Everything you need to know about the Astros cheating scandal
As a person who pitched as a Yoot, the practice of stealing signals strikes me as the most despicable form of cheating in baseball. As the average velocity of MLB pitchers slowly ramps up, the foreknowledge of whether the next pitch will be a fastball or something off-speed becomes more and more valuable. In either case - FB or off-speed - the batter's chances of success are increased by at least half with this knowledge.
It appears very likely that the Astro's have been cheating regularly for a couple of years now, and as far as I'm concerned that places a cloud on all of their success (except for that of the pitchers) since 2017. These "timely" blasts that have propelled them to dozens of wins are now all of dubious distinction.
The Media and many BB fans cried mightily when it first became apparent some years ago that some of the sluggers were juiced with steroids and HGH, but even with increased muscularity, you still have to hit the ball. As far as I'm concerned, stealing signs is a much worse offense to the integrity of the game.
As I understand it, the Powers that Be in MLB have no problem if you steal signs in the conventional way - a runner on second catches something and tips off the batter - but the use of technology takes it over the line of acceptability. I guess I can live with that. The defensive team is aware of that possibility of conventional sign stealing, and can take countermeasures.
Maybe the solution is to call pitching signs using up-to-date technology...have the pitching coach call the pitch and give the pitcher and catcher sensors in their BB caps to receive the signals.
But regardless, stealing signs like the Astro's have been doing is unacceptable. Not sure what the appropriate sanction would be.
As a person who pitched as a Yoot, the practice of stealing signals strikes me as the most despicable form of cheating in baseball. As the average velocity of MLB pitchers slowly ramps up, the foreknowledge of whether the next pitch will be a fastball or something off-speed becomes more and more valuable. In either case - FB or off-speed - the batter's chances of success are increased by at least half with this knowledge.
It appears very likely that the Astro's have been cheating regularly for a couple of years now, and as far as I'm concerned that places a cloud on all of their success (except for that of the pitchers) since 2017. These "timely" blasts that have propelled them to dozens of wins are now all of dubious distinction.
The Media and many BB fans cried mightily when it first became apparent some years ago that some of the sluggers were juiced with steroids and HGH, but even with increased muscularity, you still have to hit the ball. As far as I'm concerned, stealing signs is a much worse offense to the integrity of the game.
As I understand it, the Powers that Be in MLB have no problem if you steal signs in the conventional way - a runner on second catches something and tips off the batter - but the use of technology takes it over the line of acceptability. I guess I can live with that. The defensive team is aware of that possibility of conventional sign stealing, and can take countermeasures.
Maybe the solution is to call pitching signs using up-to-date technology...have the pitching coach call the pitch and give the pitcher and catcher sensors in their BB caps to receive the signals.
But regardless, stealing signs like the Astro's have been doing is unacceptable. Not sure what the appropriate sanction would be.
