the cheating thread

when will the first Astros beanball game occur? Do they play Saturday?

does it count as a beanball if someone in the stands threw it?

home saturday vs the nats
split squad at the nats on sunday
full squad at the tigers on monday

interestingly they do not play the yankees -- guess the atlantic/gulf coasts are largely separate

i missed this

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28730745/frustration-mounts-rob-manfred-edict-protect-astros-beanballs

Some organizations might be aided by their own limitations. The video room at Oakland Coliseum resides a significant distance from the dugout, former Athletics pitcher Brett Anderson mentioned.

“I know the A’s weren’t cheating,” said Anderson, who signed with Milwaukee this winter. “Because, one, I don’t know if they could afford it. And to relay from fucking 300 yards away in the video room? What were we going to do, get some vendor to throw some popcorn up in the air, or something? It’s too fucking far to relay something.”

Anderson joked the only way for Oakland to communicate would be through the ballpark’s decaying infrastructure. “The lights go out, it’s a curveball,” Anderson said. “If there’s a sewage backup, it’s a fastball.”

haha that rules

Off-topic but it was SO WEIRD when both Anderson AND Trevor Cahill came back to the A’s in ‘18

lol xp

eat shit papi

Papi on Mike Fiers: "Why didn't you talk about it during the season when it was going on? Why didn't you say, I don't want to be no part of it? So you're looking like a snitch. Why do you have to talk about it after? Why did nobody say anything while it was going on?"

— Ian Browne (@IanMBrowne) February 20, 2020

stfu & go drink a milkshake papi

papi was a juicer so he's got to stand his ground

he does love baseball cards, though. he loves to sit at the kitchen table by himself and dream of baseball cards.

I agree with this take

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2020/2/26/21153495/houston-astros-sign-stealing-scandal-baseball-fan-interest

We are hooting and hollering every time a new baseball player goes in on the Astros. We are eager to debate which teams will bring down baseball’s newest menace. Why do you think my editor asked me, a football writer, to write about baseball? Because we can’t stop clicking on articles about baseball!

yeah 100% cosigned here too

no, this is not baseball itself

Baseball now has a team that everybody hates, and what a blessing it is.

i've found the seething bloodlust of the fans on reddit twitter etc mostly irritating and the opposing players leaning into it strikes me as empty theatrics. maybe i'm cynical but i'll never assume a pro athlete is above cheating to get an edge. one of the cool things about wrestling is that if you pay enough attention to all the behind the scenes bullshit you come to learn that even the most beloved faces are complete pieces of shit.

Listen the Red Sox are genuinely evil but I’m not sure I’d go so far as to label them baseball’s Cowboys

don't you have a gio urshela votive candle to be lighting

I probably should be tbh

hviii, u root for baseball's 1977 Oakland Raiders

righteous

BREAKING: #RedSox penalties:

*Loss of 2020 2nd-round pick.

*Ban of replay operator J.T. Watkins through 2020 playoffs and from doing same job in ‘21.

*Ban of Alex Cora through ‘20 playoffs, but only for conduct with #Astros.

Story with @EvanDrellich: https://t.co/6Ysn9hsRFa

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 22, 2020

"2020 playoffs"

what a joke

ya, that's pathetic.

So we're supposed to believe that Cora was a key figure in the Astros' cheating scheme, but somehow wasn't fully aware of the cheating happening in Boston that coincidentally started when he arrived?

he was fully reformed!

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/does-cheating-matter/

https://nypost.com/2020/06/13/yankees-up-in-arms-after-judge-orders-to-unseal-mlb-letter/amp/

The Yankees don't want to release the letter, claiming it would cause "significant reputational injury". That is the most pathetic defense ever, why would anyone give AF about that.

I mean seriously, the Astros incurred the stiffest punishment in the history of baseball, but goshdarnit now that people might think a little less of the Yankees organization this has got to stop.

well it's a goddamn golden reputation, you must admit

streisanded lol

Thought the judge in the url referred to Aaron Judge