Phew. In part one I thought I had covered everything. The last month has been a whirlwind of new information and exclusives when it comes to The Astros and Red Sox Sign Stealing Scandal. Aj Hinch broke his silence. The Astros reported to spring training and issued half-assed apologies and in my opinion, further incriminated themselves even moreso than what was found in Rob Manfred’s report. Speaking of Manfred, he defended his non-punishment of players citing the worst excuse I have ever heard embodying the times we live in more than ever. Dusty Baker took the helm of the team and has publicly stated to MLB that he is in fear for his teams safety, ultimately putting an even larger target on their back. My stance along with my anger has reached a boiling point and fortunate enough for you reading this, it is spilling over onto the pages before you.
If you didnt read part one, let me summarize quickly. I blasted the entire organizations of both the Red Sox and Astros. I blasted all previous players, including from my favorite team the Yankees, who have ever been caught cheating or using steroids. I ripped into the potential use of buzzers. I blasted Rob Manfred’s decision to not punish the players. I also had said that the Astros SHOULD NOT vacate the title. Well today, given the things we have seen from the players, coaches and Manfred himself, I have had a complete change of heart and believe that this entire charade should have ended with players being punished severely along with the vacation of the 2017 World Series title.
Lets start with Aj Hinch and his interview. Now im not going to sit here and dissect every last bit of this 25 minute long facade disguised as a humble acceptance of responsibility. No, there is one HUGE, glaring piece of evidence in this interview that made me think “Wow, these guys definitely used buzzers” . When asked about the potential use of buzzers, Hinch replies “The report said what it said and we will stick to its findings”. Are you kidding me? This man has a huge 25 minute platform to flat out deny or admit any wrong doing and he says this? I mean, putting myself in his shoes, if I were accused of such an act, I guarantee Tom Verducci wouldn’t have even been able to finish the question before I was loudly and vehemently denying it. Even if they did use them, it’s not like he was under oath, he could and should have denied all things buzzers. But he did not. This one little bit of the interview was the most telling part and it told me that he and the Astros players were guilty. Period.
Speaking of the players, they arrived at Spring Training this week. Owner Jim Crane was there as well. He doesnt get a pass in any of this either. You could see Jim stumbling over his own words quite a few times when asked about the World Series title they won. In one breath, he says ” it did not provide us a significant advantage”. 45 seconds later “Ive never said that it didnt provide us an advantage”. Well Jim, which is it there buddy? The players also were in front of the cameras this week with their half assed apologies and lets move on attitude. Of course they want to move on. Who wants to talk about being a cheater constantly? But the audacity of some of these guys to sit there and try to tell us they’re sorry and they knew what they were doing was wrong is laughable. If you knew what you were doing was wrong, and felt any sort of remorse about it, you wouldn’t have participated in the act to begin with. The smug look on Jose Altuve’s and Alex Bregman’s face tells the whole story. They got away with cheating and are forever known as WS champions because of it. Well only in their eyes at this point because fans and players and coaches alike all pretty much agree the title needs to be vacated. I am now on that bandwagon as well. The overwhelming evidence that buzzers were used, including Altuve’s ridiculous claim that he didnt want his shirt ripped off after he just hit the biggest homerun of his lif9e, concludes that these players need to be banned and that title needs to be vacated but not awarded to anybody. By the way Jose, if I just hit that big of a homerun, I would have ripped my shirt my damn self coming around 3rd, unless you know, I had something to hide. With all due respect to my wife, she would get over it or she would understand the magnitude of the situation.
The players. Well, pretty much every player admitted they did something wrong. They admitted guilt. They get a pass on cheating but the manager and GM get the axe? What a crock! You got a guy banned for life for betting his own money on games but hey, cheating is fine! This brings me to the spineless coward known as the Commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred. This guy just makes himself look worse and worse by the day. In an interview just yesterday, Manfred tried to justify not punishing the players because they cut a deal to all rat out Hinch, Cora and Beltran. He also says that the public shame is enough punishment. Hate to break it to you Rob, it isnt enough!! You suspend steroid users, you ban gamblers but cheating the game this way is just fine? What a joke. Rspecially since they were warned more than once about this very thing!This strategy was player driven and everyone knows it. Manfred is just worried about ratings more than the integrity of baseball. He knows that these players are the villains and with everything that has come to light, most likely more people will tune in to see what happens next and ratings will skyrocket. Then, in an absolutely ridiculous statement, he calls the WS trophy “just a piece of metal”. Wow bud, way to downplay the championship of your sport while simultaneously trashing every current and former player who worked their whole lives for that “piece of metal”. Justin Turner of the Dodgers said it best “the only blemish on the WS trophy is that it’s called the Commissioners Trophy”. Damn straight. Oh and in another blatant display of favoritism, he has now said that retaliation against these players will be met with swifter and harsher punishment. Rob, who is paying you or doing other favors for you that you have to protect these sissies? I’m no Arod fan but at least when he came back from his steroid suspension he stood in the box and took his lumps like a man. He didn’t cry that he was scared and run to the commissioner for help like some child. These players can’t even face the music for their own actions, then they certainly shouldn’t even be there at all! Personally, I would be happy to see that smug look wiped right off Alex Bregman’s face with a high and tight fastball right under the chin first pitch of the season. You want to cheat the game? The pitchers you’ve been cheating should be able to throw at you. End of story.
This whole sign stealing operation costs many people their jobs. Joe Girardi was fired. Countless pitchers released or sent down. Aaron Judge was robbed of an MVP. The Yankees and Dodgers were robbed of a FAIR chance at a World Series title. The fans were robbed of seeing teams actually earn championships. I understand, sign stealing is a part of the game. Not to this extent it isn’t. Get a guy on 2nd, thats fair game, but a camera in center field focused on the pitchers grips and catchers signs? I don’t f*****g think so! By the way Manfred and Houston, great role model job! You just let every kid out there know that cheating is ok and if you win by cheating you wont lose anything. I’ll leave this with one final thought until we see what spineless Manfred has to say about the Red Sox: Can you really sit there and be ok with calling yourself a champion without really earning it? Can Manfred really be ok that an entire championship is tainted and probably even 2 championships considering the Sox did the same thing? Right now, that seems to be the case and its a damn shame for someone like me who has loved baseball for the last 25 years.
To The Rack With Mac 