The Houston Astros have been found to have cheated in the 2017 World Series with stealing signs by electronic means. The penalty? The general manager and the manager got suspended and subsequently fired from their jobs. Couple of draft choices and five million dollars (the maximum fine under MLB rules). No players were penalized. They still get to keep the trophy and their name in the record book.
I don't think these penalties are enough. They certainly are not going to deter anyone from cheating in the future. The Astros were warned before the playoffs that there will be penalties if they cheat. That means that MLB had at least a good idea that this was going on before it happened. But that didn't stop them. Now that they get to keep their World Series trophy and the players get no penalty but get to keep their winnings and rings, why would future players and team not cheat if they have a new method to do so?
If someone is found to have cheated in the Olympics, his medal can be taken away and the others move up in the standing. I don't think it is feasible to make the Dodgers the 2017 champion but they can vacate the Astros championship. But MLB doesn't like to do this. Even after Barry Bonds have been found to have cheated, his records still stand. So MLB is weaker than the IOC which Americans have criticized a lot in the past.
Alex Cora, who was a coach with the Astros, became manager of the Red Sox and they won the World Series over the Dodgers in 2018. Cora is being investigated for his Red Sox team now. Could the Dodgers have been cheated twice in a row? Maybe they should also investigate the 2019 Nationals!
I say vacate the 2017 World Series Championship. Take at least three first and second round draft choicesfrom the Astros. Take away all the World Series winnings of the players on the Astros playoff rosters that season plus 20% of their salaries for that season. This may have a chance to deter cheating in the future.
I wonder how many people in the organization knew about the cheating. I also wonder if other teams are doing the same. In the NFL, the Patriots have been caught cheating but the punishment wasn't as severe as what the Astros got. So, who knows what the punishment should be. Cora lost his job in Boston and I wonder if he'll ever get another opportunity.
ReplyDeleteThe question is if you are a Houston fan, do you regret this ever happened? Do people care if their teams cheat or win at any cost? Will anyone care if the championship is vacated? We've seen victories and championships were vacated in the NCAA and people still remember the victories even though they're not in the record books.
It's like the Bonds, Sosa and Maguire. People remember the home runs even though they juiced up.
-LBOAYM
I think most people in the organization knew about it. I also think that there are other teams who do it, especially during the playoffs. But who knows for sure? The first time the Patriots were caught, it was not during a game. With deflated ball, Brady got 4 games suspension. No player got any suspension here. This involves probably all the batters as oppose to only the quarterback. And Brady would have been great even without cheating whereas knowing what pitch is coming is a big difference to the hitters. I thought Brady should have been suspended up to a year because even if cheating didn't help, it was still wrong and send the wrong message.
ReplyDeleteFans will not forget the victories. Punishment will not bring justice nor will it deter completely. But without punishment, the cheating will be even more rampant. If Cora also cheated in Boston, he should be banned from baseball. I think this kind of cheating is worse than Pete Rose betting on his own team and Rose never got a job in MLB after that.
I have not been paying attention. The Democrat debate was last night, not on Thursday as I thought! So didn't watch it. The Oscars must be saying: We are not so white compare to the Democrats! With no minorities contending, I wonder if this political process will hurt the Democrats in the turnout. If blacks turned out in 2016 as they did for Obama, I think Clinton would have won. Can the nominee motivate the black turnout this year?
I read yesterday in one of the local papers that a poll was done recently. It looks like Biden and Sanders do well with the African American vote, so maybe this will help if either of them get the nomination. Could we see an African American vice presidential candidate? Do you think that would help and motivate the vote? It'll be interesting to see what happens in Iowa and New Hampshire. But this is still Biden's race to lose. He seems like the one consistent candidate in the polls even though he hasn't performed as well as others.
ReplyDelete-LBOAYM
I didn't see the poll you mentioned. Biden should have the best black support due to being Obama's vp. I would be surprised to see Sanders getting great black support. He was beaten badly by Clinton with black votes last time. Yang may not be getting much black support overall but he seems to get support from some interesting sources. Dave Chappelle is endorsing him and is scheduled to do two concerts for him in South Carolina. Whoopi Goldberg also talked him up. Van Jones of CNN said that he couldn't endorse anyone but he endorses Yang's policies. I think they put a lot of thoughts into it before coming to the conclusion that Yang is the best candidate.
ReplyDeleteThis does not mean the blacks who support Biden are not thinking. I think most of them believe that Biden is the most likely candidate to beat Trump. I think they believe that given the division of the country now, it would be impossible for a black candidate to beat Trump.
In fact, I think many blacks, particularly the older ones, believe that a black vp candidate would hurt the ticket. If blacks believe that, then I think the white establishment of the Democratic party may believe it also. I think someone like Cory Booker would be a good choice for vp. But I think it is less than 50% that a minority will be selected for vp.