I feel that Hinch in 2019 would have had no problem putting a stop to it, but Hinch in 2017 didn’t quite have the confidence and experience to shut down a veteran team leader like Beltran. I agree that’s poor leadership, but there’s a context there.
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People forget that wasn’t WS-winning manager AJ Hinch at that point.
Like you said. No excuse, but there is context.
I agree he demonstrated a lack of confidence, but he also was in his third year. Agreed re context, but I still am disappointed in his lack of leadership on this important rules/ethics issue.
Beltran is one thing because he was a respected player, and it’s certainly possible that Hinch might have felt he didn’t have enough clubhouse capital to confront Beltran in no uncertain terms. But let’s not forget that Beltran devised the whole plan with Cora, who was hired by and worked for Hinch. If Hinch couldn’t even tell one of his direct reports to cut the shit, the Beltran context doesn’t matter much, and it’s hard for me to have much empathy for that.
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Fair point.
Beltran brought the system with him to Houston. He did not develop it with Cora or in Houston.
I think the trash can aspect is unique to the Astros. But there’s no denying Cora was central to the scheme as well.
The scorn heaped upon the Astros will likely keep other lips sealed.
An actual investigative reporter could probably uncover systems used by other teams.
But baseball isn’t covered by investigative reporters. It’s covered by sports journalists, many of whom the Astros managed to piss off.
The trash can is neither illegal nor relevant. That simply was a way to signal hitters instead of words or hand signs. What Beltran brought to Houston which was illegal, or at least was a violation of a Commissioner’s rule, was use of the camera system during games to get the signs to relay in real time.
Cora participated for sure, but Beltran was the architect, and he brought it with him from NY through Texas.
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Not for nothing, but I have wondered many times since all this came out about the argument Sparks had with Cora that year.
I recall Luhnow was warned in a Manfred memo, which Luhnow failed to read the concerns raised at the document. He quit reading before reaching that section
I think you’re misremembering. He quit reading an internal email that detailed the club’s illegal decoding activities because it was too long.
I never heard an excuse for his not circulating the Manfred memo.
What was this?
All reporters “think” they are investigative reporters. Even if they are on the school beat. I’ve been around enough to know.
I have been wondering for quite some time if you are the Joe Roddy from Austin TV news.
This guy?
I have my doubts.
I share your doubts.
Wow, that article was 1990, and he was 66. I had no idea while watching him how old he was. Maybe “our” JR is his son?
Not me. I am, now, 66 though. Funny but when I saw that Joe Roddy on TV in 1975 I thought he was much older than he actually was.
This is kinda horseshit. Hinch deserved to be fired. The idea that he needed some fucking memo from the front office, otherwise he couldn’t possibly know that cheating was wrong and carried immense consequences is a real load.
He was directly in charge of the coaching staff. He was directly in charge of the playing staff. He was the direct superior of the member of the organization most involved (Alex Cora). He was the member of the organization that was right there where it all happened. He carries the responsibility for everything that happens in the clubhouse and on the field during the games.
It was solely his responsibility to put a stop to this before the fact, not only morally and ethically, but also to protect the reputation of the franchise and he utterly and completely dropped the ball.
He would have gotten shitcanned in almost any business. Imagine the manager of almost anything, a laboratory manager who’s subordinates start falsifying results rather than accurately running the tests or a fast food chain manager who has a staff who are caught doing something bad to the food. The ONLY way that person who is in charge of making sure that doesn’t happen survives when the scandal comes to light is if they are the whistleblower, and Hinch wasn’t.
Hinch is the best manager in baseball, and I love him, and he is lucky to have one of the most likeable personalities in baseball, because it has served to completely mask his failings. Managing the chemistry of the clubhouse, A+. Filling out the cards, A+. Almost anything else to do with baseball, A+, A+, A+. However, in terms of ethics, understanding the real business management consequences and responsibilities of his position, being able to control his subordinates. He gets an F.
Whether Luhnow deserved to be fired is a different conversation and a lot of the information is hidden from us, but the idea that Hinch did not deserve to be fired, is looking at what Hinch did through some orange and blue colored glasses.
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