Were the Yankees cheating against the Tigers?

The New York Yankee bats were alive and well in their opening series against the Tigers at the New Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Unlike their pitching staff which is still a little suspect, the Yankees were able to score 23 runs in their three game series.

However, were the Yankees cheating?

Former ESPN and MSNBC anchorman Keith Olbermann tweeted a photo of a Yankees employee sitting behind home plate wearing a headset and giving hand signals to the Yankee on-deck batters. So what were these hand signals signaling? According to Deadspin.com and Mlive.com these signals were to notify the on-deck batters what pitches were just thrown.

The New York Post was one of the first organizations to break this story and upon hearing it MLB reminded that Yankees that using hand signals to convey pitch types was against MLB rules.

The Yankees have an excuse though.

According to Yankees GM Brian Cashman, the team used a coaching assistant to relay the velocity of the pitches to hitters because the scoreboard was malfunctioning. This excuse may have worked in the Yankees’ case since the league will not take any action against them. They just cannot place employees relaying signals to batters behind home plate anymore.

Source: Mlive.com, New York Post, Deadspin.com