jacksonianmarch

A weekend in Springfield. Maybe the Sox are hoping that not all of their brass makes it back to Boston

I can honestly say I played baseball at a pretty high level in college, went to two college WS, and I never cheated in baseball. Now, have I cheated in monopoly, pick up basketball, pick up football, etc. of course I did. We all have at some point. But organized sports with high stakes competition “should” be free of cheating. They never will be, but they should be. Jack McDowell just came out with an accusation that Tony LaRussa had a camera pointed at the catcher in the 80s and had a light in CF that was switched on and off by the prior games starter to tell the hitters what was coming. More is due to come out....

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Yanks and Sox were either the first or just the first caught symptom of a broader disease when they were caught with iwatch gate. The Yanks and Sox stopped until Cora came in. MLB took a hard line after the Sox and Yanks game with the watch. They fined the Yanks and Sox, made all managers sign affidavits of awareness and threatened massive penalties for further transgressions. The slate was wiped clean during 2017. Those who did it afterwards were to be soundly punished. With the Astros continuing it the rest of the year and into the POs and the Sox doing it in 2018, the punishment has been severe. Listen, Manfred doesn’t want this to be a witch hunt. If a Yankee comes out and says that the Yanks were doing this, then he has to investigate. He isn't going to investigate allegations from opponents without some concrete evidence. The whole ball of wax started to melt with Fiers. Someone else snitched on the Sox. If any other teams did it and nobody snitched, then they aren’t getting caught. Manfred wants this to go away

Typical. I was just as upset about Ortiz and Manny dropping bombs in the postseason as you were about Giambi. A cheat is a cheat

Sorry, you are correct

Their stash of HGH and super balls. The Twins went power crazy last year

Springer hammering Ottavino’s slider and Altuve walking off a Chapman slider looks really fishy right now

IMO, what it shows is the Sox didn’t need to do it, so their penalties and * on their season was unnecessary. Maybe having the advantage in the regular season created a confidence they wouldn’t have had coming into the postseason? Who knows. But what it says to me is the Sox didn’t need to cheat. They were good enough to take the two games played in YS and the 3 games played in Houston before taking 2 games in LA. It’s not like they could have cheated in those games. 8 of their 11 wins were on the road. They went 8-1 on the road in the postseason that year

The Sox were 7-3 vs the Yanks at Fenway in 2018, but the last 3 games were after the Sox clinched. They were 6-1 in the first two series scoring 55 runs in those 7 games. Their home field advantage was unprecedented in 2018, and now we know why. But the report was that the method the Sox used couldn’t be used in the playoffs due to a monitor in the replay room. They won the WS after their 108 win regular season on their own merit, reportedly. Which, for the Sox, has to be the biggest painful experience.

There’s all the evidence I need. If that changes, my thought on this will change

If the Pats won that super bowl, then nobody would have cared. Winning shuts up critics. That’s why BB can do what he wants. If he didn’t win as much as he has, his s*** wouldn’t fly

Lol, you’re so predictable. Cashman and Boone aren’t stepping down because the Sox and Yankees were both warned and fined in 2017 for using media in the dugout. After that, the Yanks have not violated the rule of cheating and using the replay system IN GAME. The Sox, based on insider reports, have violated that rule and cheated. So the Sox will pay the price and their rebuild will be hindered while the Yanks main competitor, Houston, in the AL just got smacked. Works out swimmingly for me. But keep toting the narrative that everyone is cheating or that the pinstripes are just as wrong if it makes you feel better. Maybe that’ll diminish the sting of not being relevant for the next three seasons

I get that the Sox want to control the narrative, but it’s easily controlled by making a press release as they did then doing a press conference after the punishment is meted out. That leaves you less open to cracking and saying something stupid. It controls the narrative very well.

What we “know” to this point is that an unnamed insider dropped info to the MLB that the Sox were using the replay booth to steal pitches in real time. Their system was far less obvious than the Astros trash can crap. They found a way to convey this to the runner on second who conveyed it to the hitter. Not sure if they conveyed the sequence to the runner (hey, the second sign is the one they’re going to) or if they deciphered it and used hand signals to the runner on second to then convey to the batter. As a runner on second, you have to focus on the pitcher not picking you off and getting secondary leads, so deciphering pitch sequence isn’t easy to do on your own. Runners on second have been conveying location and pitch type since the game started. That is why catchers use a sequence and change it up inning by inning. A single runner on second isn’t going to decipher that as they don’t have enough time at second to figure it out. But having someone in the replay room dedicated to deciphering sequence can do it in 2 pitches. That’s the issue. And unless the pitcher and catcher burn a mound visit, they aren’t going to change the sequence, so you’ve got it for the inning.

They always seem to have a parting press conference, which I never understand. When you let the manager or GM go, why then let the media dig into a fresh wound? You shouldn’t have press conferences about negative news unless clarification is needed. They didn’t clarify their message at all, so why do it? They’ll need a press conference after the Boston report and punishment comes out, but the manager firing was more common sense than anything else

He’s about to face a ban of at least one season. You cannot have a manager on a sabbatical.

Taxes play into it completely. A team in Florida or Texas has an advantage, but it still comes down to dollars. Maybe the total contract is $10 mil less over 10 years but the tax savings is $15 mil over that time and it’s in actuality, a better contract

Bloom says he wants Tek to “take on more responsibility” the day Cora is fired. The fact that Tek hasn’t been announced or even him having an interview hasn’t been announced tells me he doesn’t want any part of this dumpster fire. He’s a smart guy. If I were him, I sit this phase out knowing that whomever takes over is going to preside over a rebuild. The manager presiding over the rebuild is rarely the manager who takes the rebuilt team to a title. He should wait this one out and then jump in when the new guy gets canned

How does the above twitter feed say anything about the Yanks? I maintain the same thing. If the Yanks relayed the pitch to the batters in real time, they should be punished. Also, this device s*** is crazy. I wonder if it’s true, but it sure looks like something is there. And if they’re not lying and that HR off Chap was a cheat shot, I’ll be rip s***

Your manager already got fired. We’re beyond smoke here. The fire is a raging

If there is something proven in NY, then the same punishment must apply. But to this point, outside of speculation, there’s absolutely nothing

I bet it was mutual. Never understood Price to SD. That’s a 70 win team that needs an ace, not a broken down malcontent coming off another injury filled season. The Padres have the capital to trade for anyone they want. They don’t have to dumpster dive and take on a massive commitment

Travis and Swihart were DD binkies who hung on long after their potential was extinguished.

And every team was warned that they’ll be punished severely for using electronic media in the dugout. Listen, if an employer decides something is not allowed, disseminates that info to every team employee and player and then punishes transgressors, then they’ve got every right to do so. Someone else on here said it best. What these teams did was turn home games into BP. Also, the Yanks were clearly onto something with Houston by the end of the ALCS in 2017. That’s when Sanchez would go to the mound after every batter and the cheating is likely impetus #1 for the mound visit rule. Manfred wants to make the games shorter. Having teams know what’s coming via spy tech elongates the game.

That’s exactly what I said at the outset of the offseason. Nobody is gonna want a post surgery Price at a heavy financial burden until they see him pitch in games