America's Favorite Escape- Baseball ⚾️

[skipaway]

Goodbye Baby Shark

Parra signs contract to play in Japan. So grateful for his leadership and totally credit him for pulling the team together when they were at their lowest. He’s such a a joyful person and my favorite memory will be The Strasburg Hug

 

[Rob]

Strasburg looked so uncomfortable during the first hug, but by the end of the season, he looked like he loved it. So cute. We will miss you Daddy shark. Glad that he got a nice contract.

 

[Rob]

Report is that Strasburg just signed with the Nationals for 7 years, $245M, no trade. Yay. Now, please Rendon!

 

[BlueRidge]

Report is that Strasburg just signed with the Nationals for 7 years, $245M, no trade.

 

[Rob]

And today I am so sad, Rendon to the Angels. I'd rather have had Rendon than Stras, but Rizzo is very pitching focused; he thinks he can find other gloves and bats.

 

[BlueRidge]

And today I am so sad, Rendon to the Angels. I'd rather have had Rendon than Stras, but Rizzo is very pitching focused; he thinks he can find other gloves and bats.

I'm the opposite. I wanted Stras. Its going to be awfully tough to fill Rendon's shoes though.

 

[Rob]

Both have their risks since they've both had a number of injuries -- but I think Rendon will now have DH possibilities over the next 7 years if he starts getting injured again. Which is a good thing for him. National League keeps saying they will eventually vote on DH (which the union wants for the pitchers), but I don't want it. I have always liked National League for the strategy.

Anyway, we were doomed when we didn't lock Rendon in before the playoffs, and when he decided he didn't want deferred money (um, don't you have a tax lawyer?).

 

[BlueRidge]

No DH!

 

[MsZem]

So - is Alex Cora getting banned for life?

Biggest bombshells from MLB's report on Astros investigation

The report includes details on how the electronic sign stealing started during the 2017...

www.houstonchronicle.com

 

[Rob]

Well, since Astros M and GM were suspended a year, then fired, and Cora sounds like the architect; then he continued the practice in Boston who had already been fined once, I think he will have a suspension of more than 1 year, and the Red Sox will have to fire him.

 

[Lovemyvike]

I think it’s INSANE that no players (who chose whether they wanted to participate or not) were punished. I’m a Dodger fan and the 2017 World Series was one of the most painful sports experiences I’ve been through. Things felt so off and pitchers were getting shelled that made no sense. It feels gross and the punishment was a slap on the wrist

 

[Rob]

Never thought I’d say this, but I feel terrible for the Dodgers. Assuming the Boston investigation comes out the same, poor Dodgers were cheated twice in a row. I was reading the Yankees used to do it too, but stopped when MLB made clear it was a rule violation. Houston and Boston kept it up. I wonder who else.

I think the title should be vacated. I guess you can’t award it to the Dodgers, but they could be left vacant. Carlos Beltran will be the Mets manager. So much for “all heart” Altuve.

ETA sportswriters are saying they did not punish players because of dragged out union grievances and arbitration. And this, from the LA Times:

“Without Monday’s punishment, what would Hinch have been doing July 14?

Managing the American League All-Star team, at Dodger Stadium. Can you imagine?”

 

[Rob]

How the Nats dealt with it. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/14/779465151/how-the-houston-astros-stole-signs-in-the-2017-season

 

[MsZem]

I think it’s INSANE that no players (who chose whether they wanted to participate or not) were punished. I’m a Dodger fan and the 2017 World Series was one of the most painful sports experiences I’ve been through. Things felt so off and pitchers were getting shelled that made no sense. It feels gross and the punishment was a slap on the wrist

Nobody wants to deal with the players' union, most likely. Anything not agreed upon (like PED suspensions) would get appealed.

How the Nats dealt with it. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/14/779465151/how-the-houston-astros-stole-signs-in-the-2017-season

According to the MLB investigation, the sign stealing stopped during the 2018 season. If this is true, the Nats didn't actually deal with anything

 

[skipaway]

According to the MLB investigation, the sign stealing stopped during the 2018 season. If this is true, the Nats didn't actually deal with anything

Except the history of sign stealing. They prepared for it, which was smart strategy.

 

[Rob]

According to the MLB investigation, the sign stealing stopped during the 2018 season. If this is true, the Nats didn't actually deal with anything

Sign stealing is legal as long as you don't use electronic equipment to do it. Some teams spend a lot of time on it; others don't. Players can figure it out and signal other players with hand signals so teams need to be prepared for it. And the Yankees claim there was some kind of whistling going on in 2019 ALCS, and there is at least one 2019 video of an Astros staff member standing in center field and the players looking at him over and over. None of that would be illegal unless they are getting the info from the center field cameras or through electronic means -- they just stopped getting it from a monitor set up in the club house. Most teams watch for pitch tipping by the pitcher, which also is totally legal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_stealing

 

[Firedancer]

The Red Sox got rid of Cora before he is suspended:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/4463793002

For the Astros, I don’t think the punishment is harsh enough. I know they are afraid of the players union. But the players should be punished for cheating. And they needed to do something that has actual impact on the team’s results, which suspending players would. With this result, players know they can cheat and nothing will happen to them. Also, their championship should be taken away. Just leave it blank.

