VERLANDER POKES FUN ABOUT THE ASTROS CHEATING & FAILS

This is the dopey face of a player whose team got away with cheating and he knows it.  Rob Manfred set a bad tone for Major League baseball moving forward.  Disgusting.

The Houston Astros just keep digging themselves in a deeper hole. We already got a fake "apology" from former Astro Dallas Keuchel, and now we get an ill-advised attempt to make a joke about the Astros cheating scandal from Justin Verlander. Great....

Verlander was at the annual Baseball Writers Association of America banquet on Saturday to accept the 2019 Cy Young award. The even is pretty routine and winners will give an acceptance speech, but instead of saying thank you and not adding more controversy. I assume he tried to make a joke out of it by complimenting the Astros by saying "as everyone knows, they're very technologically and analytically advanced" which resulted in a mix of awkward laughter and boos from the audience. It also didn't amuse Cody Bellinger or CC Sabathia who were also in attendance.

I could be wrong, but it looks like Verlander is trying to lighten the mood and make a joke about all of this. Whether he is or isn't though....he is the LAST guy who should be sending this message that the Astros did not cheat. He is a walking, talking hypocrite. He is first guy to try and throw another player to the wolves and he has been very vocal about how much he dislikes cheating of ANY kind.

Remember Robinson Cano's PEDS scandal from 2018? Yeah, he was quick to blast him on twitter about that.

And what about back in 2017 when he was still with the Tigers? He was all fired up about sign stealing back then. He gave an interview about it HERE.

“We don't have somebody, but I'm sure teams have a person that can break down signals and codes and they'll have the signs before you even get out there on the mound.”

“It's not about gamesmanship anymore. It used to be, 'Hey, if you can get my signs, good for you.' In the past, if a guy on second (base) was able to decipher it on a few pitches, I guess that was kind of part of the game. I think it's a different level now. It's not good.”

And then magically a couple of months later he is traded to the Astros and then he changes his mind and becomes part of the scandal? This guy has no integrity and it pisses me off. It's bad enough that you cheat after you've spent YEARS complaining about it....but now it looks like you tried to make a joke out of it. Grow up.

The only joke here IS YOU, Verlander. We are laughing, but AT you not with you.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj 

NO ONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT DISGRACED DALLAS KEUCHEL'S FAKE APOLOGY

Someone has finally come out from hiding! It's about damn time ladies and gentleman. These players have been running and hiding for too long. It's come to come out and face the music, cheaters! We have our first "apology" and it comes from cheating former Cy Young Dallas Keuchel.

Multiple sources are reporting this so-called "apology" but I am going to go with MLB.com HERE. All news outlets are reporting this as an "apology" but I heard no apology. I heard a "sorry not sorry" and here is how I interpret some of his quotes:

"I think first and foremost, apologies should be in order ... for everyone on the team. When stuff was going on, it was never intended to be what it's made to be right now."

Literal translation: I am ONLY SORRY THAT I GOT CAUGHT. Now that I am with the Chicago White Sox I don't want to be a distraction. My new team probably expects this from me. Oh yeah...Jim Crane said he expects me to apologize too even though I don't play for his organization anymore. I'm trying to not make people hate me forever. The cheating was only supposed to be a temporary thing but we just couldn't stop. I didn't think I would be part of a huge baseball scandal!

"It’s just what the state of baseball was at that point and time. Was it against the rules? Yes, it was. I personally am sorry for what’s come about, the whole situation. But it is what it is, and we have to move past that. I never thought anything would have come like it did, and I myself am sorry. We have to move on.

Literal translation: This is how the game is played now. I only helped contribute to that. I disgraced the game. I AM a disgrace, but that's how the game is played now. I am not sorry for what I did, only that I got caught. I don't want to talk about this anymore so can we change the subject? K Thanks!

"But during the course of the playoffs in ’17, everybody was using multiple signs. For factual purposes, when there’s nobody on base, when in the history of Major League Baseball has there been multiple signs? You can go back and watch film of every team in the playoffs. There was probably six out of eight teams using multiple signs."

Literal translation:  My gosh, stop picking on the Astros! It's not like we were the only ones cheating. Other teams were doing it too! I just can't say anything that will take the focus off of my team cheating...but you should go check it out, k? Everyone cheats, you just want to focus on the Astros!

"I could tell you, not every game there was signs being stolen, not like every game we had everything going on."
Literal translation: Oh my gosh, shut up! It's not like we cheated EVERY GAME. It was only A LOT of them. I mean, we only did it at home AND for big match-ups AND for Sunday Night ESPN games, AND against division rivals. That's all I swear!

"You are pushing 185, 200 games, and it sucks to the extent of the clubhouse rule that was broken. I mean, that’s where I’ll go with that. I don’t really have much else to say about Mike."

