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So the Astros 2017 title is tainted

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by rockets13champs, Nov 12, 2019.

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  1. mtbrays

    mtbrays Contributing Member
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    Different era. We didn't have broad adoption of social media, The Athletic, podcasts, etc. during the steroid era. People only got to boo Bonds when he came to their city instead of uploading tons of videos every single day to rant about it and amplify their displeasure.

    Honestly, this might help ratings. They're pinning everything on ONE team. Baseball now has a villain and every game the Astros play on the road is going to be must-see for fan bloodlust, mascots banging on trashcans, etc.
     
  2. The Real Shady

    The Real Shady Contributing Member

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  3. BigM

    BigM Contributing Member

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    I couldn’t stand Bellinger before but he’s a pompous piece of **** as suspected. Probably would have helped the Dodgers if he didn’t strike out 37 times in the World Series.
     
  4. mkahanek

    mkahanek Member

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    Err, boston could have been wearing buzzers, had a pitch runner that went from the video room to the on deck. ANYTHING and MLB will "find very little" the MLB wants this done with. So even if other teams did it. Hell if other teams were more BLATANT we will not see anything about it. It is not about fairness or integrity. It is about protecting the revenue stream. I don't think MLB would have hammered the Astros if Mike Fiers would have kept is c*ck washer closed. But they didn't have a choice once that can was opened. Now that there is evidence on Boston they are going through the charade of investigating. They will conclude that some players on their own accord went along with Cora but that the problem was limited and corrected blah blah. Then they will not find anything further to investigate. I wish there was a media outlet that was pro houston that had it in for Fiers and would go investigate the pitcher that likes to date toddlers.

    Whatever. Time to play ball and see what these guys are made of. I REALLY hope they don't come out pressing and try to do too much and get out of their game. If they do then they will come out flat. The media and other fan bases will go off about see they can't do sh*t without their trash can causing them to press even more and leading to a sh*t season. I REALLY hope I am wrong on that potential scenario.
     
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  5. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
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    Here in Minnesota they’re praising Bellinger in local sports talk. There is a lot of anger being heaped on Marwin Gonzalez too.
     
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  6. BigM

    BigM Contributing Member

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    At this point anything negative that’s said about the Astros is pure and absolute fact. If Bellinger said that Altuve murdered someone, then Stephen A. Smith would be on ESPN clamoring for the death penalty. This has become a complete and total farce.

    The Astros showed remorse and apologized yesterday and the story, with absolutely no new information mind you, has blown up to another level. They were better off, or certainly no worse off, showing up to the podium with their rings on and throwing up a big **** you. They wouldn’t be getting any more heat than they are now.

    This is a joke now and it’s going to push me to give up baseball. Astros have to dominate this season to have a chance at turning the tables. No other team is going to be indicted. Better come together quick boys.
     
  7. mkahanek

    mkahanek Member

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    I don't think anyone is rooting for injury. But he basically threatened to throw at our players which could cause injury. So it becomes a better him than us scenario at this point.
     
  8. The Beard

    The Beard Contributing Member

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    I’ve read many “throw at their heads” and “between the eyes” comments on mlbtraderumors

    plenty of people are rooting for injuries
     
  9. REEKO_HTOWN

    REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

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    they’re all pieces of ****. First pitcher that throws at a Astros head will get suspended so this fantasy won’t last long
     
  10. phasors28

    phasors28 Member

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    Interesting that Kemp said he didn’t participate. Clevenger specifically called out Kemp. I believe Kemp and think the Astros are in everyone’s heads.
     
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  11. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    Maybe some of these pitchers should take accountability for their own shittiness.

    Kris Medlen, Mike Bolsinger, Seth Lugo, Dillon Gee,...



    “It sucks to get cheated and now that you got the short end of the stick,” Gee said this week. “They get to go out and pad their numbers and then ruin mine and I get screwed. I can see why there’s a lot of animosity about this.”

    “I’m not really pissed off about it,” Gee said. “But I do look back at it and think that I was wronged.”

    By June 14, 2017, the Astros had been only a few weeks into banging scheme, and they were about to treat the Rangers like trash cans in a 13-2 romp. “Oh man, they killed us that night,” Gee said. “I remember. That was bad.” It had been a close game entering the sixth. That’s when things began to spiral. Reliever Jeremy Jeffress gave up back-to-back homers to Derek Fisher and Jake Marisnick, then allowed the next two batters to reach. Tony Barnette faced the next four batters and got none of them out. The score ballooned to 8-1. It was only the sixth inning. In the game’s lingo, Gee was summoned to wear it.

    Gee gave up two more runs before closing out the nine-run sixth inning. He finished off the game, charged with two earned runs. “Maybe they stopped cheating by then,” he said, even though evidence suggests otherwise. To that point in the game, the thud of a trash can had been heard just once, according to signstealingscandal.com. But once Gee entered, bangs could be heard five more times. Up big in a game they had well in hand, it seems that the Astros had no hesitation about using Gee as a punching bag.

