Rather than respond to all the posts individually, here's one general response (which applies to all of you).
And I'll start by saying that all of you are posters whose opinions I respect. You're not dummies. So it's very possible that I'm not explaining my thinking as clearly as hoped. I'll try to do so here.
I get that MLB has decreed that certain behaviors (e.g., using cameras to detect signs in real-time) are against the rules. What I am asking is: why is that? And all of your responses keep coming back to, in essence, "because they said so!!!" I
get that they said so. You can keep posting it as though it is some revelation, but it's not. I've never said otherwise.
What I would like to see is one of you -- any of you -- put forth a rational explanation for why the lines are where they are. And to do it without using "because MLB said so!!!" as a response.
Explain to me why it is perfectly OK for a runner at second base to steal a sign and relay it to the batter, but it's not OK for a camera 300 feet away to do the same thing. Same exact fundamental activity seeking the same exact result, but one is "part of the game" while the other is "OMG THEY BROKE BASEBALL'S SACRED RULES!!!". Why? Why isn't the proper response "use better signs so they won't be so easily stolen"?
Explain to me why a team can study the video of another team after-the-fact to pick up on tells, signs, etc. ... but it's not OK to do it in real time.
Explain to me why an athlete can adhere to a strict diet, lift weights, take certain approved supplements, etc., and we all think it's great (and in fact would question his dedication if he weren't doing those things) ... but then we find other, similar behaviors to be against the rules. (Actually, a former professor of mine has written several articles on this exact point. e.g.,
http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/content/bioethics/art1972.html)
Many of the rules/laws we have in society are arbitrary. Many of them require us to draw lines, ones that we struggle to explain logically. (Why is it OK to grow, harvest, and sell tobacco so that people can smoke it ... but it's illegal to do so with marijuana, at least until recently in some jurisdictions?) What I'm saying is that many of the lines that baseball has drawn are ones that I cannot explain logically as well.