MLB Champions: The Houston Asterisks

Turtle

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Retired Expediter
At the time of that home run, and him not wanting his shirt ripped off, he explained it to Fox Sports by saying, "I'm too shy. Last time they did that I got in trouble with my wife."

I remember thinking, what a load of crap. I didn't know why, but it didn't pass the smell test. He has a history of him posting shirtless pitures of himself in the lockeroom. That he was suddenly shy, just didn't add up.

But, I picked up on him facing Chapman, who was throwing 101-103, then suddenly, for no apparent reason, Altuve moved forward in the batter's box to tear into an 84 MPH slider. I didn't have a clue, not a hint, about the sign stealing stuff, but no one, and I mean nobody, moves up in the box against Chapman. You move back as far as you can, look for the fastball and hope you can get around on it. If you get burned by an offspeed pitch, that's OK, because he throws fastballs 80% of the time. That's the only pitch you look for. You don't move up in the box and make an adjustment to an offspeed pitch (unless, of course, you know one is coming).

My personal opinion is that everyone on the Astros roster should be suspended for 80 games. They have plenty of Minor Leaguers they can bring up.

CC Sabathia is not happy. At the Astros Fanfest, Altuve guaranteed another WS championship in 2020. Sabathia responded to Altuve by tweeting a picture of Altuve walking from the On Deck Circle to the Batter's Box, but having to go through a metal detector first.

Metal Detector.jpg
 

Turtle

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Staff member
Retired Expediter
William Hill sportsbook set an over/under on the number of Astros batters that will be hit by pitches in the 2020 season at 83.5.


At this point, I'm taking the over ...
Yup. MLB is going to have to try and do something. It's not just a few players who are mad, it's all of them.

I'll be surprised if the Astros win the 80 games this year.
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter
If people believe they should take away the Asterisks' championship then they should also be for the New England Patriots forfeiting their championship for inflating footballs.
 

Turtle

Administrator
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Retired Expediter
Deflating footballs. De.

The Commissioner issued an edict to all of the managers for no beanballs. No throwing at anyone intentionally (which is totally subjective and requires the umpire to read the pitcher's mind).

Sooooo, the Astros win again. Manfred morphed himself into a trashcan, and the Astros know what's coming. They know for sure that it ain't gonna be inside. That's actually a bigger advantage than knowing whether it's a fastball or a breaking ball.

LeBron James even chimed in, saying Manfred needs to fix this for the sake of sports.

I do know that in the Olympics, if you win a gold medal, and you cheated, you don't get to keep your gold medal.

In related news, the Astros were heckled by their own fans at Spring Training. Players braved the taunts of "Cheater" while trying to sign autographs. One fan beat a trashcan, like he was a drummer beating a Tom-Tom in a swing band, every time a player took to the batting cage. It was brutal. And hilarious.

This isn't your run-of-the-mill snotball or corked bat. This is gonna get really ugly before it gets better.
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter
Ok, I'll play devils advocate on this topic. Is it the cheating, or the level of cheating?
Is what the Astros did much different than what the New York baseball Giants did to the Brooklyn Dodgers by stealing the catcher' s sign ( by telescope) and relaying it to The Giants' batter Bobby Thomson who proceeded to hit the homerun that won the pennant?
 
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Turtle

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Staff member
Retired Expediter
Ok, I'll play devils advocate on this topic. Is it the cheating, or the level of cheating?
Is what the Astros did much different than what the New York baseball Giants did to the Brooklyn Dodgers by stealing the catcher' s sign ( by telescope) and relaying it to The Giants' batter Bobby Thomson who proceeded to hit the homerun that won the pennant?
They are the same. Stealing signs isn't cheating, as long as the players are doing it themselves on the field of play and aren't using technology or utilizing people outside the field of play to do it.
 
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