Derek Jambor ’20, News Editor
Usually, when you hear about cheating in baseball, you may think of pine tar underneath a player’s hat or players using performance enhancing drugs (PED). An investigation took place involving the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros using video surveillance to determine what signs the opposing teams were using. These signs were signaled from the coach to the catcher and then to the pitcher. Both teams utilized the video replay booth to study what the opposing teams were calling. These teams of course were not verbally yelling what pitch was going to be thrown. If a player were on base and got a look at what the catcher signaled then they would give a lowkey gesture to the batter. This gave a tremendous advantage to the offensive team. Pitchers who dominated were getting demolished on the mound.
The Major League Baseball Association (MLB) has been aware of possible cheating attempts throughout the past few years, but there has not been enough evidence to prove it. Now that the fact has been proven it will be very tough for teams to get away with these bush league acts.
Both the Astros and Red Sox teams have been penalized as they have received major punishments; each team’s general manager and manager have been forced to leave the organization and serve a year long suspension. Alex Cora, former Red Sox manager, said, “Myself and the Red Sox organization are ashamed of the mistakes we have made. It is unfortunate, but what’s done is done.”
Cora’s Red Sox cheated in the 2018 World Series which they won. This raises the question of whether or not the Red Sox should be stripped of their World Series win because they cheated. This has never really happened in a championship game, so people are taking different sides to the argument. Senior Corbin Rundgren said, “I do think they should be stripped of their victory. Baseball should always be played the right way, and this is the complete opposite of that.”
Sadly, this will not be the last time we see teams trying to cheat the game. After this investigation concluded, the MLB has been investigating teams’ previous and current behaviors to see if they have the possibility of cheating to win. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said, “We are working closely with other organizations to prevent this from happening again. We are ashamed as probably many of you are.”
The MLB has always been a classy group, but this puts a stain on their reputation. It is hopeful that they can clean up this mess and restore this wonderful organization back to its prime.
Photo courtesy of nypost.com
Lyon Life 