"The Yankees who won World Series in 1996 and then from 1998 through 2000 did so by winning three series a year. That is the source of their uniqueness. "
What does that mean?
In praising the Astros, you overlook their cheating ways.
There's no evidence of "their cheating ways" since 2017, and they've been in three Series since then. They were punished organizationally, and not insignificantly, after the investigation. There's also no evidence they won the 2017 Series because of their scheme. They won Games 2 and 7 in LA, without the trashcans.
I like your writing and this article is good as always except for the 2 points I bring up. In particular you exhibit a fine sense of humor. I'm not trying to be a nit-picking dick.
The Astros cheated and then lied about it. We all know that. Even MLB, who were so quick to punish Trevor Bauer based on nothing, had to admit that much. Look even if the 'Stros won in LA w/o trashcans, they still cheated at home. Why whitewash their proven crap?
And that enigmatic Yankees sentence about their only winning 3 series (lower case) means what? I know you must have had a complete idea behind that. It just makes no sense as typed.
The Yankees had to win three playoff series a year (Division Series, LCS, World Series) to win those championships, unlike teams prior to 1995. That distinguishes their run from others over the years. They ran the same gauntlet that has become difficult for 100-win teams.
The Astros cheated, lied about it, and were punished significantly as an organization. They lost their GM and their manager. They lost potential stars when they lost their draft picks. Their ringleader, who was going to manage the Mets, will never manage anywhere. Beyond that, sign-stealing is as old as baseball itself. If the Dodgers knew it was happening, they should have switched their signs the way the 2019 Nationals did. The fact is that the Astros won two games in Los Angeles in 2017 when the trashcans were not in place, and they lost a game in Houston when they were. To say they won because of the scheme is pure speculation. The Dodgers led Game 5 when they trotted out Brendan Morrow, who had pitched the first four games and was declared unavailable by Dave Roberts before the game. I don't excuse the Astros because, as the documentary shows, they behaved arrogantly and they abused their technology. They clearly did not need the stuff to win, as they have proved since then.
As far as Trevor Bauer goes, that's apples and oranges. Obviously it wasn't "nothing." If you beat or sexually assault women, MLB will take action, no matter what happens to you in the judicial system. The knowledge that you will be suspended if you do it, and the realization of how much money that is, might be a deterrent. If so, I'm all for it.
Kudos for the more complete explanation on the Yankees. I'm still not convinced Houston was adequately punished and you're still making arguments on behalf of MLB and the Astros that sound like whitewash to me. Re Trevor Bauer, you're way off base. MLB owes him an apology.
I don't know what punishment you would prefer. You can't vacate a World Series championship when you can't prove that the sign-stealing actually helped them, and in fact wasn't a factor when they won Games 2 and 7. You can't suspend or ban the players because they were the informants, and as I said, sign-stealing is endemic to the game. I had suggested they could remove an entire draft class, and they could have fined the organization more, but the owner is the one who fired Hinch and Luhnow after MLB merely suspended them. As far as Bauer, we'll just have to disagree on that one.
Quite the display of pharisaic logic. You can't take the prize away from a crew of admitted cheaters and liars because you can't prove their cheating and lying was always successful in every opportunity. As long as these trash can banging pirates didn't entirely succeed in their scheme, then there's no need to take away all their booty. These bold knaves made quite the concerted effort and that shouldn't go entirely for naught. We here at MLB being in charge of distribution of spoils do admire your home spun ingenuity and so grant you sufficient clemency to claim the big prize in perpetuity. It doesn't matter what the common fans feel about tainted trophies. After all there is honor among thieves.
The acquisition had an air of desperation.
I am a proponent of making the regular season more meaningful, especially in baseball which plays an exhausting 162 games.
To that I propose if you win 10 more regular season games than your opponent you need to win 1 less game against them in the playoffs.
"The Yankees who won World Series in 1996 and then from 1998 through 2000 did so by winning three series a year. That is the source of their uniqueness. "
What does that mean?
In praising the Astros, you overlook their cheating ways.
There's no evidence of "their cheating ways" since 2017, and they've been in three Series since then. They were punished organizationally, and not insignificantly, after the investigation. There's also no evidence they won the 2017 Series because of their scheme. They won Games 2 and 7 in LA, without the trashcans.
I like your writing and this article is good as always except for the 2 points I bring up. In particular you exhibit a fine sense of humor. I'm not trying to be a nit-picking dick.
The Astros cheated and then lied about it. We all know that. Even MLB, who were so quick to punish Trevor Bauer based on nothing, had to admit that much. Look even if the 'Stros won in LA w/o trashcans, they still cheated at home. Why whitewash their proven crap?
And that enigmatic Yankees sentence about their only winning 3 series (lower case) means what? I know you must have had a complete idea behind that. It just makes no sense as typed.
The Yankees had to win three playoff series a year (Division Series, LCS, World Series) to win those championships, unlike teams prior to 1995. That distinguishes their run from others over the years. They ran the same gauntlet that has become difficult for 100-win teams.
The Astros cheated, lied about it, and were punished significantly as an organization. They lost their GM and their manager. They lost potential stars when they lost their draft picks. Their ringleader, who was going to manage the Mets, will never manage anywhere. Beyond that, sign-stealing is as old as baseball itself. If the Dodgers knew it was happening, they should have switched their signs the way the 2019 Nationals did. The fact is that the Astros won two games in Los Angeles in 2017 when the trashcans were not in place, and they lost a game in Houston when they were. To say they won because of the scheme is pure speculation. The Dodgers led Game 5 when they trotted out Brendan Morrow, who had pitched the first four games and was declared unavailable by Dave Roberts before the game. I don't excuse the Astros because, as the documentary shows, they behaved arrogantly and they abused their technology. They clearly did not need the stuff to win, as they have proved since then.
As far as Trevor Bauer goes, that's apples and oranges. Obviously it wasn't "nothing." If you beat or sexually assault women, MLB will take action, no matter what happens to you in the judicial system. The knowledge that you will be suspended if you do it, and the realization of how much money that is, might be a deterrent. If so, I'm all for it.
Kudos for the more complete explanation on the Yankees. I'm still not convinced Houston was adequately punished and you're still making arguments on behalf of MLB and the Astros that sound like whitewash to me. Re Trevor Bauer, you're way off base. MLB owes him an apology.
I don't know what punishment you would prefer. You can't vacate a World Series championship when you can't prove that the sign-stealing actually helped them, and in fact wasn't a factor when they won Games 2 and 7. You can't suspend or ban the players because they were the informants, and as I said, sign-stealing is endemic to the game. I had suggested they could remove an entire draft class, and they could have fined the organization more, but the owner is the one who fired Hinch and Luhnow after MLB merely suspended them. As far as Bauer, we'll just have to disagree on that one.
Quite the display of pharisaic logic. You can't take the prize away from a crew of admitted cheaters and liars because you can't prove their cheating and lying was always successful in every opportunity. As long as these trash can banging pirates didn't entirely succeed in their scheme, then there's no need to take away all their booty. These bold knaves made quite the concerted effort and that shouldn't go entirely for naught. We here at MLB being in charge of distribution of spoils do admire your home spun ingenuity and so grant you sufficient clemency to claim the big prize in perpetuity. It doesn't matter what the common fans feel about tainted trophies. After all there is honor among thieves.
Chicagoan here. I could have predicted the Lance Lynn performance. He’s a perfect postseason fit with Kershaw.