Power outage in bullpen; Red Sox TV off

[Louis Cypher]

Posted 9/24/2003 8:31 AM

By Rod Beaton, USA TODAY


Like in many American households, there is a fight for the remote at Boston's Fenway Park.

The Red Sox have come under fire for putting a television in their bullpen but not in the visitor's pen and have been told by Major League Baseball to pull the plug.

The Red Sox say the TV is there to give the relievers a better view of the game from beyond the right-center field fence. But some teams have implied that it could be used to steal signals or cheat in other ways.

"I'd suggest that you look at the discrepancy in their on-base percentage and batting average at home and on the road and draw your own conclusions," Seattle Mariners general manager Pat Gillick recently told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The Red Sox, who lead the Mariners in the wild-card race, are 52-27 at home and 41-37 on the road. They are hitting .315 with a .392 on-base percentage at Fenway Park and .262 with a .328 OBP on the road.

Gillick filed a complaint with MLB after the Mariners were swept in a four-game series at Fenway in late August. Then last week in the middle of the game, Tampa Bay Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella asked the umpires to direct the Red Sox to turn off the TV.

MLB has since told the Red Sox they can't use the TV until they equip the visitor's bullpen with one. Both bullpens were dark for Tuesday's game against Baltimore, which the Red Sox won 6-5 in 10 innings.

"Teams are not allowed to have televisions in their dugout, but we have granted permission for televisions in bullpens where it is difficult to see the game," said Sandy Alderson, MLB executive vice president.

"Where we've done that, we've stipulated the television must be available to both teams, one in each bullpen. That wasn't the case here. There must have been some misunderstanding. But there are televisions in bullpens around the leagues. We have granted permission in the past."

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein declined comment Tuesday, and Gillick, who also had a TV in the Texas Rangers bullpen shut down last week, would only say, "I really can't comment from the standpoint I gave information to the commissioner's office and let them make a determination."