So, every aggrieved opponent will get airtime to virtue-signal. This one’s especially rich; a performance for the ages when he played us
He could have done some celebrating in 17 if he was able to simply catch a ball. He can suck a fat one.
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I guess every Athletic article for the next month will be about how Team X or Player Y feels about the Astros scandal. I will not be renewing my subscription.
Maddon added that he believes the sign-stealing issue is unique to the Astros and those with ties to the organization and is not endemic in the sport.
Anyone believe this?
Absolutely not. Beltran learned his sign-stealing methods during his time with the Yankees. The Red Sox were caught using Apple Watches to steal signs in 2017, and the Yankees illegally used technology to expose them.
Also, there was an article published this offseason explaining that the Brewers believed the Dodgers were electronically stealing signs during the 2018 NLCS.
Joe Maddon is just covering his own ass.
I actually felt like the NY Post article with Sanchez interview was a pretty reasonably written article. Notwithstanding Sanchez’ opinion, the writer didn’t seem to pile on or add his own outrage to the piece.
After quoting Sanchez whining about Altuve in 2019, writer reminds reader that MLB looked and found nothing. Also makes a few snarky remarks about how Sanchez is just speculating.
Slightly refreshing?
In the way that any pause in getting constantly pummeled in the nuts is refreshing.
Joe Maddon is an asshat of the highest order.
Well, I got a vasectomy five years ago. It was essentially four direct nut-shots in a row over the span of 10 minutes. I was sweating and nauseous. But once that last one subsided, there was a brief, less painful period while he stitched the incision back up (there is anesthesia for that part).
In other words, this season is going to be one long session of sitting around watching sports while wincing and expecting the worst every time the slightest thing out of the ordinary happens, trying to avoid walking too much, stepping very gingerly, and probably unusual items in their jock strap (maybe not frozen peas). The Astros definitely should not do any heavy lifting for two to three months.
But in the end the procedure was a great decision, so…World Series 2020?
WSJ with another article today; all a rehash of things known already. The only new item is a reference to Bregman’s rookie year in 2016 where he wanted video room staffers to find a better way to legally decode signals and be better than other teams which were decoding signals from second base. The connection to subsequent events has no followup.
I just don’t feel the same giddiness I usually do about the reporting in fla. sigh afraid it will be the same with the whole season.
Listening to the press conference it is obvious Crane is a smart guy by the way he chooses his words, it is also obvious he is a wuss. Dusty is a smart guy too and was a great choice to manage this season.
Are the players there, responding to questions?
So the press conference has started. To me, it appears Crane did not consult a PR firm to figure out how to handle this. Sending Bregman and Altuve out to read a prepared, two to three sentence statement, seems totally out of touch and insufficient. The players are going to be available in the clubhouse later and perhaps there they will be more forthcoming. To me, the whole thing seemed to have an air of defiance about it, not true contrition. Few want to hear what Crane and Dusty have to say. They, fans and other players, want to hear from our players. I guess nothing they say will make this better, easier or satisfy the harshest of critics, but so far, this will not satisfy their critics. Jon Heyman recalled yesterday about how Arod sat down with reporters and gave them all the time they wanted after the HGH deal. He said Alex called reporters by their first name and answered every question as best he could. Said Astros need to do the same and I agree. They are not doing that today, at least right now. Prepare to hear our team get skewered because of how they handled this.
Crane just said he felt no reason to reach out to the Dodgers and apologize. While that will make some here happy, he just inflamed this situation and made it a whole lot worse. Crane is totally out of touch and perhaps he is responsible for the poor culture.
Altuve and Bregman spoke and expressed their regret and remorse. The rest of the team will be available to the press at 9 (or 10:00 not sure if that is EST or CST).
What could they possibly say that will make non-Astros people happy? I can only think of one thing and that is to say we don’t deserve our championship so someone else take it. And those people can suck it.
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My question is, what combinations of extraneous pressure, further allegations, or legal and media challenges makes Manfred vacate the 2017 title?
I know, and there is no easy solution. But as Heyman said yesterday, if the Astros want to handle this the wrong way, open up the locker room for 30 minutes and have reporters feel rushed to go around and talk to players so time runs out and not everyone gets spoken to. That is exactly what Crane is doing. They should have had Alex, Jose, George, Carlos, Josh and JV sit down and answer as many questions as reporters want to ask. They may not give the answers that some want to hear, but it won’t look like they are trying to dodge the issue and trying to avoid their comeuppance. Reporters won’t be able to talk about how they are trying to avoid accountability, which is being said right now by reporters and networks. This, so far, has been a shit show.
Former Astros players have handled this better, even praised for the way they have done so. This is an utter freaking joke and embarrassing. They have had a month to figure out how to handle this and hire pros to help them. Instead, this is the Taubman situation all over again. They could not have handled this worse.
The one thing that continues to be obvious and unfathomable:
Four months after Taubmann, Crane still hasn’t hired a competent PR crisis pro.
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You are correct. Crane is out of touch. He is coming across as completely incompetent and ass to boot. I defended him some yesterday, but can’t now. He has no fucking clue on how to handle a crisis.
Any effort made by the Astros organization going to be criticized and insufficient. Sometime the less said is better.