Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Stolen Away: Brooklyn Pitcher Recalls '51 Sign-Stealing Scam
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
January 16, 2020

Share

NEW YORK — Stealing signals. Banging on a trash can. Beating the Dodgers in October.
Sounds very familiar to Carl Erskine.
“If they’re going to go back to 2017 with penalties for the Astros,” he said Wednesday, “then I want them to go all the way back to 1951 to help us.”

“If they’re going to go back to 2017 with penalties for the Astros, then I want them to go all the way back to 1951 to help us.” — Carl Erskine
The old Brooklyn pitcher was laughing. Sort of.
Now 93, Erskine vividly recalled what — until this week — had been the biggest sign-stealing scandal in baseball history.
Up by 13 1/2 games in mid-August, Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers seemed destined. That was until rookie Willie Mays and the New York Giants came flying back, fueled by an incredible, late run in home games at the Polo Grounds, and forced a best-of-three playoff for the National League pennant.
Erskine was warming up in the Brooklyn bullpen in Game 3 when Bobby Thomson connected for the famed “Shot Heard ‘Round the World,” a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off Ralph Branca that rallied the Giants to a 5-4 win.

‘We Were Suspicious, but We Couldn’t Prove Anything’

A half-century later, a giant secret was revealed: The Giants had rigged a spyglass-and-buzzer system in late July to steal catchers’ signals and tip off their hitters.
“We thought something was going on, we were suspicious, but we couldn’t prove anything,” Erskine said from his home in Anderson, Indiana. “I remember Ralph said to me, ‘I bet those dirty birds are cheating.'”
Herman Franks, a former Dodger who had become a Giants coach, was stationed in the home clubhouse, above the 483-foot mark in center field. From a darkened window, he spied on catchers with a telescope, then relayed the signs.
When a buzzer rang in the New York bullpen — conveniently located in play back then, in deep right-center field — a Giants player who might waggle a white towel would signal to the hitter what kind of pitch was coming.
“A batter wouldn’t even have to move his head,” Erskine said. “It was right over the pitcher’s left shoulder. Just shift your eyes to about 2 o’clock and you’d see it.”
Several years after the scheme came to light, Erskine saw an obituary for Franks.

Erskine Made His Big League Debut in 1948

“I emailed Ralph and said to him: ‘Old Giants never die, they just steal away,'” Erskine said.

“You mean in this high-tech world they had to revert to that? In the commissioner’s mind, it’s probably a lot of garbage he wished had never happened.” — Carl Erskine
Popularly known as “Oisk” by Brooklyn fans of “The Boys of Summer,” Erskine made his big league debut in 1948 and spent all 12 years of his career with the Dodgers, finishing with Los Angeles. The right-hander was 16-12 in 1951 and went 122-78 overall with two no-hitters. He went to the World Series five times.
Erskine said he’s read some about the Astros’ scam, how they swiped signs from a video feed in center field and clanged a trash can to alert hitters to what pitch was coming. Houston closed out 2017 by beating the Dodgers in the World Series.
“You mean in this high-tech world they had to revert to that?” he said, chuckling. “In the commissioner’s mind, it’s probably a lot of garbage he wished had never happened.”
Not that Erskine and the Dodgers didn’t try things in their day.
“TV was still new in my era, in the early 1950s. We had a television in our clubhouse at Ebbets Field and when the opposing catcher or coach or manager would go to the mound, we’d try to read lips, to see what he was saying to the pitcher,” Erskine said.
“Just fishing for anything. Pretty spotty results,” he said. “But I guess it was a preliminary for what was to come later.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Kings County SWAT Arrests Los Angeles Homicide Suspect After Standoff

DON'T MISS

Trump Organization Pays off Loan on 40 Wall Street in New York

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Iran and Israel Agree to a Ceasefire

