells something fishy. In Game 2 of the three-game series between the two clubs, Pittsburgh catcher Russell Martin was none too pleased with something Brewers' third base coach Ed Sedar was doing in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Milwaukee had already jumped out to a 7-3 lead, and Carlos Gomez was at the dish with one on and one out. Gomez called time and stepped out, and this was followed by Martin taking off his mask and yelling in the direction of the third base line, presumably at Sedar as this GIF would indicate (h/t Rumbunter.com).

Now this isn't the first time the Brewers have been accused of stealing signs. Former St. Louis Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa suggested that something was going on with the scoreboard lights to help tip hitters off as to what pitch was coming next. Cardinal pitcher Chris Carpenter also accused Brewer base runners of relaying signs to hitters, and La Russa went as far as filing a complaint (via Yahoo!Sports).

Of course, this wasn't the first time La Russa had a gripe with an opponent, and the Brewers and Cardinals were locked in a rather bitter rivalry down the stretch of the 2011 season when this whole thing went down.

Then there was the first week of the 2013 season when Milwaukee played the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was the D-Backs who were eliminated by the Brewers in the playoffs two years ago, and just for good measure, catcher Miguel Montero switched things up in the teams' series in early April. He had some interesting comments to make regarding the change (via MLB.com).

The Diamondbacks wound up sweeping the Brewers, although both Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Braun missed most of the series with injuries.

OK, so that's three instances in the past three years. Let's weigh some factors.

If you happened to watch the first two games of the Pirates and Brewers' series, you'd have noticed that Pittsburgh starters Wandy Rodriguez and James McDonald were having trouble locating their pitches. The Brewers went on to score 22 runs, impressive for an offense that was in a bit of a funk entering the series.

We already mentioned that the Brewers are 46-8 against Pittsburgh at home since '07, and they have also enjoyed similar success in Milwaukee against the Chicago Cubs, going 18-2 in their past 20 games against the North Siders. Overall, the Brewers do have a rather noticeable split between home wins and away wins under the leadership of manager Ron Roenicke.

But these are also two teams that the Brewers have had more success than in recent years. If Milwaukee is stealing signs, then why isn't it beating the stuffing out of every team that enters its humble abode?

[JackofDiamonds]

Martin not super pleased with the 3rd base coach.

[crash22]

what is Martin ticked about? If he's putting the sign down correctly, 3b coach cannot see it.

[signthief]

It's a conspiracy!!11!11

This stuff is hilarious.

[ghostrunner]

Isn't stealing signs fair game as long as it's people in uniform doing it?

[crash22]

I was taught at 9 or 10 how to steal signs and relay to the batter when I was at second. I was a catcher and was taught how to tell if the other team was stealing signs. As long as it's players doing it, it's just part of the game.

[Popeye_Card]

Isn't stealing signs fair game as long as it's people in uniform doing it?

I think that's the rub though. With the technology available today, a team might be able to be instantly streaming from a CF camera zoomed in on a catcher's signals to somebody in the clubhouse/dugout, they could be relaying it to the 3B coach or guy at 2B, then relaying it to the batter.

Not saying that's what the Brewers are doing, but it would be somewhat easy to do.

When multiple teams are thinking something fishy is up, I'm a bit inclined to think something is out of line.