As a Yankees fan, it is beyond frustrating that the Yankees were sent home by the cheating Astros in 2017 and cheating Red Sox in 2018. And there was whistling going on during the 2019 ALCS.

 

[Rob]

And Beltran is done before he even got started.

 

[BlueRidge]

For Nats fans, Nationals signed Ryan Zimmerman for another season.

Just wanted to

 

[Aceon6]

I think things are settling down in Red Sox nation. The new GM is very strong in his “no BS” stance and seems to be committed to the farm system. I doubt that this year‘s results will be stellar, but just hope the new guy, whoever he is, gets it right.

 

[Coco]

I know some people are reflexively against civil lawsuits because they think people are looking for easy money.

But there are so many gaps where law enforcement or in this case league directors really can't bring wrongdoers to justice. I'm so glad this guy is suing.

Pitcher Mike Bolsinger says cheating Houston Astros changed course of his career

Mike Bolsinger faced eight batters and got one out vs. the Astros in 2017. He hasn't pitched in the majors since. On Monday, he sued the team.

www.usatoday.com

 

[MsZem]

I know some people are reflexively against civil lawsuits because they think people are looking for easy money.

But there are so many gaps where law enforcement or in this case league directors really can't bring wrongdoers to justice. I'm so glad this guy is suing.

Pitcher Mike Bolsinger says cheating Houston Astros changed course of his career

Mike Bolsinger faced eight batters and got one out vs. the Astros in 2017. He hasn't pitched in the majors since. On Monday, he sued the team.

www.usatoday.com

Freddie Freeman has suggested that the Astros cheating may have ended Kris Medlen's comeback attempt. I guess we'll never know.

More on what they did and who was involved:

The Astros’ Front Office Created Codebreaker. The Players Took It From There.

Neither the players alone, nor the front office, are to blame for the sign-stealing scandal. The rule-breaking permeated the organization, involving executives, coaches and players.

www.wsj.com

Pitchers and catchers have started reporting, the new season is getting closer

 

[Rob]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/mlb/astros-cheating-open-secret/2020/02/11/1830154c-4c41-11ea-9b5c-eac5b16dafaa_story.html

Very interesting article....

 

[Firedancer]

I watched the Astros press conference and interviews that followed. I thought they came off as inauthentic, coached and really they are sorry they got caught.

 

[Aceon6]

they are sorry they got caught.

Yup. I’m afraid this can be said about nearly every doping, abuse, or cheating scandal in my lifetime. Deny, then say you’re sorry.

 

[missing]

I've been sufficiently angry about both the Astros cheating and the way everything has been handled that I found an e-mail address for MLB and sent them an email letter with suggestions on appropriate punishments (nothing that involved physical punishment, tempted though I am).

I'm sure it will be ignored, but I didn't know how else to express my feelings. Neither MLB nor the baseball commentators seem to care about the feelings of the fans. They all want this swept away before the season (or even the pre-season) begins.

I believe that the basic underlining feeling of all Americans right now is anger. It doesn't matter what your politics are, we're angry. So something like this Astros scandal adds to that level of anger. Calm and rational are not American adjectives right now. I don't know if they will be in my lifetime but they certainly won't be for the rest of 2020.

 

[MsZem]

I've been sufficiently angry about both the Astros cheating and the way everything has been handled that I found an e-mail address for MLB and sent them an email letter with suggestions on appropriate punishments (nothing that involved physical punishment, tempted though I am).

My concern is that there will be a lot of pitchers intentionally throwing at Astros players this season and beyond, and that it will end with someone seriously hurt either from an HBP or during an ensuing brawl.

Manfred has to do something to protect the players and to protect the integrity of the game.

 

[Firedancer]

My concern is that there will be a lot of pitchers intentionally throwing at Astros players this season and beyond, and that it will end with someone seriously hurt either from an HBP or during an ensuing brawl.

Manfred has to do something to protect the players and to protect the integrity of the game.

Manfred met with all the managers telling them retaliation will not be tolerated and will be punished, unlike the players that actually cheated.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...erate-retaliation-against-houston-astros/amp/

 

[MsZem]

Manfred met with all the managers telling them retaliation will not be tolerated and will be punished, unlike the players that actually cheated.

This message might be more effective if Manfred had shown that he was willing to punish wrongdoing. As it is, I suspect that it will hardly be enough to stop people from throwing at the Astros, and the union will fight hard for anyone who gets suspended - as they always do.

 

[missing]

Here's an article from a month ago about the legal ramifications involving gambling on baseball.

The 1919 Black Sox scandal had huge ramifications for baseball. I'm starting to wonder how much MLB's reaction to what happened with the Astros is because they're worried about governments (such as Nevada) questioning the basic integrity of the sport, which could be reflected in legislation and law suits. It's an explanation of their adamant position that there was no cheating in playoffs and in 2019 (when it seems pretty likely that there was).