The news is starting to leak, and the full truth is beginning to come out regarding the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. Now a Wall Street Journal report has all the details.
According to the report, an Excel-based application was in place designed to decode opposing catchers’ signs. As alleged, this technology was used throughout the 2017 season and for part of 2018 by the organizaon’s baseball operations employees as well as video room staffers.
In addition, the report states that this application was used for home and road games.
It started with an intern's spreadsheet. It turned into one of the biggest scandals in baseball history. https://t.co/ZgM2rwkLDC
— WSJ Sports (@WSJSports) February 7, 2020
Notably, this is according to a Wall Street Journal report:
Staffers would log the catcher’s signs and subsequent pitches into a spreadsheet and “Codebreaker” would determine how the signs related to different pitches. The information would then be communicated to the hitter by a baserunner via an intermediary.
Of course, we know that players in the Astros’ organization evolved the system into trashcan banging, yelling, and possibly using electronic devices worn on their body.
Furthermore, everyone’s least-favorite former general manager Jeff Lunhow was involved. The recently dismissed Luhnow told investigators that he recalls organizational intern’s PowerPoint slide mentioning “Codebreaker”. Lunhow also added that he thought it was only used to decipher signs from the game played previous, not during play.
What an embarrassing mess this has become for the Astros, and as always; the full truth will continue to leak out.
