Rhode Island Little League World Series Team Accused of Stealing Signs

One of the biggest taboos in baseball is sign stealing. Although plenty of teams do it to gain the upper hand, it's generally frowned upon by traditionalists.

It also seems to be a major point of contention in Little League ball right about now, as one Rhode Island team in the Little League World Series team was accused of stealing signs from a rival New Hampshire team in the New England Regional Final.

It sounds as though the little leaguers are more cut-throat than the players in the majors. These kids were allegedly leaning past the pitcher to get a peek at the catcher's signs before relaying them to the hitter at the plate.

Goffstown, N.H. manager Pat Dutton, who had previously alerted an umpire of his opponent's supposed tactics on Aug. 8, sounded off on his opponents from Barrington, R.I., saying that this alleged sign-stealing ruined the sanctity of the game for the young kids.

"You can do that in big league ball, but in Little League, it’s unsportsmanlike," said Dutton in wake of his squad's 6-4 defeat in the regional final Saturday, per the New Hampshire Union Leader. "It’s dishonorable, and it’s disgusting. They did it the whole tournament and got away with it... It’s just a bad look."

If his accusation does hold water, then it's easy to see why he's so outraged. These are kids, after all, and there's something to be said about staying on the up and up in a game involving the nation's youth. Stealing signs at such a young age would certainly raises some uncomfortable questions about sportsmanship.

But it's also baseball, and you can't help but understand the desire of a bunch of middle school-aged kids and their manager to gain an edge in what at that point was the biggest game of their lives. And if Dutton was convinced that the Barrington team was stealing signs, he should have mixed things up, right?

The game played itself out, and however tainted Dutton may feel that Barrington's win is -- their manager, for the record, flatly denied the accusations -- it's an outcome that he's just going to have to live with.