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Stolen away: Brooklyn pitcher recalls '51 sign-stealing scam
NEW YORK -- Stealing signals. Banging on a trash can. Beating the Dodgers in October.
Sounds very familiar to Carl Erskine.
-snip-
A half-century later, a giant secret was revealed: The Giants had rigged a spyglass-and-buzzer system in late July to steal catchers' signals and tip off their hitters.
"We thought something was going on, we were suspicious, but we couldn't prove anything," Erskine said from his home in Anderson, Indiana. "I remember Ralph said to me, 'I bet those dirty birds are cheating.'"
Herman Franks, a former Dodger who had become a Giants coach, was stationed in the home clubhouse, above the 483-foot mark in center field. From a darkened window, he spied on catchers with a telescope, then relayed the signs.
When a buzzer rang in the New York bullpen — conveniently located in play back then, in deep right-center field — a Giants player who might waggle a white towel would signal to the hitter what kind of pitch was coming.
"A batter wouldn't even have to move his head," Erskine said. “It was right over the pitcher's left shoulder. Just shift your eyes to about 2 o'clock and you'd see it.”
-snip-
https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/stolen-brooklyn-pitcher-recalls-51-sign-stealing-scam-68320868
The Giants clubhouse was way, way out in centerfield, below the beer sign, so a telescope was essential
NEW YORK -- Stealing signals. Banging on a trash can. Beating the Dodgers in October.
Sounds very familiar to Carl Erskine.
-snip-
A half-century later, a giant secret was revealed: The Giants had rigged a spyglass-and-buzzer system in late July to steal catchers' signals and tip off their hitters.
"We thought something was going on, we were suspicious, but we couldn't prove anything," Erskine said from his home in Anderson, Indiana. "I remember Ralph said to me, 'I bet those dirty birds are cheating.'"
Herman Franks, a former Dodger who had become a Giants coach, was stationed in the home clubhouse, above the 483-foot mark in center field. From a darkened window, he spied on catchers with a telescope, then relayed the signs.
When a buzzer rang in the New York bullpen — conveniently located in play back then, in deep right-center field — a Giants player who might waggle a white towel would signal to the hitter what kind of pitch was coming.
"A batter wouldn't even have to move his head," Erskine said. “It was right over the pitcher's left shoulder. Just shift your eyes to about 2 o'clock and you'd see it.”
-snip-
https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/stolen-brooklyn-pitcher-recalls-51-sign-stealing-scam-68320868
The Giants clubhouse was way, way out in centerfield, below the beer sign, so a telescope was essential
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