Texas A&M Baseball Coach Accuses SEC Rival Of Using Cameras To Watch For Signs
Is there a Houston Astros style cheating scandal happening in the world of SEC baseball?
That seems to be what Texas A&M Aggies manager Jim Schlossnagle implied during a recent press conference. Schlossnagle spoke to the media and dropped a juicy bit of information on what appears to be a budding scandal.
Without revealing which team he was referring to, Schlossnagle said that one of the SEC baseball programs was caught using a camera pointed at the catcher all season. The camera feed was then directed into the team's dugout, ostensibly to pick up on signs, which would then be relayed to the players on the field.
"I don't know if people know about it yet," Schlossnagle said according to Mason Choate. "They are hitting .306 at home and .206 on the road. I don't know."
Sounds a lot like the 2017 Astros!
Texas A&M Aggies head coach Jim Schlossnagle. Photo: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Which SEC Team Could Jim Schlossnagle Possibly Be Referring To?
It's not particularly difficult to figure out which team the A&M coach is referencing in the press conference. There are three distinct possibilities that fit the batting average description.
Using video to decode signals is, of course, completely frowned upon in baseball, with Major League Baseball changing its rules and procedures to ensure that nothing like the Astros scandal ever happens again. But college baseball doesn't have the organization or resources to make the kind of checks needed to stop teams from engaging in this kind of behavior.
And it seems to be a problem in the SEC in particular, given the recent images of a Georgia Bulldogs pitcher appearing to use foreign substances.
It's unclear whether or not the team that got busted will be officially named, or whether there will be a punishment announced. But if the head coach of one of the best teams in the country was willing to go relatively public with it, it must be a poorly kept secret in the conference. Stay tuned.