Following the sign-stealing scandal involving the Houston Astros, in which players used a live camera feed and audio cues—like banging trash cans—to decode the opposing team’s signs, Major League Baseball implemented PitchCom for the 2022 season.
While PitchCom aims to prevent sign-stealing, it’s worth noting that the audible calls can sometimes unintentionally reveal the pitch selection to anyone paying close attention. And that was seemingly the case during the third inning of Sunday night’s ESPN broadcast of the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals.
While interviewing mic’d-up Dodgers’ second baseman Kiké Hernández, the broadcast inadvertently revealed his PitchCom calls. This potentially compromised the team’s strategy, as any St. Louis Cardinals personnel monitoring the feed could have gleaned information about upcoming pitches.
But Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts, who caught win of the PitchCom being overheard on Sunday’s broadcast, told a group of reporters Monday that he doubted it gave St. Louis any type of advantage.
“I would have a little comment about a trash can, but I’m not gonna go there,” Roberts said, tongue-in-cheek (via Jack Harris, the Dodgers beat writer for The Los Angeles Times.)
It’s notable that Roberts would make a quip about the trash can(s), considering he was managing the Dodgers when they lost the 2017 World Series to the Astros. While there have been punishments handed out, the World Series trophy — or a piece of metal — was never vacated. And now that the Dodgers have a World Series of their own, winning it all in the Covid-shortened 2020 season, Roberts can crack a smile and a joke.
However, it’s a good reminder for future mid-game interviews, particularly those occurring during playoff chases, that you may want to make sure you’re not tipping pitches on live TV broadcasts. And if teams start banging trash cans after a national game, well you might have your answer.
[Jack Harris on Twitter/X]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.