OT: I Guess Baseball Is Serious About Electronic Sign Stealing

Submitted by Robbie Moore on January 13th, 2020 at 4:07 PM

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred suspended Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and Manager A.J. Hinch for one year and docked them first and second round draft picks the upcoming two years. The Astros owner Jim Crane then fired them both. Good riddence.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora was heavily involved when he was bench coach in Houston. Seems he brought his cheating ways to Boston. He is next up for suspension.

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pdgoblue25

January 13th, 2020 at 4:17 PM ^

As an Indians fan, this headline from 2 years ago is infuriating.

 

MLB investigation clears Houston Astros of any cheating in playoffs

  • Cleveland said to have lodged formal complaint over matter

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Wolverine 73

January 13th, 2020 at 4:24 PM ^

Seems baseball would have preferred to sweep it under the rug, but after a player involved went on the record about it, the commissioner had no choice but to undertake a comprehensive investigation.  He should have stripped them of their WS title, although the suspension combined with the firing sends a pretty good message.

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mGrowOld

January 13th, 2020 at 4:26 PM ^

Oh wait.  You mean this guy wasnt just hanging out in front of our dugout for no apparent reason and was actually cheating?  I'm shocked.  Look - EVERYBODY - knew those fuckers were cheating their brains out on everything (remember Bauer called them out for their pitchers spin rate improvement) but MLB had no interest in dealing with them until it got so brazen they were forced to take action.  

What a farce.  Cheating fucks - strip their title.

Image result for astros employee stealing signs indians game

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Hotel Putingrad

January 13th, 2020 at 4:21 PM ^

This is awesome. 

Of course the billionaire owner gets away scott free, but I'm glad to see there were consequences for the peons.

This stuff, coming after the PED era, was making baseball a full blown WWE type farce.

Poor damn JV though, his title has an asterisk.

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bweldon

January 13th, 2020 at 5:04 PM ^

Exactly, unlike the NCAA which seems to think that removing wins and titles does something to eliminate the stain of the cheating.  MLB found proof that they cheated, but also realized that the cheating was in the past and was not caught at that time, or at least not enough evidence to do anything by the time the full investigation came out.  That being said I applaud MLB for doing what they did, they held those at the top of the playing portion of the organization responsible.  The owner does take a hit with the fine and the loss of draft picks because those are 4 possible players for the team that they will never see.  Was it harsh but I think that Boston will get nailed just like Houston has because apparently their manager was the one who was organizing it.  

Not a big shock Alex Cora was always a poor loser even as a player.  I wonder what Boston ownership will do if they same conclusions are found with regards to the Sox.  The sad thing is Yankee fans will be even worse than Buckeye fans after this is all done.

 

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kdhoffma

January 13th, 2020 at 6:46 PM ^

Because electronic sign stealing is a lot more widespread, and MLB knows it.  Hinch, Luhnow and Cora will be made examples of because they were brazen/cocky about it... MLB is hoping a few sacrificial assholes will keep everyone in check.  I have my doubts... e.g. guys still getting caught for PED's.

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mGrowOld

January 13th, 2020 at 4:40 PM ^

Hey you misspelled "the most brazen and dishonest organization in professional sports today"

Use technology to steal signs and relay info to hitters real time

Doctor baseballs (read a bit of Trevor Bauer's takedown of the pitching staff)

Basically they stole a title and if MLB had any balls at all they'd just vacate the World Series.  Compared to these cheating fucks the Black Sock scandal looks like a vacation bible school picnic.

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umchicago

January 13th, 2020 at 6:59 PM ^

On September 27, 1920, the Philadelphia North American ran a story in which Billy Maharg, one of the gamblers in on the Series fix the previous fall, testified to his role in the affair, and specifically named Cicotte as the man who initiated the plot. The next day, Eddie met with White Sox counsel Alfred Austrian and admitted to his role in the scandal. He also implicated seven of his teammates. Afterward, he went to the Cook County Courthouse and repeated his story for a grand jury charged with investigating corruption in baseball. The grand jury responded to Cicotte's testimony by indicting all eight of the “Black Sox” players for throwing the 1919 World Series.

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MaizeAndBlueWahoo

January 14th, 2020 at 10:40 AM ^

Because cheating is still trying to win.  We can get angry at the teams that are doing it without losing faith in the sport itself.  And even cheating doesn't guarantee a win.  In one clip I saw highlighting the garbage-can-banging (it was clear as day when you're listening for it) the batter struck out.  But it doesn't really shake people's faith in the single most basic principle of sports: that the two participants in that day's game are trying to win.  The moment people believe the outcome is fixed, that tears down the foundation.

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Oscar

January 14th, 2020 at 4:42 PM ^

There are two basic kinds of cheating.  Doing something in plain sight and getting away with it, and then doing something like this.  The first is what it is, refs not making the call, or finding a hole in the rules .  The second is much worse and in my opinion not anywhere close to the same thing as "regular" cheating.  As a competitor, I don't see how the players could even go along with this as how empty must that championship really feel by winning under those circumstances?

 

"We can get angry at the teams that are doing it without losing faith in the sport itself."

What world are you living in?  There are a lot of people that have lost at least a little faith in baseball after this.

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drjaws

January 13th, 2020 at 10:03 PM ^

I wouldn't care if the Tigers cheated and won a World Series.  I wouldn’t care if they took their 1st and 2nd round picks until the end of time.

I‘d love to see them win it again.  I was fucking 6 when they won it in 1984. Same goes for the Lions.  Ive seen the Wings and Pistons win enough that it isn’t as important to me

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mfan_in_ohio

January 13th, 2020 at 11:38 PM ^

In the 2006 Italian match-fixing scandal, the Juventus GM (and others) were, among other things, pressuring and threatening referees to favor them, Juventus was stripped of the Serie A title for 2005, and assigned to last place for 2006 (both removing them from the 2006 title and relegating them to Serie B for the next season), and had points docked for the upcoming season. So they basically lost two league titles and were kicked out of the league for a year. And that was after the appeal; the original punishment would have made it virtually impossible to return to Serie A after one year.

Also, the GM got a lifetime ban and ended up going to jail. So the Astros got off comparatively light, though I think what they did was arguably less bad, and certainly less illegal.

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MGOBLUEDO

January 13th, 2020 at 4:40 PM ^

Don’t forget to Fire Alex Cora - he set up the whole system and Boston also cheated in 2018.

 

On the other hand, the Tigers should hire AJ Hinch and the Astros GM - they still set up a good farm system.

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