Knowing what pitch is coming can give a batter a huge advantage. That’s why trying to steal a catcher’s signs to the pitcher is nearly as old as baseball itself. It is considered a bit of gamesmanship and is usually not against the rules.

But what got the Red Sox in trouble was how they used Apple Watches in the dugout in their quest to steal the Yankees’ signs. Here is the method the Red Sox were believed to have used.

1 Catcher Gives the Signs

By using his fingers, the catcher signals a number to the pitcher to convey what pitch he wants thrown. But when there is a runner on second base (who can see the signals from the catcher and potentially tip off the batter) the catcher uses a series of numbers to disguise the real sign.

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2 Boston Decodes the Signs

During the game, the Red Sox studied video replay from the center-field cameras to examine the series of signs the Yankees catcher used when there was a runner on second base. They also recorded what type of pitches were thrown. By matching up the catcher’s signals with the type of pitches thrown, they managed to figure out how to decode the signs.

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3 Video Room Sends the Cracked Code to the Dugout

Those in the video room then sent that decoding information to the dugout to the Apple Watch of a member of the training staff. He then relayed that information to players in the dugout.

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4 Dugout Relays the Code to the Runner on Second

A player in the dugout relayed the decoding information to the runner on second. This scheme could work only when the Red Sox had a runner on second base because he would be the only Red Sox player who could see the catcher’s signs and immediately decode them and alert the batter with a subtle gesture. The Red Sox had a runner on second base 24 times in the series in question.

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5 Runner Signals to the Batter

Armed with the knowledge of which sign was the real one, the runner on second base subtly relayed to the batter what pitch was called for. Knowing what pitch is coming can help the batter with the timing of his swing and the location of the pitch.

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