The Houston Astros are lighting the world on fire with stupidity

Jim Crane: “Our opinion is this didn’t impact the game. We had a good team. We won the World Series and we’ll leave it at that.”

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 13, 2020

I mean come on.

This was never going to be easy to address for anyone in the Houston organization and I get that. The thing is, they looked to be on the right track -- after the league announced repercussions following its probe into their championship season, owner Jim Crane fired Jeff Luhnow and AJ Hinch, disowned their actions, and promised to issue an apology. But here we are one month later, and with a complete reversal of attitude, the Astros have absolutely obliterated themselves from a PR standpoint. 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

It all starts with Jim Crane. Seriously, how ignorant can you be? To sit and tell everyone this didn’t impact the game when it literally won you a World Series is just mind boggling. He continues by laying blame on people like Luhnow, Hinch, and Carlos Beltran, all of whom are at fault, but are also conveniently no longer with the organization. When asked if he considers what went down to be “cheating,” he answered “we broke the rules, and you can phrase that any way you want.” What else would you call that, Jim? No accountability whatsoever. Embarrassing.

Crane was also asked about the potential use of buzzers during the 2019 postseason and once again deferred to the Commissioner’s report. One word in particular did not come up in his answer: “no.” Do with that as you will.

Crane’s comments elicited quite the firestorm from a myriad of players around the league. Cody Bellinger, a member of the 2017 Dodgers team who the Astros defeated to secure their championship, had some powerful words regarding the matter. “I think what people don’t realize is Altuve stole an MVP from Judge in ‘17; everyone knows they stole the ring from us,” said the reigning NL MVP. In reference to the buzzers, he added, “I don’t know what human hits a walk-off home run against Aroldis Chapman to send your team to the World Series and, one, has the thought to say ‘don’t rip my jersey off,’ but, two, go into the tunnel, change your shirt, and then come out and do your interview.” 

Reds’ pitcher Trevor Bauer was a lot less conservative with his remarks:

Trevor Bauer had a lot to say about the Astros' "apology" press conference. 💀 pic.twitter.com/oq5tvr6yog

— theScore (@theScore) February 14, 2020

Yikes.

As if Thursday morning’s presser wasn’t already a horrible look, Astros’ shortstop Carlos Correa, in an interview with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, had this to say in regard to Bellinger’s comments: “The problem I have is when players go out there and they don’t know the facts… So when (Bellinger) talks about that we cheated for three years, he either doesn’t know how to read, is really bad at reading comprehension or is just not informed at all.” Imagine saying that. Targeting one of the game’s most well-respected young players all because he spoke the truth and it didn’t feel good to hear. Correa was one of few players to issue what seemed like a genuine apology, but any respect he had left around the league has been wiped out with these comments. 

Rosenthal brought up Bellinger’s questioning of Jose Altuve not wanting his jersey ripped off following his ALCS game seven walk-off, and Correa offered this: “he doesn’t want me to talk about this, but I’m going to say it, [it’s] because he’s got an unfinished tattoo on his collarbone that honestly looked terrible. It was a bad tattoo, and he didn’t want nobody to see it.” You had weeks to come up with an excuse for that and that’s the one you’re rolling with? Right.

Pour one out for the Houston Astros. Regardless of how successful they are, it’s going to be a real ugly season -- and they only have themselves to blame. There are so many ways they could have handled this situation and I’m convinced they couldn’t have done it any worse. If we’re being honest, part of this falls on Rob Manfred; offering players immunity was a terrible decision in hindsight, as justice has in no way, shape, or form been served; judging by what’s been shared, it’s clear opposing teams will be looking to inflict it in their own sense on the field.

With Opening Day just five weeks away, it’s a great time to be a Yankees fan.

Article by Christian DeMoro

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