In one of the more successful recent runs in Major League Baseball, cheating proved to be rather prosperous for the Houston Astros, tainting their recent accomplishments in spectacular fashion.
And now a pair of men recognized as the most innovative of the game have payed the price.
It all came crashing down on Monday when MLB suspended Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch for a year for their role in a high-tech sign-stealing scheme.
Within hours of the league announcement, which followed a lengthy MLB investigation, Astros owner Jim Crane fired both Luhnow and Hinch, cutting ties with the two figured so central to the Texas team’s success.
One World Series title in 2017 and a near miss again this past fall made the American League West team at once one of the more envied, and, as the suspicions of wrongdoing that trailed them, one of the most despised franchises in the sport. Now, they’ll be known as one of the most notorious for the brazen skullduggery they used to gain an edge.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred stopped short of saying the Astros electronic sign swiping significantly contributed to their success — and thus didn’t strip the team of its World Series crown. He did, however, levy one of the most significant punishments in professional sports history.
“While it is impossible to determine the conduct actually impacted the results on the field, the perception of some that it did causes significant harm to the game,” Manfred said in his report.
Besides the suspensions to the key individuals in the Astros baseball operations, Manfred stripped the team of its first-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021 and levied a $5 million US fine, a maximum amount under the league’s constitution.
That Crane acted swiftly suggests the Astros owner was attempting to save face for the franchise, an almost impossible task given the circumstances. There is plenty of ill will towards the reigning AL champions throughout baseball as by this year’s World Series, whispers grew into more pointed suspicions that the team wasn’t on the up and up.
Sign stealing has long been a part of the game at the highest level, but using an elaborate electronic plan to enhance the process clearly crossed a line. The MLB investigation determined that the process was player driven but that management and coaches were well aware what has happening around them.
“When I found out I was very upset,” Crane said. “We want to be known as playing by the rules. We accept the punishment. Neither one of (Hinch or Luhnow) started it, but neither one of them did anything about it.
“That’s unfortunate and the consequences are severe.”
Tell that to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost the 2017 Fall Classic to the Astros. As talented as the Astros have been — with stars such as Justin Verlander, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman — the fact that they were using technology to cheat during home games taints some of those accomplishments.
And the fact that the manager didn’t step in was found by Manfred to be reprehensible.
“As the person with responsibility for managing his players and coaches, there simply is no justification for Hinch’s failure to act,” Manfred said in his report.
The MLB investigation revealed during the 2017 season, the Astros started using a centre field camera at Minute Maid Park to swipe the signs. A video monitor next to the Astros dugout captured the signs and players could relay the information by banging on a garbage can. The report suggested that two fans meant an off-speed pitch was coming and no noise meant a fastball.
“Witnesses have provided largely consistent accounts of how the monitor was utilized,” the report states. “One or more players watched the live feed of the centre field camera on the monitor and then after decoding the sign, a player would bang a nearby trash can with a bat to communicate the upcoming pitch type to the batter.”
There’s a good chance that another member of that team’s coaching staff will get hit hard as well. Manfred strongly suggested that Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was the mastermind behind the scheme and will be disciplined accordingly.
The commissioner pointed out in his nine-page ruling that the then Astros bench coach was instrumental in developing the system. MLB’s investigation of the Red Sox centres on Cora’s first season as Boston manager, a 2018 campaign that also ended in a World Series title.
“Cora was involved in developing both the banging scheme and utilizing the replay review room to decode and transmit signs,” the report said. “Cora participated in both schemes and through his active participation, simplicity condoned the players’ conduct.”
The league’s investigation into the Astros began shortly after a Nov. 12 report in the Athletic in which former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers detailed the scheme.
Allegations trailed Houston on their run to this year’s World Series appearance against the Nationals in which Hinch defiantly and arrogantly denied the charges, “In reality, it’s a joke,” Hinch said prior to an ALCS game against the Yankees and then called for those making the allegations to come forward publicly.
“While the evidence consistently showed I didn’t endorse or participate in the sign stealing practices, I failed to stop them and I am deeply sorry,” a chastened Hinch said in a statement late Monday. “I regret being connected to these events, am disappointed in our club‘s actions within this timeline, and I accept the Commissioner’s decision.”
JAYS BENCH COACH WAS INVESTIGATED
As the hitting coach for the Houston Astros during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Dave Hudgens was of interest in the thorough MLB investigation of the now disgraced franchise.
According to the Jays, Hudgens cooperated with the league in its probe of the Astros sign-stealing allegations that on Monday led to the one-year suspension of general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch.
Hudgens was not mentioned specifically in the nine-page MLB report, however. He was named to first-year manager Charlie Montoyo’s staff as bench coach prior to the 2019 season.
“Dave is doing everything he can to help the investigation,” Jays general manager Ross Atkins said last month in San Diego at the Baseball Winter Meetings.
The MLB report said that its investigation interviewed 27 witnesses and reviewed thousands of emails and other electronic correspondence before revealing its findings on Monday.
