Who here like me is having problems with the recent sign-stealing scandal? Hirsch, Cora and Beltran are out. Taubman blacklisted. Trevor Bauer has revealed Astro players wore buzzers. Is the Commish’ going after the players now? When does it end?
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- Thread starter crawdad
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It will never end. Baseball is, always has been, and ever shall be the home of cheating in professional sports. As long as there are large sums of money to be made and fame to be had, someone will be cheating to gain an edge.
You can apply that to sports, business, and obviously politics as well. It will never be eradicated.
Stealing signs is as American as apple pie. Of course that is only as long as it is done within the unwritten rules. Been that way since long before the age of big salaries. It has to be done within the rules, the unwritten rules of acceptable behavior which are also constantly morphing. It's a tough call.
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I think the Astros and Red Sox went too far with this. I was pretty good at stealing signs and relaying them to teammates when I played ball, but I did it the old fashioned way. Using technology the way they have is not something I like, and I'm glad MLB did something about this.
I think it could go as far as some players retiring early before they get forced out or because they get tired of dealing with the stigma of wearing the Cheater (or Possible Cheater) label. I could see someone like Verlander retiring because of an "injury" early into this season. If hard and incontrovertible proof comes out that some players were using buzzers, then I can see the '17 title being wiped out. The NCAA did it for the 2013 Men's Basketball Title. MLB can do it, too.
I've been an Astros fan since the early '70s. It's a rough time I guess, but it's hard to feel bad for anyone that either cheated that far outside of the unwritten rules, or sat in the dugout and watched other players do it and benefited by not saying anything.
The rationales and "yeah buts" by fellow Astros fans all fall flat with me. One hit in one game because of a tipped pitch signaled by a garbage can set off a butterfly effect. Pitchers throw differently to the next batter, or get pulled, or don't get pulled and are not available for the next game, etc. Road record vs home record, road OPS vs home OPS; neither are relevant.
Maybe they are scapegoats or examples. I guess we will see how effective their punishment is as a deterrent.
I've been an Astros fan since the early '70s. It's a rough time I guess, but it's hard to feel bad for anyone that either cheated that far outside of the unwritten rules, or sat in the dugout and watched other players do it and benefited by not saying anything.
The rationales and "yeah buts" by fellow Astros fans all fall flat with me. One hit in one game because of a tipped pitch signaled by a garbage can set off a butterfly effect. Pitchers throw differently to the next batter, or get pulled, or don't get pulled and are not available for the next game, etc. Road record vs home record, road OPS vs home OPS; neither are relevant.
Maybe they are scapegoats or examples. I guess we will see how effective their punishment is as a deterrent.
The use of "technology" has always violated the "spirit" of the unwritten rules. If a catcher and pitcher can't protect the signs or change them up when there's a runner on second well ... they deserve to have the signs stolen. But cameras, iPads, violate the "rules. Spies in the scoreboard? Not so much. But relaying the info via electronics is a violation of the "code." Hanging a towel on the bullpen fence? That's acceptable. 'tis a fine line between acceptable lawlessness and violating the age old unwritten rules. That's the problem with unwritten rules. "Chin music" used to be acceptable. Throwing at the head never was. Now a pitcher isn't allowed to protect the plate with a brush back. The game today is a sad parody of itself.
Of course technology is not a telescope any longer, but still cheating.
All is fair in love and war...as long as you don't get caught! As long as the tech keeps advancing there will be someone trying to beat it. Unfortunately in this day and age there are no limits to cheating, business, sports or politics! If caught there should be consequences and fines..and exorbitant amount of money that makes the owners cringe, kind of money!
Completely agree. Cheating is a part of baseball, but so is getting caught and punished for cheating. These clubs crossed a line and deserved to be punished. I don't really have a problem with the way it was handled, nor do I think it will have much of an effect on the health of the support. Some people think the Astros and Sox championships are tainted, and maybe they should be to a certain extent in the collective psyche. I don't think it would be right to void the results or anything.
It is a bit disappointing because both the '17 astros and '18 Red Sox were amazing teams who didn't need to cheat.
The team doesn’t matter, it is our sport and it needs to be upheld. Angelo Bartlett Giamatti wrote will on this and I believe worked to uphold the sport.
Ain’t nothing sacred no more, gonna have to turn to curling for a sport, being in the hot south guess it’s gonna be a while before my sport comes up! 
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