MLB and, in particular, Rob Manfred have done baseball an excellent service in policing the cheaters. But all investigative activity needs to stop – it’s time to move on…
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, unlike his predecessor Bud Selig, saw a wrong and did his due diligence to make it right by removing cheaters from our National Pastime.
Manfred could have taken the same path as Selig did during the Steroid Era when he turned a blind eye to the bulging bodies of MLB players – choosing instead to celebrate over the rush of fans into ballparks to witness record-setting home run totals.
For his negligence, Bud Selig is now a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Selig wrote a book titled “For The Good Of The Game.” Rob Manfred actually has done something for the good of the game.
Manfred Gave Ample Warning
Manfred began his quest in September 2017 by firing a shot over the bough of 30 MLB teams that warned everyone he knew there was electronic surveillance going on, he pretty much knew who the culprits were, and it had to stop – now!
The Houston Astros response pretty much said, “Screw you, Commissioner,” and they continued on their merry way, even perfecting the art of relaying signals to their hitters in advance of the oncoming pitch.
When Oakland A’s pitcher, Mike Fiers, handed his former Astros teammates to MLB and Manfred on a silver platter, it was game on and game over.
MLB Has Made Its Point
Fast-forward to the present, and we have three managers who are guilty as charged and no longer have jobs in MLB. Alex Cora (the Originator), Carlos Beltran (the Expediter), and AJ Hinch (the Aider and Abettor) are all dismissed by their respective teams.
According to Manfred, MLB has an ongoing investigation regarding the Boston Red Sox for activity similar to what Cora had perfected in Houston when he was a coach there.
Unless that investigation is completed in a few days, however, Manfred should put a halt to it because his job is done, and the game needs to move on.
There can’t be a player, coach, manager, or executive who is not aware of all that has transpired over the last ten days. MLB will not tolerate cheating; livelihoods are at stake, and violators will be exiled and separated from the game they love.
Unlike domestic violence, on which the spotlight must continue to shine because, by definition, it is a violent act, cheating is a “white-collar” crime in which no one can claim physical harm.
Empathy For Sabathia But It’s Time To Move On
CC Sabathia is visibly distressed, and he has gone public several times, claiming those bastards stole a title from him.
His emotional f-laced tirades evoke empathy, but no one can go back in time to change anything, even though some want the Astros stripped of their 2017 ALCS victory over Sabathia and the Yankees.
What’s done is done. MLB and Rob Manfred have established the precedent, and lifetime bans will be the order of the day if anyone is stupid enough to ignore the warning now.
The fallout is severe, causing three teams to start from scratch in finding a new manager with Spring Training looming only three weeks from now.
But enough is enough. Kudos to MLB and in particular Rob Manfred for drawing a line in the sand – but any further investigation runs the risk of becoming counterproductive – and what can be gained from that?
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