Literal translation: DUDE, Mike Fiers broke "the code" and now since he opened his big mouth I have to try and run damage control. You suck, Fiers! We aren't cool anymore. You should know better and thanks to your big mouth I am in trouble!

You get the point. But honestly....Keuchel you are a pathetic human being. So is Bob Nightengale again too because he was stupid enough to try and defend you after he tried to defend Carlos Beltran. This only proves....you can't make some things up!

Of course, I had to respond:

Do we want to take bets on who "apologizes" next? Bottom line here is Keuchel is a pathetic, cheating human being and he can keep his fake-ass apologies to himself. Oh and Bob Nightengale wears egg on his face again for his stupid tweet!

I'm all for someone standing up, admitting fault and accepting consequences for their actions....but that is not what Keuchel did. No respect for this circus show. Will anyone give a sincere apology? You know there is more to come....and we won't stop covering this.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj 

WANT TO STOP THE CHEATING? DROP THE HAMMER ON THE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION!

I'm tired of just TALKING about the cheating that has disgraced this sport in recent years. The ASSTROS are dirty cheaters, the Red Sox are dirty cheaters....and some heads have already rolled. It's still not enough though. If baseball wants to REALLY make a change, it's time to make a bolder statement.

In 2017 Rob Manfred TRIED to send a strong message to all teams. He TRIED to let everyone know that cheating wouldn't be tolerated. The Wall Street Journal has a good write up on it HERE.
"The genesis of the pact between the league and the MLBPA goes back to Sept. 15, 2017, when Manfred announced that he had fined the Boston Red Sox for transmitting signs from their replay review room to individuals in the dugout wearing smartwatches. That same day, Manfred issued a memo to all teams reiterating that using electronic equipment to steal signs was a violation of league rules and that future transgressions would be met with severe discipline. He specifically said that GMs and managers would be held accountable for the conduct of their charges. Another memo sent out in March 2018, attributed to chief baseball officer Joe Torre, expanded on the prohibition."

So, there you have it. You transmit signs and cheat....the GM and managers will be held accountable. Great! A GM and two managers are now out of jobs and DISGRACED as they should be. But what about the players?! Why should they continue to disgrace the game that all fans pay A LOT of money towards and get away with no consequences? THEY SHOULDN'T....but they do.

"Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred repeatedly refers to the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scheme in 2017 and 2018 as 'player-driven.'Yet Manfred also declared: 'I will not assess discipline against individual Astros players.'

Will not....or can't? Maybe both. Do I think Manfred is a strong leader for baseball? No. I've stated a few times now that I am not a big fan of the guy. But reality is....even if he wanted to discipline individual players he can't! The players union holds a lot of power whether we like it or not. We were talking about this on twitter. I said that the players union is too strong, and I still believe that BUT there is one thing we may be forgetting as a reader pointed out:

The players union was stronger years ago. I just have a problem based on the pure principal that cheaters and liars should be punished, period. As parents we teach this to our kids, don't we? Hell, when I play learning games with my young nephew if he thinks I am cheating he isn't afraid to call me out on it! We teach them right from wrong....we teach values and integrity. We teach them that there are consequences for our actions. This should be no different for baseball, but it is.

The Wall Street journal goes on to say: "After all, Manfred said, AJ Hinch knew the sign-stealing was going on and didn’t stop it. Bench coach Alex Cora was an active participant in the plots. So was outfielder Carlos Beltrán, a respected veteran. Therefore, the union could have successfully argued in a grievance hearing that the players didn’t know they were in the wrong, since their superiors never directly informed them and even appeared to condone their behavior."

Wait so, management knew sign stealing was wrong so should be held accountable but the players didn't know they were in the wrong for cheating because their "superiors" never directly informed them? GET OUTTA HERE! Are we seriously suggesting this? So my four year old nephew knows right from wrong and knows that cheating in a game is wrong....but grown men who play a game and make a ton of money do not know its wrong? Not buying it one bit. If these players love the game as much as we do as fans they would not want to disgrace it and the union would not want to help them disgrace it. It's all a bunch of crap. They don't need to be told it's wrong. If anyone actually believes that....have them call me because I have a bridge for sale.

Bottom line here is the inmates should not run the asylum. The employees do not make the rules at their employer and baseball players are no different. If baseball really wants integrity back to this sport, the union needs to recognize that PLAYERS in addition to managers and GM's need to be punished. Those who commit the offense, should also suffer consequences. It makes me sick that dirt bags Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa get to hide in the shadows and play baseball with no real consequence. Sure, they have lost credibility....but clearly that means nothing to them so it isn't enough.

Credibility and integrity mean everything. Lose it and you have nothing. The players union is allowing the great game of baseball to be destroyed and that makes them just as guilty as the cheaters  in my book. Baseball needs a major change....and it needs to start with the players union!

That's just my two cents. An angry two cents.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj