It’s only cheating if you get caught
Seems oddly appropriate MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred brought the hammer down on the Houston Astros for cheating at this time of the year.
鈥楾is tax season for many people and it鈥檚 more likely than not some of America鈥檚 taxpayers will find a way to fudge 鈥� or out-and-out cheat 鈥� on their returns, be it old school with a pencil and calculator or with some new-fangled computer program.
Akin to the tree falling in the woods making a sound, is it cheating if you don鈥檛 get caught?
Well, the tree (Manfred) fell in the woods (Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow) and the crash was heard 鈥檙ound the sports world. At least Astros owner Jim Crane heard the thump because he took Manfred鈥檚 one-year suspension to the max by just firing the cheating pair.
And, ESPN will have more fodder for their sports crawl when Manfred comes down on Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora. Cora was the bench coach when the Astros won the World Series in 2017, and, by some accounts, transferred his knowledge of modern technological pilfering when he moved to New England. (Must be something in the water up there in the Boston area.)
Speaking of ESPN, the network ran a bit on the season run up to the famed 鈥淪hot Heard 鈥楻ound the World鈥� on the final day of the 1951 season. The New York Giants鈥� Bobby Thomson鈥檚 long ball off Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Ralph Branca (鈥淭he Giants win the pennant!鈥�) capped a furious comeback by the Giants (who trailed the Dodgers by 13陆 games in August) for the National League title.
Apparently, as legend goes, the Giants stationed someone with a telescope (not that anyone noticed?) in the outfield stands and, using a buzzer system to the bullpen, alerted Giant hitters to the pitch that was to be delivered. Seems to be one of those everybody knows you did it situations, but maybe they did and maybe they didn鈥檛?聽
It鈥檚 long been held guys with binoculars spying on the catcher from old scoreboards like used to be at Wrigley Field or runners standing at second base noticing pitch location and signaling the information to the batter, but that was with human eyes and not so technical.
I was on the baseball team my final two years in high school and had a lot of bench time. (Actually, it was all bench time. I wasn鈥檛 real good. Those who can, do, those who can鈥檛, coach. That鈥檚 me.)
Well, anyway, one of my teammates, Charlie Wortman, when he wasn鈥檛 joining in the attempt to fill Jim Gyurke鈥檚 shoes with stones from the old 12th Street ball field, excelled at figuring out the opposition鈥檚 signs. But, those were the basic signs like stealing, take, etc., not what the pitch was to be.聽
Those were simpler days, I guess. Now, I cover high school softball and baseball games and everyone on the field is decked out in play-filled wrist bands like Ben Roethlisberger. I wasn鈥檛 quite so sophisticated. I usually just yelled out instructions, so know need to steal anything.
I can almost understand teams in the lower echelon looking for some edge to pull out from the doldrums, but why is it really good teams need to find that illegal edge? Cheaters never prosper, unless you use modern technology to steal from the opposition.
The ESPN commentators brought up an interesting point. Will Manfred鈥檚 punishment on the Astros鈥� pair (and expected discipline on Cora) call out the 鈥渞ats鈥� and bring down more folks, or will everyone clam up and not point fingers?
The unfortunate byproduct of the Astros鈥� cheating is the results can鈥檛 be reversed. Creative math caught on income tax returns can be punished and undone with fees and penalties. But, how can the league undo the results of what happened with cameras and garbage cans to the Dodgers and the rest of baseball? (Which I find interesting because a cursory look at any MLB dugout floor appears garbage cans never seem to be used.)
College basketball and football teams have had to vacate championships and victories. Perhaps if Manfred wants to make an example, Houston should vacate the title, give back the rings and winners鈥� share, and 2017 can be the year no team won the World Series.