C.: Hello folks. Welcome to this addition of "Cal.E.'s Corner."
Today, we have as our guest author d.c.scot.
So, d.c. I feel as if you did not finish what you wanted to say yesterday before we ran out of time. Would you like to finish your thoughts now?
d.: Yes, Cal.E., I would, thank you. Actually, not finishing my thoughts yesterday allowed me time to research what I was going to say more thoroughly.
C.: Okay, so, you would like to expound on your thoughts from yesterday. Go ahead..
d.: The first thing that I would like to say is that the original article about the 2017 Astros, written by a columnist in The Los Angeles Times, stated that the trash can banging scheme the Astros used was basically useless. As stated yesterday, the scheme only produced three hits. None of them were game winning hits, either. The L.A. columnist went on to say that Jose Altuve, the object of the Yankees’ fans ire, had been exonerated of all charges against that team. He never used the trash-can banging scheme. Further, he scolded his teammates for using it. However, the columnists in New York and Boston (the town that the Red Sox call home) intimated that the only reason the Astros won the ‘17 World Series is because they cheated. The Red Sox won the ‘18 World Series, when it was revealed that THEY cheated that year.
Self-righteousness has no place in baseball, where cheating is accepted as a part of the game. The Yankees were the first team warned about THEIR cheating, but the commissioner sent their warning in a sealed envelope, (unlike the public warnings he sent the Astros and Red Sox) which he fought to keep sealed when the public demanded that it be opened, six years later. THAT is why I believe the commissioner should either resign or be impeached by the owners. Favoritism, especially when it is blatant, breeds contempt. He should resign to protect his favorite team’s players, before one or more catch a fastball to the back or head, as was the practice forty years ago when a player squealed on his former teammates, as Mike “Pine Tar Hand” Fiers did on the Astros when he was playing for the Oakland Athletics.
The last time I checked, using a foreign substance on a pitcher’s throwing hand was illegal (i.e. cheating). The only no-hitter this below average pitcher ever pitched was with the Astros. His teammates indicated he had an excessive amount of pine tar on his hands when this happened, which makes sense. Most pitchers use a small amount of pine tar to grip the ball better. The batters do not complain, because it keeps the pitcher from mistakenly hitting THEM, but Fiers had so much that the umpires should have been able to discern he was using it, according to his former teammates.
If I am not mistaken, his no-hitter was the first and only game of Fiers’ major league career that he pitched the entire game. However, if it HAD been 1975, instead of 2015, many of the Astros would have been subjected to the treatment Fiers would have received, had he been obligated to stand in the batter’s box against his former team. They squealed on him first. BUT… does anyone think Fiers would have said a word if faced with the possibility of catching a Justin Verlander 98 m.p.h. fastball to the back or groin? Pointing fingers is useless. My point, though, is that it was dangerous as well forty years ago.
Many known cheaters have been lauded for their cheating. Besides the two cheating hall of famers I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, Ty Cobb was known for sharpening his cleats before games to spike middle infielders with when they tried to tag him when he was stealing a base or sliding into one on his or one of his teammates’ hits.
I do not want to limit this discussion to baseball, though. Another noted cheater is the pro football coach that some regard is the greatest of all time. Bill Bellicheat is NOT the greatest coach of all time, in my opinion. He IS the greatest cheater of all time, though. He has been caught cheating twice (using surveillance cameras on his opponents’ practice fields) and deflating balls to gain an advantage (and no, both teams do NOT play with the same ball. The quarterback, kicker and punter on each team select balls that they like to use. That is why you see the officials changing the balls on a change of possession, the quarterback is asking for HIS ball.) Billy boy has been caught twice. Are we to believe those are the only two times this win-at-all-costs control freak cheated? I think not. The rules of “American Football’’ as it is known in other countries, clearly state that offensive linemen must be set for a full count (one second) before the ball is snapped. During the Patriots “incredible championship run” I counted after every play the Patriots made that garnered them a large gain in yardage. Not once was I able to count to “one thousand one” between the time the ball was spotted and the time it was snapped. Never was this violation called, though.
Pulling for or against teams like the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, and the New England Patriots (and now the Astros) is a time -honored tradition in sports that generates a phenomenal amount of money for the teams involved. The home teams can charge more per ticket when these teams are involved in the games. Rivalries are part of sports. Hating and/or loving one’s home team or another team is all well and good, but the “head honcho” in each of the sports’ elite leagues should NOT show favoritism. It is bad for business!
This has been d.c. scot, with Cal.E. Kat, and one man’s (correct) opinion.
Cal.E. Kat
for
Commissioner of MLB
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