No… not that Tom and Jerry!
Several years ago, two men who lived about a mile apart, worked at the same company that was about 12 miles away. The first man who we will call “Tom” had no car and had to rely on others to get to work. On the other hand, “Jerry” had a car and the drive to work took him just about 20 minutes.
Jerry was a fine employee. He was always early to work and often stayed late to finish his work. Tom, on the other hand, was often late to work because he either had to walk to work or rely on others for rides and he had to leave precisely at 5 PM in order to get a ride.
Tom was about to be fired and Jerry was ready to be promoted when Tom concocted an idea to steal Jerry’s car. At work, one day when Jerry was on a conference call, Tom took Jerry’s keys and ran down to the hardware store where he made a copy of the car key. He went back and placed the keys exactly where he found them and Jerry was none the wiser.
Tom waited several days and on a Sunday night, he quietly went to Jerry’s house, crawled down the driveway, unlocked the car door and quietly slipped away in the night. Jerry slept soundly through the heist. When he awoke, he showered, got dressed, ate two eggs (poached) and two pieces of toast with his coffee and went out to his car at the normal time. He was shocked to find that his car was gone, but after calling the police and reporting the theft, he called an Uber and made it to work at the normal time.
Jerry’s car did not turn up and he continued to take an Uber to and from work until he realized that he simply could not afford it. Next, he started relying on others to get him there on time, but frequently he was late. In the meantime, Tom put Jerry’s car in his garage and worked evenings for two weeks to paint it. He turned it into a Red car from it’s normal White Paint and he dyed the tan interior a deep blue.
In two weeks, Tom was driving to and from work every day. He got there early and stayed late, while Jerry struggled to get there on time and he could not stay late. Needless to say, this caught the eye of upper management and Tom was given a nice raise and promoted to supervisor.
One day after Jerry was done working, he could not get a ride and did not have enough money for an Uber, so he walked him in 30-degree sleet and rain. As a result, he got pneumonia and was hospitalized for 4 weeks. When he got out of the hospital, he was very weak and could not go back to work right away. When he did go back, he was not at his best and ultimately, his boss fired him while Tom got his second promotion.
Jerry ended up losing his house and lived with friends and on the street for a while, until one day when he happened to see Tom at the supermarket. Tom had his trunk up, putting groceries into it and Jerry noticed that while Tom’s car was red, the inside of the trunk lid was white. Jerry waited a week and when Tom went into the supermarket again, Jerry walked by the car and wrote down the VIN number.
When he went home, he discovered that the VIN number was the same as his car and he immediately understood that the thieving, lying Tom had stolen his car and painted it. That theft had cost him everything… his job, his house, and his health. He immediately dialed 9-1-1 and explained to the dispatcher that he knew who had stolen his car.
The Police send Detective Mann and Detective Fredd to investigate. After about an hour of talking to Jerry, the Detectives said: “well this is all circumstantial evidence. It doesn’t prove he stole it.” Next, the Detectives drove to where Tom worked and checked the VIN number. It was a match! It was now clear that Tom was driving Jerry’s car. But… did he steal it?
Next Detectives Mann and Fredd walked into Tom’s office and asked to talk to him privately down at the station. At the station, the Detectives said to Tom: “Look, if you cooperate with us and tell us the truth, we will give you immunity.” Recognizing a good deal when he saw it, Tom immediately confessed and said that someone else had stolen it and gave it to him and that he was sorry, but that no harm was done and it really never gave him an advantage. Therefore, he agreed to a $100 fine and also agreed he would fire his accountant.
The Detectives next informed Jerry that Tom was sorry and that he did not get any advantage by having the car. The Detectives then informed Jerry that Tom got to keep the car and there was nothing they could do about Jerry’s health, house, and job, let alone the car. “We fined him the maximum and he had to fire his accountant.” The matter is over!
Anyone who hears that fictional story would be outraged, but how is this so different from what has happened with MLB and the Astros who robbed the Dodgers and others? Detectives Mann and Fredd would lose their jobs and the case would be re-opened due to their corruption.
Dodger fans do not think justice was served. MLB players do not think justice was served. The American Public does not think justice was served. Justice was not served! Just as Detectives Mann and Fredd were incompetent, Commissioner Manfred Robbed the Dodgers! Manfred the Robber!
What the Astros did was very, very bad. What Robber Manfred did was worse. The American Public is outraged… and they are mad as hell and will not take it anymore! I am calling for a Congressional Investigation, just like what happened when the MLBPA was entrenched against steroid testing. Call in all the Astro Players and Cora, Luhnow, Beltran, Hinch, and Jim Crane. Let’s see what happens if you lie to Congress.
It’s time for the coverup to end. No one is happy and justice has not been served. Bring on the Feds! Oh, and fire Robber MannFredd!
To MLB Players:
Excellent, perfect example of what has happened!
Great article, Mark. One of your best. I am proud to be part of your blog.
I don’t get it. Clearly, Tom stealing Jerry’s car had no IMPACT on Jerry keeping his job. I’m not sure what Jerry’s whining about.
Wait a minute, I never said that it had no IMPACT. You can’t just go around putting words in my mouth.
Come to think of it… I have never seen you and Jim Crane together.
And you never will!!!!!!
“Let’s see what happens if you lie to Congress.”
Good one, Mark!!
Listening to Manfred is so frustrating. He is unfit to be the commissioner. MLB ignored multiple complaints from teams until Fiers went public. As far as I’m concerned they’re complicit. Manfred says he doesn’t want to set a precedent by vacating a title. Well, he’s setting a precedent by allowing admitted cheaters to win a championship.
Hey Rob, if you don’t want pitchers putting fastballs into the ribs of Bregman , Correa, and the rest of that squad then hand out the proper punishment.
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The $5 million fine should have come from the International signing allotment. The Astros are going to give some kid a $4 million signing bonus to ease the pain of losing a few draft picks. The title should be vacated. It’s not enough to say people know it’s tainted. When my grandkids read of World Series champions they should read of the cheating Astros who lost their title. I should say if Manfred hasn’t totally destroyed the game when I have grandkids.
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Altuve played it clean says Correa. How many runners ahead of him were on base from cheating? People who know baseball also know that affects the pitches a hitter gets.
Amen!
Seems that it’s a lawless society we live in. The rule of law is being obliterated at the highest levels. Don’t send this case to the supreme court and don’t have the Dept of Justice look into it. And don’t send it to the chief executive of the nation for moderation. He’s got a grudge against all things California for some stupid reason. What we need to do is get a pitcher that can handle these things. You know, like hockey, an enforcer. That’s all these criminals understand. And I’m only half joking on this stuff.
Manfred the jellyfish needs to be gone. Fire him and get a new one and have a redo. The owners shouldn’t stand for this. They would have to take action. I don’t see how Manfred can act when he has already made a decision. Besides he thinks he has been fair lol! The pressure seems to be mounting which means somebody has to intervene.
I will not be surprised if there is a dust-up/melee/all-out brawl during warmups when the Asshats play the Yankees in NY.
Babyfred needs to go.
Ray-O-Vac promotional.
Lots of calls today to fire Manfred.
How do the owners feel about what the Astros did? Do they feel the punishment was enough? Are they just glad that it wasn’t their team? Remember Manfred is hired by the owners.
I can’t believe that the player’s union has never demanded a say when negotiating the CBA. How, in a sport where everything tends to be owners vs players, do the owners get to choose the referee?
Assuming he’s still the player’s guy when the new agreement is negotiated, Tony Clark should demand that the next commissioner be acceptable to both owners and players. The players could probably do a lot better than Clark so maybe both Manfred and he should ride off into the sunset.
