Sign stealing has plagued baseball since the game was created in the 19th century, from the telescope and buzzer system used in 1951’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” to the Apple Watches and telephoto cameras and trashcan banging deployed in more modern times, and Major League Baseball is turning to some unusual technology to combat the problem.

For well over a century, catchers have used a variety of hand signals to communicate with their pitchers strategies for the type and direction of pitches, but that method has been vulnerable to spying by the opposing team — something that is illegal under MLB rules if it involves the use of technology.

A company called PitchCom has developed new devices for pitchers and catchers to wear that MLB will start testing in August. ESPN staff writer Alden Gonzalez reviewed an MLB internal memo and reported on how the system will work:

The system, which passed safety tests conducted at the UMass Lowell Baseball Research Center, consists of a transmitter that is worn on a catcher’s wristband and two receivers that fit within the sweatband of a pitcher’s cap and the padding of a catcher’s helmet. The transmitter includes nine buttons to signal desired pitch and location and comes preprogrammed with English and Spanish audio tracks, though teams can also record their own. Information is passed from the transmitter to both receivers using an encrypted communication channel and played with bone-conduction technology, the memo stated.

Instead of broadcasting audible sounds, bone conduction technology sends vibrations through the bones in your skull, making it theoretically much harder to eavesdrop on the signal.

The hope, as The Verge’s Stan Hollister reported, is that PitchCom’s system will not only reduce incidences of sign-stealing but also improve the pace of play.

It’s a critical public relations issue for professional baseball, as ESPN’s Gonzalez noted:

MLB’s failure to police teams’ ability to utilize game feeds in order to decipher a catcher’s signs in real time was brought to light in the fall of 2019, when The Athletic first shed light on the trash-can-banging scheme utilized by the Houston Astros during their championship season. The revelations led to a series of punishments, animosity among players, distrust from fans, public criticisms of the league and whispers about other teams engaging in similar, albeit less egregious, practices.

The first tests will be conducted for eight weeks among the eight minor league teams that make up the Low-A West (previously called the California League), with the devices scheduled to arrive on Monday.

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