Friday, January 17, 2020

Astros batters used body buzzers? More believable than thief to Apple Watch to coach to runner to batter.

Oh, wait. The Apple Watch was Boston, not Houston. Alex Cora was a Houston coach in 2017 then Boston manager in 2018 and 2019. Boston fired Cora this week as the scandal got closer to the Red Sox. But it's the same absurd relay system that so many accepted as the way signs were observed and their meaning sent to batters.

At least buzzers make sense, not the media previously getting hysterical over the absurdity of a series of handoffs culminating in the sign being relayed to a base runner on second who still needs to signal to the batter. That made zero sense but that's been the premise all along, which is why I suspected that the Astros finally admitted to that to conceal the real method of communication.

Some noticed that after hitting the 2019 walk off pennant winning home run off Yankee closer Aroldis Chapman, Jose Altuve clearly gestures to his Astros teammates as he approaches home plate not to rip off his baseball shirt, apparently because Altuve did not want the buzzer on his torso revealed.


Why don't the media people get this apoplectic about pitchers putting stuff on the ball? I guess because the stuff is not electronic. Gaylord Perry (1962-1983) wrote a 1974 book about his cheating while an active pitcher stating that he had stopped. Perry was elected to the Hall of Fame no problem.


In relating the story of Gaylord Perry, it is important to keep in mind that he spent most of his career denying that he did anything illegal. When he finally came clean in a 1974 book, he also claimed that he had put his evil ways behind him, and that his confessions related only to sins of the past. Although the accusations against him slowed down not a whit after his revelations, he continued his denials for the rest of his career and beyond. In fact, he has occasionally indicated that the book itself was just part of his grand deception, that perhaps he never threw anything illegal in his life. There were easily 100 contemporaries of Perry who were accused of doctoring the baseball at some point.
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Now Jose Altuve should be banned for life over a buzzer?

And Carlos Beltran, who retired as an Astro player after the 2017 season, knew all this when he reported to Yankee general manager Brian Cashman in 2019 and didn't say anything and Cashman didn't ask? Maybe: "Carlos, I know you don't want to speak out of turn but how about just generally advising us on how to prevent our catcher's signs from being seen, interpreted and communicated to opposing batter?" Cashman couldn't even do that rather than continue his whining about his Yankees losing because the other team cheated?

And what kind of interview did the Mets do with Beltran for their job as manager?

Why was Beltran the only player named in MLB report? That's what broke this open. It's almost like someone in the commissioner's office slipped it in without their noticing. Maybe as a warning to the Mets who missed it.

Jose Altuve now joins the list of people who need to explain themselves. So does Tony Clark, leader of the players union. That union cannot continue to blindly let some of its members cheat. Often half of the union members have priorities at odds with the other half: batters v. pitchers. Plus, there's dishonest v. honest. The union needs to take a stand on cheating. I've been advocating the military academy code: "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do."

Sign stealing "scandal/crisis": Much Ado About Nothing. Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Boone and/or Rothschild appear to give signs when Altuve homers to win 2019 pennant. Tuesday, November 19, 2019

What if both teams are cheating? Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Astros home/road hitting splits 2017-2019. Saturday, December 28, 2019

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Brian Cashman: Yankees scored only 3 runs in 4 games in Houston in 2017. That's why they lost. Look in the damn mirror for the person to blame. Tuesday, January 14, 2020

You have to answer for Santino, Carlos (Beltran). Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Did Yankees (2019) and/or Mets (2020) hire Carlos Beltran because, not in spite of, his involvement in Astros cheating? Thursday, January 16, 2020


Showing posts with label Signs.

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