Phillies Notebook: Victorino angry over sign-stealing talk

IF SHANE VICTORINO were Happy Gilmore, he might offer Larry Bowa a nice, warm glass of shut the hell up.

The Phillies' centerfielder responded angrily to the former Phillies manager's suggestion that the Yankees were concerned about having their signs stolen, explaining catcher Jorge Posada's frequent trips to the mound during the World Series.

"For Bowa to come out and say something like that if he doesn't know what he's talking about, if he doesn't have cold, hard facts he shouldn't say something like that," Victorino said before Game 5. "To me that's - I don't want to use the word I'm going to use, but it's just not something that should be said. For you to pop off like that, I'm not happy . . . I don't know, for a guy to make a comment like that, that's kind of - I don't want to use the word, but I'll let you guys put into context how I feel about that. That's just weak, I guess."

Sign stealing has long been part of the game of baseball. Advance scouts routinely look for hints about an opposing team's signs. But in Bowa's interview with Philadelphia FM sports radio station 97.5 The Fanatic, he said there was a rumor going around baseball that the Phillies used video equipment in centerfield to steal an opposing catcher's signs.

"I've had three people come up to me and say, 'Watch centerfield. They got a camera,' " said Bowa, the Los Angeles Dodgers' third-base coach. "Some guy stands up by the fence. If their arm's up, it's a breaking ball. I watched. I didn't see it. But other teams swear by it. So I'm sure the Yankees' personnel said, 'Hey, heads up, these guys like to give signs at second.' "

Victorino said he felt Bowa, who managed the Phillies from 2001 to '04, was crediting the Phillies' success over the past 2 years to stealing signs.