Yankees fans can't help but laugh at new Red Sox, Alex Cora sign-stealing allegation

Los Angeles Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson had his eyebrows raised by the Boston Red Sox this week, believing something fishy was afoot during his Monday start. The key indicator that tipped him off? He probably couldn't believe the 2025 Red Sox scored five runs off him without Alex Bregman.

Anderson nearly coughed up a 6-0 lead before the Angels bullpen held it down in the end, with the win polished off by Kenley Jansen. A topsy-turvy game at Fenway Park seems ... well, completely normal. Whether the Red Sox are reeling or rolling, offense always rules the day at that place.

Still, Anderson was clearly left flummoxed, and reportedly went to bed believing that Red Sox first base coach José Flores had seen his signals and was communicating them to the Sox players who started to time him up a little better midway through the game.

This led directly to tempers flaring between the two sides prior to Wednesday's game, with manager Alex Cora hopping in the middle to stave off a meltdown. Maybe he wanted to let the Angels know that, when his teams steal signs, he's usually much more creative about it? And his teams also usually win those games, as fans helpfully pointed out? Boston lost this bad boy 7-6.

Yankees fans laughing again at Red Sox sign-stealing allegations vs. Angels

This is, in fact, the most normal Red Sox sign stealing allegation of all time. This doesn't even sound like stealing? This is more like tipping, which is completely within the boundaries of the game (though it's a bummer if you're the starting pitcher). The laughter more so stems from the fact that, no matter how hard MLB tries to make you forget that the Red Sox are longtime cheaters and Cora was the mastermind behind Houston's 2017 scandal, the more they remind you that, no, we really do a lot of shady stuff here, too.

Very surprising to see this particular organization embroiled in this type of controversy. It definitely didn't happen in 2017. They definitely didn't hire Cora after that season, fresh off pioneering his scheme in Houston, only to win 108 games and the World Series with a core that looked unstoppable, then suddenly got a lot more stoppable the very next year. They certainly didn't get named in Evan Drellich's bombshell 2020 report, forfeiting a draft pick and firing Cora because of his Houston link. And he never got hired again! The Red Sox have a strong moral compass. Please ignore Cora sitting in the literal dugout as we speak.

This is a drop in the bucket, but it's still nice to have another reminder of Boston's sordid past that often seems to get buried.