Tag: Houston Astros

Baseball fans slam Astros owner for astonishingly lame apology for cheating scandal

The Astros are so bad at this.

The Houston Astros hid from the media on Wedensday in Spring Training, blocking the clubhouse to all reporters and going as far as to use security to make sure that no player could be asked about the team’s disgraceful cheating scandal. On Thursday, the team finally addressed the issue that will haunt them for years to come – and team owner Jim Crane offered the lamest non-apology you could imagine.

Crane told reporters that he was “sorry” his team was that this happened, and promised that his organization wouldn’t be caught cheating again on his watch – but also claimed that the Astros’ elaborate cheating scheme had zero impact on the outcome of ballgames.

“You know our opinion is, you know, that this didn’t impact the game. We had a good team. We won the World Series, and we’ll leave it at that.”

Strangely, when asked to clarify his comment, Crane later claimed that he didn’t say the scheme didn’t impact the game.

When pressed by ESPN reporter Marly Rivera, Crane admitted that sign stealing “could possibly” give his team an advantage, but also “could possibly not.”

Crane also argued that he feels he deserves none of the blame for the Astros’ scandal.

Baseball fans couldn’t believe Crane’s statements.

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MLB needs to dump commissioner Rob Manfred, like, right now

Rob Manfred is bad for baseball.

How is Rob Manfred still the commissioner of Major League Baseball?

How hasn’t someone stormed into his office on Park Avenue in New York City and dragged him down to the front door and booted him out onto the sidewalk?

How is he still allowed to bring down the great game of baseball like this in broad daylight?

Because that’s exactly what he’s doing.

First. we had the cowardly Houston Astros get busted for cheating well after they won a World Series title because of it. Manfred suspended the team’s manager and general manager – two guys who really didn’t have much to do with it – over the scandal. They were then quickly fired by the Astros.

Manfred, of course, did not punish any of the players who helped power the elaborate sign-stealing setup, a scheme that damaged the reputation of the league and cost many opposing players some career-defining moments. I mean, why would you suspend star players when you can just punish their bosses?

Total gutless move by Manfred there.

Then a few days ago ESPN released details of possible new playoff formats that would have 14(!) teams make the postseason and could include teams picking who they want to play in the playoffs, which is just bananas.

Then on Wednesday the league made a new rule official that is “designed” to speed up the game but will instead just like hurt the game – the three-batter minimum rule. That means a starting pitcher or relief pitcher must face a minimum of three batters or until the offensive team is put out, which is ridiculous.

Manfred, who took over as commissioner in 2015, has long slid under the radar among the other commissioners of the big four sports, partly because he has helped make baseball less popular over the years. But now the focus is starting to zero in on him and the heat is being turned up.

And rightfully so.

If you saw the documentary “Screwball” then you saw how much of a disgusting mess Manfred made of the steroid era during the A-Rod steroid days. And that was back when he was working under then commissioner Bud  Selig.

Manfred is now the man in charge of baseball and right now he’s doing a terrible job at it. The faster MLB can move on from this guy the better, because right now is a pretty darn rough time for the sport and Manfred doesn’t seem like the guy who can turn things around.

Which is a shame because the game deserves better.

Wednesday’s biggest winner: Jameis Winston.

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The QB is apparently doing everything necessary to make himself and even more attractive option when free agency begins because he went out and got LASIK eye surgery to correct his vision. This led to many obvious jokes from fans, but still, good for Winston. And good for all these funny jokes.

Quick hits: Inside Nike’s SNKRS app… Jimmie Johnson feeling like a unicorn… TNT’s disrespectful All-Star tweet… And more!

– My pal and colleague, Mike Sykes, wrote about the battles he and other sneakerheads have faced on Nike’s SNKRS app and it’s a really good read, even if you aren’t a sneakerhead.

– Our Michelle Martinelli is in Daytona all week for the Daytona 500 and she has a good story on Jimmie Johnson feeling like a unicorn before the race.

– Lots of NBA fans ripped TNT over Kevin Durant’s placement on this All-Star Game graphic.

– Hemal Jhaveri explains why NBC Sports did the right thing by firing Jeremy Roenick.

– Charles Curtis does an important investigation into whether or not Tom Brady had some cake.

The Houston Astros proved today that they are a bunch of cowards

The Astros hid from the media and roped off their parking lot today in Florida.

The Houston Astros, as you might have heard, had one heck of an offseason. It was found that they cheated a lot over the years by stealing signs, they fired their manager and general manager because of it, and should now be prepping for what will be rightfully be a mess of a year for their players every time they take the field this season.

On Wednesday their pitchers and catchers reported to spring training in West Palm Beach, Fla., which meant we’d finally get to hear from the likes of Justin Verlander and others about this whole scandal, right?

Yeah, no.

The Astros instead hid from all media, blocked off the parking lot at the team’s facility, and acted like this will all go away if they just ignore it.

What a bunch of cowards.

As I said before, this is going to be a mess of a year for the Astros, as it should be. That’s what happens when you cheat the game and get caught for it.

It’s also what happens when players who cheated don’t get punished for it, which has happened with the Astros because MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is terrible at his job.

Now the Astros are going to start the year off by roping off their parking lot and keeping media out of their facility?

I mean, I’m not in PR but even I know this his a horrific way to kick things off.

The Astros need to be honest and open from Day 1. Guys like Verlander – who had to know what was going on – need to face the media immediately. The franchise needs to be a lot better than this, especially since they had so much time leading up to today to figure out how to handle this situation.

