Baseball has drawn an indelible line over technology.
Most people are going to say it’s much ado about nothing because stealing signs in baseball is as old as, well, the game itself. Everybody does it, so why can’t teams do it the new-fashioned way?
In a stunning development, two of the last three World Series champions fired their managers when Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred ruled — for the second time — that use of video equipment to steal signs is illegal and shall never be done again — unless the next manager wants to lose his job.
The Houston Astros — who won the World Series in 2017 and lost it in 2019 — also lost their manager, A.J. Hinch and their general manager, when the once-believed-to-be-soft Manfred suspended them for the entire 2020 season. It took the Astros ownership less than an hour to make that suspension permanent with pink slips.
When The Athletic broke this story about a month ago, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was implicated because he had been the Houston bench coach for the ’17 championship season, supposedly inventing the banging of trash cans from the dugout to tip off batters about which pitch was coming. That, after the opposing catcher’s signs were stolen via video. Maybe one bang for a fastball, two bangs for a curve and so on.
Cora had to know then he would receive the maximum penalty since Manfred had warned the Red Sox, and other teams, two years ago that major punishment would be coming if they did it again. And when the investigative report on the Astros mentioned Cora no less than 12 times, he was toast. Fired before their own MLB probe was done.
Too bad for both managers, since Hinch was considered one of the top pilots in the game and Cora the wunderkind rookie manager who had led the Bosox to and through the Series in his first season. They say he and team management reached a mutual agreement, but you can bet he was canned for the trashcan caper or whatever stolen signals they used in Boston during their title run.
It’s also a shame for the city that has won championships in all four major sports over the last decade, while all the time being shadowed by the rap of cheating by the Patriots. So this just adds fuel to that fire, and it won’t be long before rival fans begin demanding that all the banners, in all sports, come down.
Of course, that won’t happen, but it’s still a steep price to pay for doing it the new-age way.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Bailing OutRoy Williams probably had reasons for the soft statements. Carolina fans reacted strongly to the video of a team party after the win over Duke. Only Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe were in the video, but a statement from players and managers said it was supposed to be a closed event that other students and […]
Chansky's Notebook: Please, Go In!UNC men's basketball faces what is an early season must-win at Georgia Tech. Art Chansky says a look at the statistics is painful, but not terminal.
Chansky's Notebook: Leaky Steps UpDean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win. The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter. If he was […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rock(et) StarBen Kiernan was UNC’s MVP of the Notre Dame game. When Mack Brown went over the 31-17 loss, he gave mixed reviews to the two main branches of his Tar Heels’ play. He said the offense was good in the first half and then “went dead” in a scoreless second half. He praised the Tar […]
Chansky's Notebook: Goals and AmbitionsGarrison Brooks has both opportunity and pressure. On paper, the ACC looks as weak as it has been in some time due to widespread losses to graduation and early departures to the NBA, and no sure-shot superstars in the incoming recruiting classes. A beneficiary of this development is Brooks, the Carolina senior who was second-team All-ACC last year and earned the league’s […]
Chansky's Notebook: A COVID DebateClemson was livid that Florida State wouldn’t play the game. Let’s be lawyers, and make a case for each of the teams that did not play its scheduled game over the weekend. Clemson had traveled to Florida State when it learned a player with mild symptoms who had practiced with the team all week tested […]
Chansky's Notebook: Draft DodgersCarolina and Duke players have lost ground in the NBA draft. Like everything else with sports in the COVID era, the NBA draft goes off tonight after being postponed for five months. And if you look at the various mock draft boards, certain things jump off your screen. First of all, about half the names […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Two-Thirds Bet?What if Phil Mickelson and Mack Brown amended their bet? With the Masters being moved back to this weekend due to COVID, perhaps the three-time champion should revisit the fun bet he made with Carolina’s football coach back in 2003. The famed lefthander was still seeking his first Green Jacket when he partnered with the Texas football coach at the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kudos To CarolinaUNC teams did a commendable job beating the odds. Who among us thought the ACC would be playing football and other fall sports last summer? With the pandemic upon us and the medical experts still learning, the seasons looked like a long shot. While other conferences pumped the breaks and/or called off football, the ACC […]
Chansky's Notebook: Extra MotivationCarolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage. When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle. Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a […]
›
