Second thoughts

Mattingly: Sign stealing for the Birds

The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the six games in the National League Championship Series this year.

The Cardinals eventually lost to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, but Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly doesn’t think the Cardinals got there honestly.

Mattingly told ESPN Los Angeles last week during baseball’s winter meetings in Orlando, Fla., that the Dodgers felt Jose Oquendo, the Cardinals’ third-base coach, was stealing the signs made from their dugout.

“We felt like we had to be sure we kept an eye on their first-base coach and their third-base coach,” Mattingly said. “They’re the ones with the easiest way to steal signs.

Jose’s a guy, at third, who’s always looking for my signs from the dugout.”

Mattingly said he gave the duty of relaying signs from the dugout to another member of his staff during the series to keep Oquendo from stealing the signs, and the team complained to the umpires at times about where Oquendo was standing while coaching third base.

Mattingly said he doesn’t think the Dodgers lost the series because of the stealing of signs saying “It’s your job to make sure they can’t do it,” but the third-year manager wasn’t pleased about it.

Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak was asked about the accusation, and said he didn’t know anything about it.

“I suspect people have been trying that for years,” Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“I remember we had an advance scout that worked for us that used to take pride in it. I have no idea if that’s a benefit or not.”

If so, Oquendo should have thought about doing it against the Red Sox.

Called for service

Tom Maayan won’t be seen in a Seton Hall basketball uniform anymore. The reserve guard played 13 minutes against New Jersey Institute of Technology on Tuesday night, and is currently averaging 2.4 points for the Pirates.

Instead, Maayan, a native of Galil, Israel, will finish up the semester and head back home to serve in the Israeli military.

Seton Hall Coach Kevin Willard announced his departure following last week’s victory.

“It sucks,” Willard told The Star-Ledger after that game. “The locker room was upset when I told them.”

The news wasn’t a complete shock to the Pirates. During the summer, Maayan had to return home for three months for training with his home country’s armed forces, which is required by law for all Israeli citizens over the age of 18.

The Star-Ledger reported that Maayan was able to earn a temporary exemption from starting his service to return to school this fall, but last month, he was informed that exemption was for only 120 days and had to return to Israel by Jan. 2.

“I think the yo-yoing was tough for everybody,” Willard said. “It was tough for him - those are his teammates, his family. His extended family. Leaving them wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy last time and it wasn’t easy this time, either. But it is what it is.”Taking a chance

Russell Wilson led the Seattle Seahawks to a 23-0 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.

That came three days after Wilson was drafted by the Texas Rangers with the 15th pick in the minor-league phase of baseball’s Rule 5 draft.

The minor-league Rule 5 draft allows a franchise to hold rights to a player without having to put him on its 40-man roster.

So, no, Wilson, who played two seasons in the Colorado Rockies organization as a second baseman, isn’t expected to be playing in the Rangers’ infield anytime soon.

But, as the Morning News’ Evan Grant put it “The Texas Rangers now have arguably the best quarterback in Arlington.”Quote

of the day “....” Dallas Cowboys wide

receiver Dez Bryant, shaking his head at reporters after Sunday’s 37-36 loss to the Green Bay Packers in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas

Sports, Pages 18 on 12/16/2013

Upcoming Events