    The scandal has raised debate about the extent that sign stealing is advantageous. For instance, of the five pitches thrown after bangs could be heard during Gee’s appearance, only one was put in play. It was a double-play grounder by Yuli Gurriel. Despite rampant paranoia about sign stealing being widespread, Gee said he would have difficulty believing that others were following the Astros’ lead. “If they were, I don’t think I pitch anywhere as long as I did,” he said. “If Max Scherzer tells you what’s coming, you’re probably still going to have a hard time hitting. If I tell you what I’m throwing, it’s going to be a hell of a lot easier.” But there’s little ambiguity about the 2017 Astros, whose actions led directly to what came next for Gee.

    Two days after his appearance against the Astros, he was designated for assignment. “You just figured it was coming,” he said. After starting the year in the minors, he logged 13 innings with a 4.15 ERA for the Rangers, who needed the roster spot for a fresh arm.

    “You know, if I had never gotten picked back up again, if I got sent back to the minors and I never got a shot again, I might look at it and be more pissed off,” Gee said. “But I felt like I had a chance to pitch. I do feel like it affected my career. But that’s not what ended my career.”

    He loathes excuses. “I don’t want to come across like I’m whining about the situation,” he said, explaining part of the reason he has been tempered in his reaction. “I was at peace with being done,” Gee said of his career. After he cleared waivers in 2017, he signed with the Twins, pitching to a 3.22 ERA in 14 games, most of them reliever appearances. Then he was off to Japan for a year with the Chunichi Dragons. Then he was finished. He still lives in Texas with his family, the father of children who are beginning to play sports.

    While coverage of the scandal has been ever-present, Gee has only caught wind of developments in dribs and drabs. Even his friends and family seem surprised that he hasn’t tracked the developments closer — given the consequences he felt directly. He’s “shocked” that Mike Fiers spoke out about the scheme. “In baseball, even if you did something wrong, you don’t talk about that when you go to another team,” Gee said. “It’s a little community of people that’s the good ol’ boys. You don’t really tell on everybody. But I actually kind of commend him for it.”

    Though Gee acknowledged that Fiers could have said something sooner — even as he benefited from the scheme personally as a member of that Astros team — he also scoffed at suggestions that addressing the situation without going public could have led to action. In this regard, he shares some of the public frustration about how cheating has been handled by baseball. “What’s in-house going to do?” Gee said. “Major League Baseball probably knew it was going on. They’re not going to do anything about it. They’re just going to make it go away, keep quiet, tell them to get better at it.”

    While technology has been blamed for crossing the line with sign stealing, Gee believes that technology may also provide the answer. He believes in ditching signs altogether and going to headsets for direct communication between the pitcher and catcher.

    Most of Gee’s sympathies reside not with his own experience fallout from facing the 2017 Astros. “For me, whether I hear them say it or not, I don’t really care,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do about it or gain from it.” He felt “blessed” to pitch in the big leagues. Instead, his strongest thoughts drift to those on the teams that the Astros defeated on the way to the World Series championship. The Red Sox fell in four games in the division series. The Yankees pushed the league championship series to seven games. The Dodgers did the same in the World Series. The players on those teams, Gee said, have been the most wronged by the Astros.

    “I feel for the people that played them in the playoffs,” Gee said. “I feel more bad for those teams. They got cheated maybe out of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go compete in a World Series. That’s a big deal.”
     
    #2071 J.R., Feb 14, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2020
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  12. BigM

    BigM Contributing Member

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    There’s a lot of people trying to explain why they couldn’t make it because of a couple innings of baseball. Wow.
     
  13. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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  14. BigM

    BigM Contributing Member

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    The Astros are going to have to beat the **** out of a lot of teams this year. Literally. Should have hired Bannister.
     
  15. REEKO_HTOWN

    REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

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    yep. There will be legit brawls. I won’t be surprised if fans try something too. It will get dangerous out there.
     
  16. The Real Shady

    The Real Shady Contributing Member

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    I just hope our pitchers are ready to retaliate.
     
  17. The Real Shady

    The Real Shady Contributing Member

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    The Astros need to remove the extra netting that was added last year so I can throw my beer bottles at Bellinger, Bauer, and Fiers.
     
  18. Mr. Space City

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    Buffalo Wild Wings cancelled in Houston

     
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  19. Surfguy

    Surfguy Contributing Member

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    The MLB is either going to have to take serious control over all these threats that may turn into actions and on-field violence or they are going to just sit back and react. Right now...I would say this is going to be a violent season ahead for the Astros. I really do wonder what the MLB is going to do about it when the time comes.
     
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  20. RayRay10

    RayRay10 Houstonian

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    I have a feeling we'll know when spring training begins. Wouldn't be surprised to see a few guys throw bean balls in the spring since the games don't count anyway.
     
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