Five-finger discount, man

I missed it the first time around on the ESPN homepage, but just discovered that Tim Kurkijan wrote a fine overview on the art of stealing signs, including interviews with Jimmy Leyland and Paul Molitor and yet another hilarious Rickey Henderson anecdote. Tom Candiotti wrote a companion piece from the pitcher's perspective, but I haven't had a chance to compare and contrast; if anyone has ESPN Insider access, lemme know.

This article from the August 2002 issue of Baseball Digest delves more deeply into the ethics of stealing signs. And Paul Dickson wrote a whole book on the subject called The Hidden Language of Baseball, which looks like a must-read. So: legal or no? Hadn't considered it much before, though I know there's nothing specific in the Official Baseball Rulebook that covers this area. The only red flag the rulebook raises is OBR 9.01(c): Each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules. I'm guessing that this rule hasn't been enforced in regards to stealing signs, but I think it's so strange in principle: it offers umpires an opportunity to be the moral arbiters on anything that isn't explicitly covered within the rulebook AND a perfect escape clause should they run into any trouble.