The nation's top baseball league said Thursday it will open disciplinary proceedings against a club over its sign stealing attempt.
The Korea Baseball Organization said it will convene a disciplinary committee meeting, on a date to be determined later, to discuss the LG Twins' admission Wednesday that they tried to steal pitching signs.
They got into hot water after Wednesday's road game against the Kia Tigers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, when a sheet of paper on the wall near the clubhouse, detailing Kia's catcher signs for different pitches, was photographed by a local news outlet.
members of the LG Twins react to their 11-8 victory over the KT Wiz in a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on April 15. (Yonhap)
For instance, the paper said if the catcher touched his left thigh with his index finger, it meant a pitch on the inside to the right-handed batters. Flashing both the index and middle fingers meant a curveball was coming. Showing the index, middle and baby fingers together was a sign for a slider.
When the photo began circulating online, the Twins admitted that they'd prepared the paper to help runners steal bases.
"It was clearly a wrong thing to do," the team said in a statement. "We will make sure something like this never happens again."
Under the KBO regulations, teams are prohibited from relaying information on pitches -- through coaches in the dugout, first base and third base coaches, and base runners -- to hitters at the plate. Clubs are also not allowed to receive information from outside the dugout during games. (Yonhap)