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I still had some batspeed, but I was only hitting stuff off the end of the bat. Basically just hit lots of pop ups to CF. Now which is harder? Baseball or fast pitch softball? It seems obvious, but have you ever tried facing an underhand pitch traveling 50-60 mph from only 40 feet away?

Boycotting is a bad idea. If you kill the revenue stream, they might just cut the budget that much more. And if it gets too low, they might just move the team to Nashville…

I know huh? It definitely helps that the AL East was the only division with a last place team…

Ever tried hitting slow pitch softball after playing baseball? Last time I did it, my timing was so off , my bat would zip through the zone while the ball was still floating towards me. Way out in front of everything…

I think some good ol’ fashioned tar and feathering is in order, too.

I think spitballers (specifically one defiant one) get off far to easy. They get viewed too often as these comical heroes whose antics amuse us while they defy authority. If Palmeiro and Bonds don’t get enshrined, get Perry out, too. That said, spitballers are lesser criminals than team signal thieves…

True, but do you think managers and team officials should be more accountable than players?

Ditto Gaylord Perry!

Also, Mejia was banned for testing positive for anabolic steroids. No jump.

How do you equate it to the various gambling scandals that have resulted in bans?

But the AL Least is overrated. I mean, they went 0-7 in postseason games. 0-7!!! They all got all those wins by beating up on each other!!! (Sarcasm. Also not mathematically possible.)

The NL Central could be a joke this year. The Reds and the Cubs already look like the top two spots, especially if Milwaukee cannot make up any ground after losing 4 starting pitchers. St. Louis might be able to bounce back after all! They certainly picked the right to to go get pitching...

I don't know if it is the case, but if so, Corbin Burnes could benefit immensely...

So three cheating violations leads to a lifetime ban? Precedent has been set that one doesn't. So this might still be in play...

Illegal drugs have also resulted in lifetime bans, although many were overturned. Fergie Jenkins, for example, was temporarily banned for life for possession of cocaine. Steve Howe was banned for life multiple times for his drug issues, sort of making a mockery of the lifetime ban penalty...

Jenry Mejia was banned for life for doping violations...

Deciphering the codes is not the issue. Using the camera feeds to watch the codes via replay is the issue. In 1961, the use of any "mechanical means" or outside source for stealing signs was banned by the NL President Warren Giles. But players were, punished for it long before that, going back to 1901 when Phillies third base coach Pearce Chiles put his backup catcher in the centerfield bleachers with binoculars and ran a cable underground to the third base coaching box so the player could send him electrical impusles he could feel with his feet. He was caught mid-game because opponents noticed this perennial puddle in the coaching box (used to amplify the signal) even when it had not rained for weeks. Yes, opposing player ran over there midgame and started digging up the coaching box!! So this was already deemed illegal. Steroids, for which players do get banned, were not made illegal until the early 2000's, unless the drug in question was already illegal itself. Stealing signs by decoding them live - or looking for tells and pitch tipping - is still legal and was never banned. Just using live game feeds to decode them was. As for changing signs, that has always been done. Usually as part of the set up. It can be something simple like "follow the two" where the sign after a catcher flashes the two is the real one. Or something more complex like "balls plus one" where the relevant sign changes with the count. Of course, all of this was also much simpler when players only spoke English. But as MLB gets increasingly multilingual, the techniques for communicating have to adapt as well. Just wait until some team employs some hacker to intercept the PitchCom transmissions! Bottom line - Cora broke a rule. I used to think he was punished accordingly. I'm not so sure anymore. They ddi revamp the whole way signals get transmitted now because of him...

I'd like a rotation upgrade, but I think that would require two teams, making it very complicated...

Another factor with Montgomery might be that he has had TJ surgery once already. There was a time not to long ago when a study revealed TJ surgery lasts about 600 innings/3 years until the pitcher needs another one. Since his last surgery, Montgomery has pitched 572 innings. Think any teams are hesitant to commit 6 or more years to him for this reason? (And have surgical techniques been improved to the point where this limit is outdated?)

I have no idea. It is something I wondered. Usually because a lot of players seem to put the larger market teams on their no trade clauses. It's not like they don't want to play for the Sox or Yankees or Mets; I suspect they don't want to play for them for the same money they took to play for the Royals or A's or Pirates...

I think there is more merit in banning a manager/coach for cheating than there is banning a player for steroid usage...

Didn't you also at one point expect the Sox to win about 86 games or so? Hey I think I had them winning at least 84..

He and Beltran basically ran the whole show, according to Andy Martino. It was Cora who get the extra monitor set up closer to the Astros dugout. (In their park, the replay room was uncharacteristically far from the clubhouse. They went out of their way to fix that.)

Ever wonder if players/agents use spite as a tiebreaker for similar offers? Like if the Sox make the best offer with Montgomery at, let's say $132/6. And then another team not normally in the upper payroll tier like Arizona or Baltimore or Kansas City (hypothetical example, no need to comment on these teams) makes the same offer, would the player ever think "Boston should be offering more money than KC, since they are way richer. f*** them. KC clearly appreciates me more so I am signing there!!"?

But how they did in the regular season got them to the postseason in the first place. And Montgomery - ace or not - only pitched or 11 games for Texas. They improved by 22 wins, and did the overwhelming bulk of it without Montgomery. Heck, without those improvements, they do not go out and get Montgomery. And do you know of a site that gives bWAR beyond the top ten leaderboard on B-R? I don't like how difficult it is to get comps for that stat...