After the Yankees asked Major League Baseball to investigate the Houston Astros for whistling to convey signs in this year's American League Championship Series, the league announced that it found no evidence of wrongdoing, and left it at that.
As it turns out, the reality of the situation was a bit more complex.
A league official sitting on the dugout level did not report whistling. But when MLB reviewed video of Game 1 in Houston, officials did hear frequent loud whistling on the footage, sources told SNY. However, the league could not conclusively determine if the sounds were coming from the Astros dugout or the crowd.
Last week, the Twitter user Jomboy posted video of Game 2, with loud whistling evident while Aroldis Chapman was pitching.
The Yankees' suspicion arose during Game 1, as SNY first reported. Third base coach Phil Nevin and others on the Yankee bench accused Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron of whistling to give batters pitch selection.
The Athletic later reported that the Astros banged on a garbage can in 2017 to communicate signs, and used a camera to steal those signs.
A significant question still to be determined is which camera the Astros are alleged to have used.
As reported Friday, most team broadcasts have two cameras in center field: A wide camera, which shows the standard view of a pitcher's back and is usually where the shot of a pitch comes from, and a tight camera for close-ups.
In practice, this would be difficult to use for sign stealing. Both center field cameras are manned by camera operators who have multiple game responsibilities.
For the operator of the tight camera to participate in a sign-stealing scheme, he or she would need to ignore key aspects of his or her job and be in cahoots with players or team officials.
While technically possible, it is hard to imagine this level of coordination.
It's unclear if the Astros are alleged to have used hidden cameras, which would be illegal, or the TV feed.