Has Major League Baseball reached the point where teams have to cheat to win?
MLB is investigating accusations that the Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series by illegally stealing signs and at the same time investigating accusations that the Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series in a similar fashion.
Who will be next, the 2016 World Series champion Chicago Cubs? No one has accused them of anything, although I suspected them of tampering when they hired Joe Maddon to manage in 2015. No evidence surfaced, however. (but only because the Tampa Bay Rays never filed tampering charges.)
As for the need to cheat to win the World Series, a baseball official noted that the most recent winner was the Washing Nationals and they have not been accused of cheating.
Of course, neither the Astros nor the Red Sox were accused of cheating immediately after they won. A significant amount of time went by before allegations were made and the commissioner’s office began investigations.
It would be premature and perhaps unfair to convict the teams before all the evidence is in. But circumstantial evidence seems to be overwhelming. Consider the fact that the manager of the 2018 Red Sox, Alex Cora, was the bench coach of the 2017 Astros. Are we supposed to believe it was a coincidence that both teams were accused of stealing signs illegally?
Excuse my cynicism, but it’s easier to believe that Cora saw how well the illegal scheme worked for the Astros and how the Astros seemed to get away with it and said “we can do that.”
Commissioner Rob Manfred has given no indication when his investigations might be completed, but it’s important that they come to conclusions as quickly as possible so every team and officials of every team know what they face if they cheat.
A statement last week from the commissioner’s office last week regarding the Red Sox said:
“The Commissioner made clear in a September 15, 2017 memorandum to clubs how seriously he would take any future violation of the regulations regarding use of electronic equipment or the inappropriate use of the video replay room. Given these allegations, MLB will commence an investigation into this matter.”
On the Astros, Commissioner Manfred said the following on Dec. 11 at the winter meetings in San Diego:
Q. How far has the Astros investigation progressed in the interview stage? Do you have anymore idea of your time frame for decisions? Do you know yet whether it’s just the club you’re investigating for possible discipline, or are there individuals subject to possible discipline?
ROB MANFRED: In law school they would say that’s multiple questions, but let me do the best I can.
I think that this is probably the most thorough investigation that the Commissioner’s office has ever undertaken. I think we’ve interviewed already nearly 60 witnesses, 76,000 e-mails, a whole additional trove of instant messages. That review has caused us to conclude that we have to do some follow-up interviewing.
It is my hope to conclude the investigation just as promptly as possible, but it’s really hard to predict how long something like that is going to take.
At this point in the investigation it would be wholly inappropriate for me to speculate about what types of discipline might be in play. I’m going to get all the facts in front of me and make a decision as promptly as possible on discipline, and obviously you all will know about it as soon as it happens.
I understand Manfred’s desire to get it right, not to miss anyone, not to include anyone who doesn’t belong.
The investigation is made more difficult by the number of players who could be involved, and involvement of players means involvement of the union. If a player is going to be interviewed, he has to be accompanied by a union representative.
If players were aware of the illegal sign-stealing system, it’s unlikely that they would be held accountable and be disciplined, though reprimand and fines could be levied.
I suspect that managers and general managers would face the severest discipline. I think it’s possible, if not likely, that Jeff Luhnow and A.J. Hinch of the Astros and Dave Dombrowski and Cora of the Red Sox could be suspended for one season each, if not longer.
Dombrowski was fired by the Red Sox last September and is currently unemployed. Any discipline he would face would be delayed pending his hiring for a new job.
TO TALK OR NOT TO TALK TO ARBITRATORS
I covered George Nicolau all 10 years (1986-95) he was baseball’s independent arbitrator, but if I recall correctly I talked to him only once. In retrospect, maybe that was foolish of me.
Nicolau, we learned last week, died Jan. 2 at the age of 94.
My reluctance to talk to Nicolau was uncharacteristic of me because I talked to everyone but arbitrators.
If I were covering a court trial, would I try to talk to the judge and ask him why he issued this ruling or that? I can’t imagine doing that, and I viewed arbitrators as judges.
Nicolau was a significant arbitrator in sports matters. His most noted baseball decisions came in the mid-1980s when he ruled that club owners violated the labor agreement by colluding against free agents. Joining with a decision by his predecessor, Thomas Roberts, the decision cost the owners $280 million, though I still think the owners got off cheap.
One Nicolau ruling I always questioned was his decision that rescued New York Yankees pitcher Steve Howe from oblivion.
Howe was as sick an individual as ever played baseball and had been suspended seven times for his use of drugs and alcohol. Commissioner Fay Vincent suspended Howe for life, but Richard Moss, probably the only agent who could have pulled it off, pulled a rabbit out of his hat and convinced Nicolau that the Yankees had not treated Howe’s adult attention deficit disorder properly.
Nicolau allowed Howe back into baseball, and years later Howe killed himself when he turned over his pickup truck in the California desert. Not surprisingly drugs were involved.