Dodgers News: Don Mattingly Accuses Cardinals Of Stealing Signs
The 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers saw their season come to a stunning end with ace Clayton Kerhsaw on the mound in Game 6 of the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. Kershaw had his worst start of his career, pitching four innings, allowing seven runs and 10 hits as the Dodgers were embarrassed at Busch Stadium, 9-0.
However, the Dodgers had some concerns about the Cardinals stealing signs coming into the series and while manager Don Mattingly doesn’t attribute that to the series loss, he talked about it with Mark Saxson of ESPNLA.com:
We felt like we had to be sure we kept an eye on their first-base coach and their third-base coach. They’re the ones with the easiest way to steal signs. Josie’s a guy, at third, who’s always looking for my signs from our dugout.
To guard against possible sign stealing, Mattingly admitted that the Dodgers decided to relay signs from the dugout instead of having base coaches Davey Lopes and Tim Wallach flash signs to hitters and runners. He also discussed that he and other Dodger coaches talked to the umpires about where Jose Oquendo was standing in coaching box.
It isn’t known how much merit these accusations have, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Cardinals don’t respond with a strong denial.
Within the same article, Mattingly mentions that some Dodger players were concerned that Cardinal baserunners were relaying signs to hitters after looking in at A.J. Ellis flashing pitch sequences to pitchers. These new accusations also come on the heels of some suggesting that the Cardinals intentionally hit shortstop Hanley Ramirez in the ribs during Game 1 of the series.
Ramirez fractured his eighth rib and had to receive 24-hour treatment in order to put himself in a position to play. Dodger players, fans and management have all wondered aloud what would’ve happened had Ramirez been 100 percent healthy.
It remains to be seen how the Cardinals will respond to Mattingly’s comments as things could be heated when both teams meet in 2014.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
ICYMI: The Dodgers and Brian Wilson agreed to a one-year deal last week
