MR.GKD
Joined: 10/10/09 Posts: 3,721
|
|
Replies to this subthread
|
|
Rvaughn_ucla
Joined: 6/02/15 Posts: 4,723
|
|
Posted Mon, Jan 13 4:36 pm
|
|
In response to OT: Astros just fired their manager and GM (Alta Loma Bruin)
|
| |
Obviously self-serving for MLB. Can't believe that there are some out there defending Hinch. The guy was in the dugout. He obviously knew what was going on and didn't do anything to stop it. He just as much participated with the involved players by not doing anything. I guess Cora is next to get suspended/axed. |
|
Replies to this subthread
|
|
eltoro
Joined: 3/23/09 Posts: 102
|
|
Replies to this subthread
|
|
Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,124
|
|
Posted Mon, Jan 13 5:41 pm
|
|
In response to OT: Astros just fired their manager and GM (Alta Loma Bruin)
|
|
I think the year-long suspension is designed to look tough, so that MLB doesn't have to retroactively tamper with their sacred records.
It's not all that different from the home run records that got shattered during the steroid era. MLB hasn't taken the step of wiping the records from the books. They're not going to actually do anything drastic like vacate the 2017 World Series title. They just want the appearance of doing something. But, if MLB really wants to do more to ensure that this kind of thing doesn't happen again (or someone really thinks twice before trying), then they have to take those steps.
Roger Maris got saddled with the dreaded asterisk without doing anything other than his job. Teams that systematically cheat like the Astros did need to have their trophies and rings taken away. Everything wiped from the record. This is more serious than individuals like Bonds and McGuire juicing up, because it involves an entire team. Everybody from the coaches to the players to the scrubs holding the video cameras was involved. And every single last one of them should be held responsible. |
|
|
eltoro
Joined: 3/23/09 Posts: 102
|
|
Replies to this subthread
|
|
Woochifer
Joined: 12/15/11 Posts: 9,124
|
|
Posted Tue, Jan 14 5:48 pm
(Edited Tue, Jan 14 5:49 pm)
|
|
In response to OT: Astros just fired their manager and GM (Alta Loma Bruin)
|
|
With MLB coming down on the Astros for their sign stealing, I have yet to hear the question about whether the cheating reached out into other areas? I've seen some articles about the Astros' win-at-all-cost culture. Did the cheating stop at stealing signs?
Remember how everyone came down on Trevor Bauer when he questioned how Gerrit Cole's rotational speed went way up in a single off-season? We know that Bauer's just wired differently, and there's no love lost between the two pitchers going all the way back to when they were Bruin teammates.
But, no pitcher pushes the boundaries of self-analysis and utilizes sports science the way that Bauer does. He asserted that rotational speed can only increase so much with mechanical changes alone, and implied that only illegal substances can change the rotation as much as it did with Cole. At a time when few MLB teams used high-speed cameras to analyze pitches, Bauer bought his own camera rig to analyze his pitches (and other pitchers as well). IIRC, the Astros were one of the first teams to use high-speed cameras. While it can provide a scientific approach to coaching pitchers, it can also layout the benchmarks for cheating.
Steroids and sign stealing do the same thing -- give an edge to an otherwise closely matched team. Steroids transformed all-star players like McGuire and Bonds into record-breaking HOF caliber players. Sign stealing on the scale that the Astros and Red Sox took it, likely added enough batting average points to make the difference between winning and losing games. We know that Cole was already one of the top pitchers in the majors. But, once his rotational speed went way up, he turned into the best strikeout pitcher in the game and secured himself the most lucrative pitching contract in MLB history.
I didn't give much credence to Bauer's comments. But, with the systematic cheating that went on the Astros organization, it's now an appropriate question to ask whether there are other skeletons in their closet. As much of an oddball (and sometimes a jerk) as he can be, maybe Bauer really was on to something. |
|
Replies to this subthread
|
|
cnet
Joined: 8/07/14 Posts: 9,697
|
|
Posted Thu, Jan 16 5:54 am
|
|
In response to OT: Astros just fired their manager and GM (Alta Loma Bruin)
|
|
it's not OK to talk UCLA women's basketball in a UCLA basketball forum but it's OK to talk about major league baseball? Or is the real rule that it's OK to talk about men's sports, any men's sports, but not women's sports?
Go Bruins!
Arrive early. Wear Blue. Be loud.
|
|
Replies to this subthread
|
|
