Matt Belisle, my former player, originally signed with the Braves. He told me about watching Maddux throw a bullpen in ST. The catcher would hold the mitt in one spot, and Maddux would hit the spot time after time. Then the catcher would move to another spot, and the process would repeat. This went on, spot after different spot, until the bullpen workout ended.
That drill is the way my dad taught me the good control I always had. My guess is, though, I did not hit the spots with the same precision or regularity as Maddux.
I do not think there is a general cause of action for âunfair.â No federal equal protection claim because there is no state action, and I cannot think of a state law theory off the top of my head. âArbitrary and capriciousâ comes to mind, and it would help to see the bylaws/rules which govern the Commissionerâs actions.
Thereâs no reason to think that Manfred would have outed the Stros if it hadnât already appeared in the Athletic. He might have treated them in exactly the same way, sealed letter and all. It seems to me that the anger is with the press for hanging the Astros out to dry and then not investigating sign stealing on other teams, not with MLB. Except of course Manfred is Manfred.
I have plenty of anger for the press, but how on earth can you absolve MLB? Manfred et al did not investigate the other teams and did not act on information given them. The rule allegedly violated was his, and the responsibility to investigate violations is his, not the media. He deliberately scapegoated Houston, and almost all of the media did also.
Exactly. Manfred likely knew in 2017 what all three teams were all doing. He chose to do nothing for two years, then when the Astros story broke he was laser focused on that. The Red Sox were investigated because of Cora, and IIRC they only focused on what Boston did while Cora was there. MLB never circled back around to what the Yankees and Red Sox were doing in 2017.
Iâm not absolving him, but it was unlikely that he would have done anything different, and not because he hated the Astros. The Astros were outed whatever he did. From his point of view, if he outed other teams, it would only have hurt baseball, not helped the Astros (though it might have made Astros fans feel less isolated).
The Astros punishment could have been a lot worse.
Itâll be interesting to see how the Yankees letter reads, and how the public reacts to it. End of the day though, if the scandalâs confined to the Astros and Yankees, Manfredâs got to see that as a win.
Interesting article on that linked here. Owners generally relinquish their right to sue MLB when they purchase a franchise, but itâs not technically impossible. But like Jim, I struggle to think what actual cause of action Crane would haveâespecially considering he seems to have negotiated with the league and agreed to the Astrosâ punishment before it was handed down.
I was involved quite a bit with the UIL as a lawyer during my career, and I know firsthand the difficulty a member of an association has when attempting to sue the association. The UIL also has governmental immunity, which MLB does not have, and after awhile, I determined a successful suit against the UIL was impossible in almost all cases. I told prospective school district and individual clients to save their money because they could not win. I stopped taking those cases if litigation was the aim.
Itâs going to confirm that the Yankees cheated like hell and the baseball world is going to say Of course they did can you blame them they had to find some way to keep up with the cheating Astros.