Roggin and Rodney on Sporttalk LA were all over this on Friday. They had some lawyer guy weigh in one of the reasons why Manfred didn’t strip the title. First of all, he works for the owners, and it’s all about the money. If the ASSHATS vacated the title, your talking about every fan who bought a ticket to that World Series(Dodger and Astros fans) wanting their money back, because the games didn’t count. While it does say on every ticket that the price only gets you in the ballpark, fans could file a class action suit against the ASSHATS that the games were played under fraudulent circumstances, totally opening up our favorite owner, Clueless Crane, to millions and millions of dollars to pay out. Once again, Manfred works for the owners, and you gotta think that he got some pressure from Clueless Crane on this.
I have not, up until this morning, listened to sports talk on LA radio in probably a decade.
But my podcast list was up, so I put it on.
Is SportTalk LA the 570 station?
If so, it may be the worst radio experience I have ever heard in my life. The two hosts had nothing to add. Just talked, and talked. They had no interesting guests. They had no guests period! They took no calls. They just talked their way from one block of ads to the next.
What the fuck is going on in Los Angeles? There are so many good reporters available. So many good talkers who can add value and insight.
It was brutal to the nth.
LA sports talk radio is basically unlistenable. Brutal is an understatement.
I occasionally tune in on the web and you are spot on. They talk and talk and talk and never say anything.
Well somebody has already been sued a former dodger pitcher sued for being run out of baseball. The owners must be turning their heads or Manfred would be squirming more. That ownership support will dwindle if the pressure continues to heat up. They will fire him due to no confidence if they have anybody they can replace him with. But then he will out the owners and they don’t want that. The swamp is functioning.
MLB has never been in worse hands. Manfred is either complicit in the cover-up or way over his head in this job. Maybe (probably) a little of both. How do you ignore complaints about cheating until Fiers can get someone at the Athletic to get Manfred to begin an investigation. What makes anyone think that Manfred even looked into the “buzzer” issue. It is a lot easier to ignore the charge than to actually investigate. It is going to need to be someone to contact the media again to lodge the complaint with evidence. Why doesn’t someone from the press take the pictures that Mark showed yesterday of a shirtless Altuve and ask him in front of journalists exactly which time was it that his wife complained? Where are the investigative journalists today?
Correa says that Altuve did not cheat. And that Houston did not cheat in 2018 or 2019. Since they have been so forthright about 2017 and soooooooo remorseful, we are just supposed to accept his word because he has been so honest. Neither Correa or any of the Astros have earned the right to be believed. I refuse to believe that they were honest and pure in 2018 and 2019. I say they cheated just as they were proven to do in 2017. According to Manfred, Astros players provided candid and consistent information regarding their cheating in 2017 and 2018. So Astros players say they cheated in 2018, but Correa assures us they did not.
Manfred stopped short of saying the Astros did not use buzzers, however. “You’re never 100 percent sure in any of these things, but these were my best judgments,” he said. Of course we all understand how brilliant his judgments have been up until now.
Manfred said that will not be tolerated and the 30 managers are being alerted to that this spring. “Retaliation in-game by throwing at a batter intentionally will not be tolerated,” Manfred said. “Whether it’s Houston or anybody else, it’s dangerous, and it is not helpful to the current situation.” What might have been helpful is if Manfred punished the cheaters, and maybe that might have mitigated the “current situation” that he himself created.
Manfred said he would have punished the Astros in a perfect world. Rubbish. While I do not agree with it, I get why he did not punish individual players, but he absolutely could have punished the team and the players by removing the Astros name as WS champion for 2017. Let today’s players know and history remember that the Astros cheated and that a championship cannot be a reward for cheating. Also let history remember that the Astros were cheaters for all of eternity.
Also Manfred could certainly have hurt the players as a team by denying them a chance for post season play for two years, one for each year he acknowledges they cheated, and eliminating international money all together for the same two years.
With respect to eliminating the WS championship, Manfred offered the following:
“In the context of my original decision, something that we talked about and analyzed extensively,” said Manfred of potentially stripping the Astros of the 2017 title. “A big topic of conversation between me and my senior staff. … It has never happened in baseball. I am a believer in the idea that precedent happens and when you deviate from that, you have to have a very good reason. The report gave people a transparent account of what went on. We put people in position to make their own judgments about the behavior that went on. That certainly has happened over the last month.
