Brad Penny: Shawn Green Steals Signs

There was an odd occurrence in the Dodgers 9-1 win over the Mets on Wednesday night which completed the sweep for LA. After striking out Shawn Green to end the top of the 3rd, Brad Penny decided to approach Green at the plate rather than walk off the field. Penny wanted a few words because he thought Green had been relaying signs to the batter from second base after doubling in the first:

"I was a little mad at the time," said Penny. "[Green] was giving pitch location to the hitter from second base in the first inning. When you do that, and you have a reputation for doing that, people are watching you and you take a chance of getting yourself or your team where you shouldn't be."

Naturally, Shawn Green defended himself:

"I was working on my shin guard, and there he was," said Green. "He said I was giving location of pitches from second base, which wasn't true. A little bit of paranoia on their side. If you think someone is stealing signs, you change the signs. It's that simple."

There are a few issues at work here. For one, I think Penny went about it the right way -- which is to say striking out Green rather than dosing him. Secondly, is Shawn Green violating the baseball code here? And does the reputation for relaying signs as Penny puts it, make Green a cheater? Third, Green says Penny was paranoid -- which is entirely possible. The two were teammates on the Dodgers briefly in 2004 after Penny got traded to LA, which means Penny is probably familiar with Green's tricks. Chances are, he could've been looking for something that wasn't there. Finally, one of my favorite aspects of the incident was the way manager Grady Little protected his player. Grady maneuvered his way around the issue after the game, saying that the ex-teammates might have been working on their dinner plans. Little really is a players' manager, and they love him for it.