Umpires find illegal devices in helmets, a breakdown
What Happened
In a shocking incident during a New Jersey Community College baseball game, the Atlantic baseball coach is forced to resign after illegal communication devices are discovered in his players' helmets. The controversy begins when freshman pitcher Ethan Dodd approaches his coaches, suspecting that the opposing team is picking up on his pitching tells. This raises red flags, and in the next game, Atlantic Cape's first baseman Felix Diaz reports hearing strange noises coming from the opposing players' helmets. Determined to get to the bottom of this, the coaches wait until the third inning of the third game to investigate further. The catcher can be seen closely examining the opposing players, trying to detect any unusual activity. When the next batter steps up, the coaches spot an iPad on the Atlantic Cape coach's lap - a clear violation of the rules. As the batter takes his stance, he appears poised and ready, leading the opposing coach to suspect the use of illicit technology. The game continues, with the runners on base attempting a fake pickoff play, further arousing suspicion. The opposing coach then makes the unusual request to have the umpires check the players' helmets for devices. To the coaches' dismay, the umpires do indeed find earpieces hidden inside the helmets of the runners on second and first base. The players claim the devices are only used for practice, but the opposing coach vehemently disagrees, arguing that the presence of the earpieces and the players' suspicious behavior prove they were being used to gain an unfair advantage. The umpires confer with their supervisors, ultimately deciding to remove the earpieces from the helmets but not eject anyone from the game. However, the opposing coach refuses to continue playing, citing concerns about the live-stream camera in center field, which the officials then take down. The Atlantic Cape coach is forced to resign, as the school board determines that the incident is unacceptable. This shocking episode in Community College baseball highlights the lengths some teams will go to gain an edge, and the consequences that can arise when rules are broken. The detailed investigation, the discovery of the illegal devices, and the ultimate resignation of the coach create a truly captivating and controversial sports moment.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentwe've got a pretty incredible story out
of New Jersey Community College baseball
the Atlantic baseball coach resigns
after a legal communication device is
found in his players helmets these two
teams played three games against each
other in the first game freshman pitcher
Ethan Dodd approached his coaches and
said hey I think I was tipping they were
getting really good swings they were all
over me his coaches said we just kind of
dismissed it we didn't think there was
anything there in hindsight his senses
were okay but then the next game the
first baseman Felix Diaz tells his coach
that he could hear noises coming out of
the Atlantic Cape player's helmets so
now you got two players coming to you
saying something's up and when it gets
to game three they wait a little bit to
the third inning until those two players
come to bat and try to figure out you
know what is going on let's sniff this
out you can see the catcher give his
signs right here and then you know he's
staring he's looking man maybe he's
listening can he hear anything you got
anything it's a 2-2 game bottom three
balls put in play that guy reaches base
and then the next batter
he's the other culprit and you can see
in The Dugout the coach has an iPad on
his lap and uh you're not allowed to
have iPads in The Dugout so the opposing
coaches my assumption was he was using
the iPad to watch the live stream the
Centerfield camera and looking into the
catcher's signs uh but whether he did it
or not you're not allowed to have iPads
in The Dugout and he has one on his lap
right there as his players are hitting
this is the next batter that's part of
the suspect crew what a stance kind of a
give no no [ __ ] stance just like I'm
gonna stand here and yeah just poised I
mean just kind of like you're messing
around big old swing at a ball in the
dirt and then takes that pitch now this
camera angle isn't great
and then they go to this camera angle
sometimes too so if that's the only
stream they have I don't know how much
they're able to pick up
by watching this stream and now these
players are kind of guarding coach don't
know if that's on purpose or not or
that's just a normal place to stand it
is somewhat a normal PlayStation and you
guard balls from going in there but
they're also blocking the coach who's
got the iPad that he's not supposed to
have supposedly 3-2 pitch he walks and
the runner steals so now both those
Runners are on base and they're going to
call this like fake pick off because
that was one thing they said they said
they're getting really good reads on
jumps whether it was a pick-off or it
was a good pitch to steal and that is
kind of just fake and the guy gets back
to second base and now the coach is
going to come out and he's going to have
to make the oddest request he's probably
ever made and the other coach in the
dugout's like uh what's this he says hey
can you go check his helmet to see if
there's a device in there because we're
hearing things and umpire's like okay
and then he's like oh well [ __ ] and then
they check the other runner's helmet and
the kids like yeah it's for practice but
they're yeah you're right there is
something and they're like well [ __ ]
okay and then
umpire goes to the coach and he's
fumbling with his pockets like what do I
got a remote controller or something
like you think I got a walkie-talkie
like what are you talking about I and
then this kid on hitting is like look
here's my helmet there's nothing in
there and he's like yeah but those two
guys we already found it in their
helmets
so maybe you just don't think this kid's
good enough to have a listening device
The Elms get together and uh yeah the
umpires did find earpieces in the
helmets of the runner on second and
first they said the devices were just
used for practice uh according to the
rules only a catcher can use an
electronic communication device not
other players and they were breaking the
rules by using the devices in the
helmets with base runners obviously what
I mean they only use them in practice
why would you have two helmets with
earpieces in them in batting helmets in
practice what does that do so the um
says hey they said they're just using it
for practice and the coach is like no
what do you talk about my player said he
heard noises coming out of it that's the
whole reason we know about it and I
asked you to check on it why would we
know about it if they weren't using it
and they're not noises coming out of it
so the home plate hump goes back to the
other room and he's like hey so yeah and
Adam's like I don't know man let me run
to my car and grab my cell phone and
call people they call their supervisor
and they're like uh you guys didn't prep
us for this at all what are we supposed
to do here and what they did was they
removed the earpieces from the helmets
they didn't eject anyone and then they
let the game resume but the other coach
said hey we're not playing if that
center field camera is still live
streaming the game
so they also took down the live stream
of the center field camera
which BFA Sports says would have been
impossible to use to their advantage
they said that it's not possible to
watch the live stream during the game
and it's a 45 second delay of any live
feed and also to my point earlier
it's like framed pretty oddly and you
can't even see the catcher signs and a
lot of times they were going to this
angle which wouldn't help you out at all
especially those two batters but if they
did have earpieces and were using them
then the coach just telling them steal
now or he's picking you off or this or
that I mean he definitely was talking to
them through the earpieces because
the other team isn't going to make up
willy-nilly I heard voices coming from
this helmet that's a crazy thing to make
up on a whim and then it's true that
there are devices in the helmets but you
just made up the fact that they use them
to benefit them anyway the coach had to
resign the school board was like this
isn't good and that's the craziness that
happened in the this league of Community
College baseball only two players had
them pretty insane