“The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act. People will always know that something was different about the 2017 season, and whether we made that decision right or wrong, we undertook a thorough investigation, and had the intestinal fortitude to share the results of that investigation, even when those results were not very pretty.”
Other teams say they are upset about what the Astros players and team got away with. They can show this by ignoring any Astro player who was on the 2017 and 2018 team when they become FA. Reddick should never play again when he comes up next year. Some team is going to buckle and offer Springer a contract, but that should not be anything close to what he may have been valued at. As far as Correa goes, he is already behind the eight ball as he becomes a FA the same year as Seager, Lindor, and Story become a FA. Two of the big money teams, LAD and NYY, will never offer Correa anything, so his chances of scoring any type of big money contract should be nil. Bregman and Altuve have long term contracts and do not get punished in the short term.
Regardless as to what Dusty and Manfred say, Astros players are going to be thrown at, and their absolute lack of remorse for cheating will be the reason. I see a wild Aroldis Chapman pitch drill Altuve the first time they meet.
Manfred has already ducked the issue. Ownership have got to step up and change the verdict. They could fire Manfred for his pathetic verdict unless they are complicit in the verdict. Why won’t the owners step up? Do they agree with Manfred? If the media would start pressuring ownership they might see things a little differently. Manfred has opened himself up for a very disruptive year that can only lead to his firing.
Why didn’t Jerry have insurance?
He should have went to Allstate Stan!!!
The Yankees don’t play the Astros until September. They should sign Bolsinger and put him on their extended roster and allow him to start the first game they play.
3 games in Houston in the middle of May. Must-see TV.
But then he’d get suspended and the Astros will have ruined his career for a second time!
Even Yu Darvish, who was told he was tipping his pitches in the 2017 WS, spoke out. He told the Astros to “stop talking.” Good for u, Yu.
The Astros had the nerve to do that to a lot of pitchers. They lit up Archer in 2017 then told him he was tipping his pitches.
Losing faith for the game I grew up loving.
DF I hear you.
And this too shall pass.
Amen!!
I have an analogy for you. A drug dealer has 10 lbs of dope in the trunk and a gun in the glove box. He gets pulled over and the cop finds the gun. Does the driver say he has drugs in the trunk? Does he admit he has an illegal gun? No way! He makes excuses like he didn’t know the gun was there or He needs it for protection. He doesn’t want to do anything that will cause the cop to keep searching.
Are the Astros hiding something even worse than what they got caught for? Hacking opponents computers, listening devices? Isn’t their behavior a little odd ?
At some point it’s all going to come out because there are just too many players and personnel that know everything. Then they will all get what’s coming to them. Until then people like me will be suspicious and think the very worst of those scum!
If the Asshat players are soooo remorseful, why don’t they just return the trophy and say they are not worthy.
Andy McCullough has a new interview out with JT and how he feels about Manfred. It’s in The Athletic.
Manfred commented on Saturday that it wouldn’t pay to take away the Astros WS trophy because it’s just a piece of metal.
This is, in part, how Turner responded:
“The only thing devaluing it right now is the fact that it says ‘Commissioner’ on it,” Turner said. “It’s just unbelievable. Is he that out of touch with our game, that those are his comments? … Does he not know what we put into these seasons? Does he not know how much work we dedicate to winning that piece of metal? Does he not know what it means to fan bases and cities? Does he not know what it means to little kids in that city, trying to inspire those kids to want to be baseball players?
If you have a subscription, take a look at the rest of what he had to say. Don’t invite those two to the same party any time soon.
Manfred said that the MLBPA would step in if MLB had punished the players for cheating. IF MLBPA represents the 25 cheaters, who represents the other 725? If Manfred represents Jim Crane and the Asterisks, who represents the other 29 teams?
So the WS trophy is just a piece of metal? I guess it’s fitting to say then that Manfred is commissioner in name only. To be a real commissioner he’d have to earn it and make hard choices/ decisions
Manfred, by his statements and supposed actions as a response to this Astro’s drama has only made things worse and I would not be surprised if other teams continue to call him and the Astros out on this. It could get even uglier before anything gets better.
Why is it that under Manfried, MLB operates like the CIA. Why is everything handled like a clandestine operation with no transparency? Everything from the handling of the Asstros cheating, immunity, delayed Boston investigation, the new playoff structure, elimination of miLB teams and potential lawsuits with that to the manufacturing of the baseball? Why is that process so top secret? These are baseballs not secret weapons. As mentioned, Manfried is so inept and in so far over his head it isn’t funny. He needs to GO.
Back to the baseball. Great article by Evan yesterday on the history and manufacturing. I missed a chance to reply as I was in Surprise watching Oregon State play Gonzaga in college baseball. I do have a question and some comments about the ball. I played long ago when balls were used for extended periods. Pitchers used to love having a cut or scuffed ball to increase movement. There was an “art” to doctoring a baseball and a cat and mouse game to catch the emery boards, vaseline etc. Catchers would cut a ball with shinguards. Infielders, especially the third baseman, were a less conspicuous way to doctor the ball. A little sandpaper, even thumbtack poking through a glove finger could make a nice little cut or scuff as the ball was thrown around the horn. That is now impossible as a ball might be used for one pitch. Back in the day, a pitcher would find a ball he could dig a finger into and never wanted to give it up. Today pitchers throw out cut of scuffed balls, a sin when I played.
I personally think the act today of using as many baseballs is ridiculous. I’ve heard 12 dozen balls prepped for a game. Thats crazy.
Here’s my question that someone here might know the answer to:
Do the ball boys with the buckets clean off a mark on the ball and recycle it back into the game, assuming it’s just dirt? A pearl come into the game. The pitchers spikes a breaking ball in the dirt. The catcher tosses the ball out to the dugout. One pitch. Is that ball reused? Or does it go right into the BP bucket?
If the ball is in fact a one pitch wonder, I think that is a waste. I hope a small blemished ball is reused if only for economics. The MLB ball retails for 10 or 12 bucks. I’ve heard the manufacturing cost is like 6 bucks. Lets conservative say 100 balls a game, 15 games a day for 162 games. Thats close to a million and a 1/2 dollars. Money that would go a long way to paying better minor league salaries and support 42 minor league franchises.
MLB seems so concerned with saving money, maybe keeping a baseball in the game longer could help. It did through the history of the game until just a few years ago.
I think the minor leagues get hand me down balls from mlb.
I really think that those who are blaming most of this on the owners are correct. The owners run MLB. The commissioner really has little power outside of the owners’ willingness to support him. For example the owners made the maximum financial penalty $5 million.. And since the Black Sox scandal of 1919, no active player has been banned, nor has any team been stripped of a title. So it is unfortunately unrealistic to expect anything different here. We have never seen any team which used a key player who was later found to have cheated and used steroids, to have forfeited any games, much less a title.
One of their rationales is, if they go down that road, then there will be calls to keep doing that, changing the results. What if a team cheated for one big series? How about the Giants watering the basepaths before one key series in 1962, so that it looked like a swamp? Within the ground rules, I guess. The people who run baseball want profits above all, though they like their team to win. Anything that interferes with that is something they want to pave over as quickly as possible. And if you strip Houston of the title, who gets it? Is it just “vacated”? Does it go to the Dodgers, or the Yankees? I would be satisfied enough if Manfred had banned Houston from the playoffs for two seasons. But the owners would not stand for that, it would eat into profits, the Houston attendance would substantially drop. I don’t follow the NFL and NHL and NBA very much, has any pro team in modern times been made ineligible for the playoffs? I don’t think so. The owners would be damaging their own pocketbooks, which they do not want to do, morality or not.
I wholeheartedly agree.
OK folks, on behalf of Mark (who has not authorized this), let’s have some nominations for the new commissioner.
It needs to be someone with a very strong backbone, who wouldn’t be afraid to stand up to the owners or the players.
Nominations are now open.
I nominate AC. If he declines, I nominate Mark. He can hand his business over to his son, and then whip MLB back into shape. Easy, peasy.
I second that motion but with some other suggestions if they decline……2D2, DC and SoCalBum.
No one who supports the DH in the NL
If he weren’t at the age he’s at and 100% would decline it, I would nominate Jerry West, who has never been afraid to speak his mind, has incredible integrity and is respected by everyone. Jerry, if you’re out there, how about saving baseball for us?
Ringo Star.
He won’t be available for 5 years but The Donald would be very entertaining and wouldn’t have any problem standing up to the owners.
Donald Trump, after he is impeached for the second time. He will shake it up and piss everyone off.
If that doesn’t work, he’ll tweet you to death!
Why bankrupt the MLB?
He would make sure all players must stay in his hotels lining his pockets and then name the trophy after himself.
Would the trophy look like a tower or a leaning wall?
Folks, on another blog, I get that ‘comment awaiting moderation’ stuff for simply stating the truth about this whole Astro scandal and Manfred’s chicken little response to his handling of it . Believe me, this could get ugly if he suspends anyone for what he deems as retaliation”
Folks, no Dodger player wants that 2017 trophy, but what the rest of MLB wants is simply to vacate the Astro’s WS title and declare that WS null and void of ANY winner. Now as far as retaliation goes , if Manfred suspends ANY pitcher for throwing at or missing the strike zone on inside of plate the Players Association would and should file a grievance in that case. What makes it worse is as Jim says above here…Astro players suffer no penalties but the opposing pitcher and others gets suspended is just down right unacceptable in my book. Bottom line here is that this is or at least can get very ugly because the rest of MLB is quite angry at the Astro players and the Commissioner And this ugly scenario could very well begin when the ST games start.
Houston pitchers will have to protect their hitters and that would lead to a donnybrook. Maybe if the pitches were only thrown at a hitters can?
Trout, Darvish, Tanaka, Bryant, Torres all speaking out. The players should walk out until the title is vacated.
Tyler White has been outrighted and will be assigned to some Dodger MiLB affiliate. Probably OKC. The Dodgers could have released him, but see some potential. I am sure he is not showing off his 2017 WS ring.
I bet he gets his brain picked a lot though on what happened. I see Terrence Gore was signed too.
The position of Commissioner is nothing but a front man for ownership. We all refer to baseball as a “business”. But in realty it is a club. You have to be invited to join. Simply having money isn’t nearly enough. You have to be politically connected and part of the philanthropic social class to even be considered. Owning a professional sports team is like being invited to join the most exclusive social club on earth. And owning an MLB/NFL team is the most exclusive of them all. I can remember Trump blowing up the USFL because he wanted to use it as a bludgeon to force the NFL owners to let him join their exclusive club. He wasn’t invited. So it didn’t work.
I’m just as mad as all of you. But I don’t believe Manfred is doing anything but fulfill the will of the owners. Suspending players and being banned from post season would cost Jim Crane a pile of money. That’s also why I don’t expect to see the Red Sox receive any meaningful penalty, regardless what they did and how long their did it. John Henry is club member too. They are never going to hurt each other’s bottom line. Ever.
Call me jaded. But if Manfred is fired (and he might be, if pressure continues)he will simply be replaced with somebody who will continue to act at the instruction of the owners. The last time baseball had a truly independent commissioners was Fay Vincent. And he was literally tied to a horse, taken to the edge of town and unceremoniously sent off with a hefty slap on the horse’s posterior.
At this point, any true retribution will come from baseball itself. The players and the fans. Regardless who is wearing the commissioner’s hat, they will never harm their own.
Very astute and good points, Jayne. Thank you.
Based on a smattering of things said from Spring Training it would seem that Stripling , Kershaw, and Jansen might have their best years, career years in 2020. Yes that is a leap taken from a wobbly platform but so what.
Wood is going to have to be not only healthy but as good as he was at his best to keep Stripling out of the rotation.
I want to move on from 2017. Somebody report back from Spring Training and tell us what you are seeing.
Your wish is granted!