DON'T MISS

‘Regime Change’ Is Only Solution in Iran, Shah’s Son Says

DON'T MISS

New York Plans New Advanced Nuclear Power Plant Upstate, Governor Says

DON'T MISS

Madera County Authorities Arrest Man for Impersonating a US Marshal

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Iran Gave US Notice Before Attack on Qatar Military Base

DON'T MISS

Metallica Thrashes On at Levi’s, Aging Gracefully With Its Fans

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Lifts Limits on Deporting Migrants to Countries Not Their Own

DON'T MISS

Searching For Experience, Parlier Hires New City Manager

UP NEXT

LA Dodgers Pledge $1 Million to Support Families Impacted by ICE Raids

UP NEXT

The Secret to Finding the Best Travel Bargains

UP NEXT

Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 Levels Up With Four Days of Deals Starting July 8

UP NEXT

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Get a 400% Pay Raise

UP NEXT

It’s Final. No Live Horse Racing at Big Fresno Fair in 2025

UP NEXT

Buss Family to Sell Lakers at $10 Billion Valuation, ESPN Says

UP NEXT

LA Dodgers Say They Denied ICE Agents Access to Stadium Parking Lot

UP NEXT

Canseco, Cheechoo to Sign Autographs When Chukchansi Cuts Ribbon on Top Golf

UP NEXT

Buss Family to Sell Lakers, Report Says

UP NEXT

JJ Spaun Turns a Free Fall into US Open Title at Rainy Oakmont

Fresno County Detectives Seek Man for Interview in 2020 Homicide Case

4 hours ago

Florida to Build ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center for Migrants in Everglades

5 hours ago

US Vice President Vance Says Iran Is Now Incapable of Building a Nuclear Weapon

5 hours ago

Kings County SWAT Arrests Los Angeles Homicide Suspect After Standoff

5 hours ago

Trump Organization Pays off Loan on 40 Wall Street in New York

5 hours ago

Trump Says Iran and Israel Agree to a Ceasefire

5 hours ago

‘Regime Change’ Is Only Solution in Iran, Shah’s Son Says

5 hours ago

New York Plans New Advanced Nuclear Power Plant Upstate, Governor Says

6 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Arrest Man for Impersonating a US Marshal

6 hours ago

Trump Says Iran Gave US Notice Before Attack on Qatar Military Base

6 hours ago

Trump Brokered Ceasefire Agreement in Contact With Israel, Iran, White House Official Says

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran on Monday in a call to Israeli Prime Minist...

4 hours ago

Rescuers and security personnel work at the impacted site after a missile attack from Iran, amid the Iran-Israel conflict in Tel Aviv, Israel June 22, 2025. (Reuters File)
4 hours ago

Trump Brokered Ceasefire Agreement in Contact With Israel, Iran, White House Official Says

4 hours ago

PG&E Is Hiring an Executive Bodyguard. Combat Shooting Experience Required

A woman walks on a street, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Tehran, Iran, June 23, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
4 hours ago

US Crude Oil Futures Fall Over $3 as Trump Announces Israel-Iran Ceasefire

Fresno County detectives are seeking to locate Erick Javier Lopez, 25, who is not a suspect but may have information about the 2020 shooting death of Rosendo Herrera in San Joaquin. (Fresno County
4 hours ago

Fresno County Detectives Seek Man for Interview in 2020 Homicide Case

5 hours ago

Florida to Build ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center for Migrants in Everglades

Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 20, 2025. (Reuters File)
5 hours ago

US Vice President Vance Says Iran Is Now Incapable of Building a Nuclear Weapon

A 19-year-old Hanford resident is in stable condition after being shot in the Santa Rosa Rancheria early Thursday, and a juvenile male suspect, wanted for a prior homicide, was arrested with a loaded handgun. (Kings County SO)
5 hours ago

Kings County SWAT Arrests Los Angeles Homicide Suspect After Standoff

The entrance of the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street is seen in New York City, U.S. March 21, 2023. (Reuters File)
5 hours ago

Trump Organization Pays off Loan on 40 Wall Street in New York

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend