Who esle finds this spring training way more interesting than in years past?

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Love the drama surrounding the Astros and their players getting thrown at...curious if this will continue into the regular season? I would think baseball will step in and make it clear hefty fines and suspensions are in order for anyone doing that going forward...but on the off chance they let this thing play out, there are going to be a lot of hit batters.

 

[husker2612]

Love the drama surrounding the Astros and their players getting thrown at...curious if this will continue into the regular season? I would think baseball will step in and make it clear hefty fines and suspensions are in order for anyone doing that going forward...but on the off chance they let this thing play out, there are going to be a lot of hit batters.

They should let it play out. Obviously throwing at the head is one thing but a good 90+mpg fast ball to the back never killed anyone. lol

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

They should let it play out. Obviously throwing at the head is one thing but a good 90+mpg fast ball to the back never killed anyone. lol

The only problem I have is the guy who was beaned yesterday wasn't even on the team when this went down...I say let the players police themselves on this issue, but players who had nothing to do with it are off limits. Now is that realistic? Prolly not, but I'd hope the players would aim carefully, at the right people.

 

[nwualum]

I remember Tony LaRussa being furious when an umpire stepped in too soon on something like this. He always said let the players handle it. If they hit you, you hit them back (or vice versa). Then its over. When umpires get involved too soon the players can't take care of it and it eventually escalates later.

I do hope the Astros get hit on their ring fingers repeatedly. They deserve it. And their ownership should take down their banner.

 

[kerpal_68]

I would be ok with Altuve getting hit every at bat.

 

[bigboxes]

I don't know why MLB is condoning cheating. All baseball has is its integrity. Well...

 

[Baxter48]

I don't know why MLB is condoning cheating. All baseball has is its integrity. Well...

From what I’m found out sign stealing has happened for years, just so happened the Astros have brought it into the 21 century.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

I don't know why MLB is condoning cheating. All baseball has is its integrity. Well...

Wouldn't you agree they're in a tough spot here? We had the steroid era, and on some level batters have been stealing signs and pitchers have been very creative hiding Vaseline for as long as the game has been played. Corked Bats (cough, cough, Sosa) also come to mind. It would be really hard to just say "This shit is getting way outta line" Hollywood Nights reference ..and take away the title.

 

[ridge22]

The two articles below detail how big of a deal this was. Basically one shitty inning by Bolsinger vs the Astros cost this dude his career. Faces 8 batters gave up 4 "Earned Runs" and recorded 1 out. Was sent down the next day and was not picked up by anyone after the season.

The Kershaw thing is insane. Dude has a wicked hook, and of the 51 breaking balls he threw 0 swings and misses.


Kershaw vs Astros in the WS

Former Pitcher suing the Astros

 

[Nebraskakid555]

I would be ok with Altuve getting hit every at bat.

What about Bergman, he's just as quilty.

 

[mgbreis]

The two articles below detail how big of a deal this was. Basically one shitty inning by Bolsinger vs the Astros cost this dude his career. Faces 8 batters gave up 4 "Earned Runs" and recorded 1 out. Was sent down the next day and was not picked up by anyone after the season.

The Kershaw thing is insane. Dude has a wicked hook, and of the 51 breaking balls he threw 0 swings and misses.


Kershaw vs Astros in the WS

Former Pitcher suing the Astros

This Kershaw stat IS 100% insane, and it's what drives me nuts when people say, "they've been stealing signs in MLB for years". It's not the same thing.

 

[bigboxes]

Wouldn't you agree they're in a tough spot here? We had the steroid era, and on some level batters have been stealing signs and pitchers have been very creative hiding Vaseline for as long as the game has been played. Corked Bats (cough, cough, Sosa) also come to mind. It would be really hard to just say "This shit is getting way outta line" Hollywood Nights reference ..and take away the title.

I think when you are caught then you have to pay the price. But what makes this worse is that it's not just cheating. It's institutionalized cheating. They cheated as an organization. As much as it pains me to say it, and I was happy for Houston and the team, I think their WS championship should be voided. I'm still trying to move passed the tainted juiced era. What was the management thinking when someone thought to use the stadium cameras to cheat? Probably derp.

 

[hedonistimpulse]

I think the most damning thing against the Astros is the response from the other MLB players. Guys on other teams aren't going to fake outrage over something that's happening in their own clubhouse which is what suggests that what the Astros were doing was very different.

And say what you want about Mike Fiers, but he's a veteran and a journeyman who's seen what's acceptable and what's not. He felt that what was happening in Houston was bigger than the pride every player has in protecting the sanctity of the clubhouse and the understanding that he would be tainting his own ring; that speaks loudly.

 

[ThereIsNoPlace]

Screw you pitchers, you hit me intentionally, I'm coming after you. Half of you pitchers probably cheat on your husbands.

 

[SkerInCo]

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

HAHAHAHA!!!! "Yeah that's an off speed pitch that got away"....riiiiiight.

 

[SkerInCo]

LOL, love it.

 

[redfanusa]

I love the faux outrage about sign stealing, when players were juiced up for 20 years and no one seemed to notice.

A runner on 1st or 2nd base can see the sign. What's the big deal?

 

[SkerInCo]

I love the faux outrage about sign stealing, when players were juiced up for 20 years and no one seemed to notice.

A runner on 1st or 2nd base can see the sign. What's the big deal?

I don't really care one way or the other. Having said that, stealing signs has been part of the game forever but the 'stros took it to a whole nother level.

 

[bigboxes]

I love the faux outrage about sign stealing, when players were juiced up for 20 years and no one seemed to notice.

A runner on 1st or 2nd base can see the sign. What's the big deal?

Faux outrage?? if your runners can pick up the signs for that game then by all means go ahead and steal signs. If your organization is using cameras to relay information on picthes it's an entirely different thing. And the roided era is so tainted I hope none of them get in.

 

[NETransplant]

Plunk! Do it again!

 

[redfanusa]

If your organization is using cameras to relay information on pitches it's an entirely different thing.

Yes, Houston took it to a whole new level. But isn't that a slippery-slope? Regular sign stealing is okay, but slightly better sign stealing is an outrage?

Teams claims they knew or suspected Houston was stealing signs. So why keep doing them? High school and college teams have started using playbooks on their wrists, similar to football. Coaches could have gone one step further, and used sideline cards like football. Why didn't they pre-plan how they were going to pitch the different batters, and go with a signal-free system? If a World Series ring was on the line, I'd get pretty freaking creative coming up with work-arounds. I certainly would keep doing things the old way, and then bitch about it after the fact.

 

[mwulf]

Dont see how giving them a free guy on base helps things though in the regular season anyway...Spring Training is a different animal. Time to work on establishing the inside of the zone and if 1 of 23 get away from you so be it

 

[cubsker]

View embedded media

LOL, love it.

you hate to see it

 

[salsa red]

Unless there is hard proof of cheating this needs to be let go. Everyone cheats as much as they can and other teams are upset that they didn't think of it first

 

[John_J_Rambo]

Unless there is hard proof of cheating this needs to be let go. Everyone cheats as much as they can and other teams are upset that they didn't think of it first

There’s gobs and gobs of hard proof, right down to admissions of guilt.

Astros are scumbags.

 

[bleedhuskerred]

This is so much bigger than guys being juiced. Guys were juiced on every team. This kind of sign stealing involves every pitcher, every batter and creates a bigger advantage than one corked bat or a couple of guys roided up. Like it's been said this will destroy a pitcher's confidence in a couple of pitches then you can sit on a fastball and hit the crap out of it.

A few bean balls isn't going to make up for what this kind of electronic sign stealing wired up guys at the plate did to the games.

The league will hopefully hand down some serious stuff once the investigation is complete. Astros suck!

 

[9and4]

KC ST News: Bubba's hitting .500 through four games with two homers.

 

[mgbreis]

Yes, Houston took it to a whole new level. But isn't that a slippery-slope? Regular sign stealing is okay, but slightly better sign stealing is an outrage?

Teams claims they knew or suspected Houston was stealing signs. So why keep doing them? High school and college teams have started using playbooks on their wrists, similar to football. Coaches could have gone one step further, and used sideline cards like football. Why didn't they pre-plan how they were going to pitch the different batters, and go with a signal-free system? If a World Series ring was on the line, I'd get pretty freaking creative coming up with work-arounds. I certainly would keep doing things the old way, and then bitch about it after the fact.

Many teams did do something different, but just that in and of itself gave the Astros an unfair advantage. Simply forcing pitchers and catchers out of their routine is a win. The Ringer did an in depth article on how some catchers were using convoluted sign combinations that we're taking much longer. Guess what the Astros did? Continually stepped out of the box so they had to start all over again. And, I think you either don't understand or are conveniently dismissing the intricacy and complexity of the relationship between the catcher and pitcher. There is no way to suddenly come up with a substitute that doesn't give advantage to the Astros.