i noticed that they would turn their heads to look at something a couple of seconds before the pitch was delivered. it was most apparent with colby rasmus. i know there were allegations of sign stealing last year and i wouldn't put it past them. they have extreme home run splits and most of their road games are played in hitters parks.

I've also heard that rumor about the Blue Jays in particular, but nothing substantial.

Sign-stealing is a touchy subject. But I'm okay with it if it's players doing it. Non-players off the field helping out players, that's a no-no.

I guess we won't know until someone writes a book and spills the beans. Might take awhile though.

I just knew I was going to see a post something along the lines of "something i've noticed about blue jays hitters is they shell ranger pitchers" I was grossly disappointed that this is what I find.

most of their runs came after weak infield hits and botched plays. they have a below average offense and i'm a little suspicious of their home run splits.

Do you mean home/road splits?

i meant they hit a lot more home runs at home

Just to fuel the fire...

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/6837424/baseball-toronto-blue-jays-suspicion-again-stealing-signs-rogers-centre

From a 201 Hardball Talk article:

Here are the individual OPS splits for all of the Jays with 180 at-bats this season:

Jose Bautista: 1.155 home, 1.030 road
Yunel Escobar: .957 home, .699 road
Edwin Encarnacion: .921 home, .670 road
Adam Lind: .807 home, .755 road
Eric Thames: .794 home, .684 road
Rajai Davis: .735 home, .512 road
J.P. Arencibia: .697 home, .757 road
Travis Snider: .687 home, .561 road
Corey Patterson: .659 home, .671 road
Juan Rivera: .629 home, .702 road
Aaron Hill: .595 home, .587 road

Peculiar, for sure!

A little too close for comfort, methinks, especially since this isn't the first time I've heard rumors.

The next time we play them is here, fortunately.

I'll be in the Captain club wearing all white throwing signs for the good guys... And throwing down shots...

Edwin Encarnación's Home/Road Splits this year seem statistically improbable
In 59 PA at home, 7 HR, 0.388 BA,.475 OBP, .898 SLG
In 44 PA on the road, 1 HR, .250 BA, .261 OBP, .409 SLG
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=encared01&year=2012&t=b#hmvis::none

Sounds like teams going to Toronto need to use convoluted signals, whether or not any runners are on base. Maybe that will cut into their little game.

The stats are intriguing but I remember Texas being accused of similar practices a few years ago. I never saw any home/road splits regarding those allegations though. The thing that gives me pause, as it pertains to the ass beating we just took, is that it happened to Harrison and Feliz. One guy had been shelled the start prior, at home, to the Rays whose calling card is their pitching staff. The other guy is an unproven starter who tends to look uninterested at times, at least in his results. Were the Rays stealing signs in our place versus Dutch and Harry?

jp arencibia is hitting .389/.429/.778 with risp and .136/.174/.182 without risp. that's a little fishy.