BALTIMORE — Slugger Jose Bautista said an unnamed White Sox reliever accused him and his Blue Jays teammates of stealing signs last season.
“He yelled at me and said, ‘We know what you and your teammates are doing. … Keep it up and someone is going to get hurt,” Bautista told the Toronto Sun. “Getting hit is one thing, telling someone you’re going to hit them is something else. What if someone gets hit in the head?”
Bautista, who was 5-for-26 with no home runs against the Sox last season, declined to identify the Sox reliever because “I don’t want to prolong the story.” Bautista said the pitcher yelled at him from the bullpen while Bautista took his position in right field.
The Sox were in the midst of batting practice in Baltimore when Bautista spoke in Toronto. Allegations against the Blue Jays were well-documented in a recent story in ESPN The Magazine.
Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said he has heard allegations against the Blue Jays since last year but said it’s up to teams to disguise their signs. Guillen, however, said it’s a “no-no” if teams steal opponents’ signals from the stands.
“What are the Blue Jays going to say? ‘Yes, we’re doing it?'” Guillen said. “That’s very delicate point in baseball to say, yes or no or guilty or not guilty. It’s like they accuse you of killing somebody. You have to be guilty. I’ve seen players say, ‘I’ve known this.’ Have some (guts) to say, ‘I did it’ or “They did it.'”
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