southsider2k5 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/...on-opening-day/ You may have seen Keith Olbermann tweet this picture of Brett Weber, who regularly charts velocity and pitch type from behind home plate for the Yankees, holding up four fingers towards the field during the season opener Thursday against the Tigers. It seemed more weird than anything else at the time, but it turns out that MLB rules prohibit team employees from using hand signals to communicate pitch types or speeds to players. Who knew? According to the Associated Press, Brian Cashman confirmed that Joe Garagiola Jr., the senior vice president of standards and on-field operations for MLB, spoke this morning with Yankees vice president and assistant general manager Jean Afterman about the issue. Cashman feels that he has a reasonable explanation for Weber’s actions. “The scoreboard went down. He was relaying after the fact with his fingers to some hitters who wanted it what the velocity was, pitches to the opposing teams’ hitter, to the guy on deck,” Cashman said. “There’s nothing to hide. We’ve got nothing to hide.” Furthermore, Cashman said that Weber wears headphones during home games so he can communicate with the scoreboard operator in order to relay pitch information that can be displayed in center field. Oh, and if you’re calling the Yankees “cheaters,” Cashman has a message for you. “It’s probably more work talking about than it’s worth,” Cashman said. “The psychotics that obsessed about it all day yesterday, I think we all did ‘em a favor by keeping them off the street and preventing them from hurting others.” For what it’s worth, Weber is not behind home plate for today’s game against the Tigers. That means they’ll have to find some other way to win. You know, like rely on the $200 million worth of talent they have on the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/New-Yor...-inquiry-040211 The New York Yankees say they are finished flashing hand signals from the stands — at least for now. HAVE A FIELD DAY Come for the game, stay for the party. Find out everything you need to know to enjoy the grand old game. General manager Brian Cashman confirmed that the team received a call Saturday from the commissioner's office inquiring about a club employee relaying information to players after each pitch on Opening Day. The Daily News reported Saturday that broadcaster Keith Olbermann, a New York season-ticket holder, put a photo on Twitter of Brett Weber, a Yankees baseball operations coaching assistant, holding up four fingers toward the field during Thursday's game against the Detroit Tigers. Weber was sitting behind home plate and wearing a headset. Major League Baseball rules prohibit club staff from using hand signals to communicate pitch types or speeds to players. Cashman said there was a simple explanation: The Yankee Stadium scoreboard was on the fritz, so Weber was just providing the sort of post-pitch details that normally appear for all to see, such as ''93 mph fastball.'' ''The scoreboard went down. He was relaying after the fact with his fingers to some hitters who wanted it what the velocity was, pitches to the opposing teams' hitter, to the guy on deck,'' Cashman said. ''There's nothing to hide. We've got nothing to hide.'' Cashman said Weber wears headphones during home games so he can communicate with the scoreboard operator, relaying pitch information that can be displayed in center field for the fans' enjoyment. Cashman said Joe Garagiola Jr., baseball's new disciplinarian, spoke Saturday morning with Yankees vice president and assistant general manager Jean Afterman about the issue. Cashman said there was no mention of any potential punishment and he thought Garagiola was satisfied with the team's explanation. PICTURE PERFECT See photos of all the Opening Weekend action. ''I think he recognizes the fact that there's no real advantage here. But at the same time there is a bulletin out that says you're not supposed to do that. We explained to him that the first inning the scoreboard was reading 912 mph, so normally that stuff's out there,'' Cashman said. ''I think it's really silly, personally. But we provided all information in a truthful and honest way to Joe.'' Cashman said he thinks Garagiola plans to review the policy next week with former Yankees manager Joe Torre, now MLB's executive vice president for baseball operations. In the meantime, the Yankees will put a stop to those hand signals from the stands. ''We're not going to do it until they resolve what they want,'' Cashman said. Regardless, the GM was surprised by all the ''blogosphere'' buzz on Friday. ''It's probably more work talking about than it's worth,'' Cashman said. ''The psychotics that obsessed about it all day yesterday, I think we all did 'em a favor by keeping them off the street and preventing them from hurting others.'' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chw42 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I like how Cashman thinks this is no big deal and that everybody does it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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