Things are about to get even worse for this team. Just wait until they hit the road this season. You think stadiums around the league are gonna be quiet? You think pitchers aren’t going to be throwing at guys?

This team is going to be swimming in you-know-what for quite some time.

If what they did today is a sign of how they are going to handle things moving forward, then more power to the masses who are going to call them out on it.

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Here’s how the Astros’ players plan on apologizing for scandal

What I’m Hearing: Bob Nightengale spoke with Red Sox and Astros camps to get a sense of how both clubs are preparing for their onslaught of questions about the sign stealing scandal. He also found out how Houston plans on apologizing.

What I’m Hearing: Bob Nightengale spoke with Red Sox and Astros camps to get a sense of how both clubs are preparing for their onslaught of questions about the sign stealing scandal. He also found out how Houston plans on apologizing.

WATCH: Pete Rose asks for reinstatement, citing Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal

Pete Rose is asking MLB commissioner Rob Manfred for another chance.

Pete Rose is asking MLB commissioner Rob Manfred for another chance.

USA Today Sports is reporting that Rose and his representation sent a 19-page letter to Manfred on Wednesday, asking for his name to be removed from MLB’s ineligible list. He was banned for life from baseball in 1989 for betting on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds.

Rose’s argument points to the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal and Manfred’s hesitance to punish active players for their participation in a scheme that almost certainly changed the outcome of games.

Here’s an excerpt of the letter sent to Manfred from Rose’s representation:

“However, in recent years, intentional and covert acts by current and past owners, managers, coaches, and players altered the outcomes of numerous games, including the World Series, and illegally enhanced both team and player performance. It has never been suggested, let alone established, that any of Mr. Rose’s actions influenced the outcome of any game or the performance of any player. Yet for the thirty-first year and counting, he continues to suffer a punishment vastly disproportionate to those who have done just that.”

Rose petitioned Manfred to be reinstated in 2015 but was denied. If Rose were to be reinstated, he would be eligible for consideration for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Astros paused their cheating tactics the day after Danny Farquhar raised suspicions

They didn’t want to get caught.

We’re just a couple weeks removed from MLB issuing its punishment for the Houston Astros cheating scandal, and there’s still new information being uncovered about the team’s sign-stealing tactics.

It was clear that the Astros were paranoid about being caught in the act.

By now, all baseball fans know the story. Starting with the 2017 season, the Astros had a team employee relay signs to hitters from a dugout hallway by beating the hell out of a trash can — all while watching a live feed on a monitor. They won the World Series in 2017.

Still, the Astros got caught, lost draft picks and faced a maximum fine. Manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were fired after being suspended.

In a comprehensive study on signstealingscandal.com, every pitch from 2017 Astros home games (with available video) was analyzed. In the 8,200-plus pitches analyzed, the site found that a banging noise could be heard for around 1,100 pitches.

But take a look at the Sept. 21 game against the White Sox, which had 41 bangs followed by a complete drop-off on Sept. 22 against the Angels. That Sept. 21 matchup is intriguing because it was the game that the Astros nearly got caught in the act by pitcher Danny Farquhar.

At the time, Farquhar took notice to the noise and was wholly aware that the Astros had his signs with Evan Gattis at the plate and no runners on base. Farquhar conferred with his catcher to switch up the signs, and he had this to say, via The Athletic:

“There was a banging from the dugout, almost like a bat hitting the bat rack every time a changeup signal got put down,” said Farquhar, who is now the pitching coach with the White Sox’s High-A affiliate in Winston-Salem, N.C. “After the third one, I stepped off. I was throwing some really good changeups and they were getting fouled off. After the third bang, I stepped off.”

It certainly appeared that the Astros were concerned about word spreading from Farquhar’s suspicions as the team hit pause on the tactics the very next day. The Astros knew exactly what they were doing, and that it was cheating. That much was clear. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have gone from near-peak, trash-can banging to nothing in a day.

In all, the study is worth checking out. It includes pitch-by-pitch breakdowns with video.

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Former Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel is only a little sorry about the cheating scandal

Former Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel, who won a World Series with the team, offered a lame apology for the Astros’ sign stealing scheme.

White Sox pitcher Dallas Keuchel, who won a World Series and earned an All-Star selection with the Houston Astros in 2017, offered a half-hearted apology for the team’s massive cheating scandal – but also hinted that the Astros were only doing what was customary across the league at the time. Keuchel addressed the media at a White Sox event on Friday and downplayed the Astros’ sign stealing, saying it was “it was never intended to be what it’s made to be” now – that the team has been caught and both the GM and manager have been fired.

According to Keuchel, the actions the Astros took were simply in line with “the state of baseball.”

“When there’s nobody on base, when in the history of Major League Baseball has there been multiple signs? You can go back and watch film of every team in the playoffs, there were probably six of eight teams using multiple signs. It’s just what the state of baseball was at that point in time. Was it against the rules? Yes it was. And I personally am sorry for what’s come about the whole situation. It is what it is and we’ve got to move past that. I never thought anything would have come like it did. I, myself, am sorry, but it’s we’ve just got to move on.”

Keuchel also claimed that the Astros weren’t always effective at the plate even when stealing signs, and there were some pitchers over the course of the year that the team couldn’t hit anyway. He confusingly described the system as something that “really works,” but only “a little bit.”

“So at that point that’s when the whole system, it really works, a little bit, but at the same time, there was a human element where some guys were better than our hitters.”

Keuchel also made it clear that he doesn’t approve of former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers acting as a whistleblower, citing the sanctity of the clubhouse.

Many baseball fans aren’t buying Keuchel’s attempt at an apology.

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