Bob Nightengale wrote this about Carlos Beltran and the Hall of Fame recently:
But we’re really going to ignore all of that and admonish him for participating in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.
Really?
Are we going to do the same with everyone who played for the Red Sox and Yankees during those years, too, when they were fined and disciplined for the illegal use of Apple Watches and dugout phones to relay signs?
Should we hold that against future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, who obviously didn’t benefit from the sign stealing as a pitcher, but didn’t tell his teammates to stop it?
Enough already.
We’re not talking about performance-enhancing drugs here. Sign stealing has been going on for the past 100 years. There are teams who have used hidden cameras for years. Team employees flashed signs from outfield seats and scoreboards.
Interesting to note that some 7 months later Satch would pitch in an actual MLB game at the age of 59 for the Kansas City A’s. It was a Charlie Finley publicity stunt obviously but he held the Red Sox scoreless over 3 innings and allowed just the lone hit—a double by Yaz.