I talk to Phil Stacey and Dave Olson about baseball's cheating scandal while we drive to a rock concert.
Show notes:
- Recorded on the way to see the Drive-By Truckers in Somerville, MA
- Not the first cheating scandal in MLB, but this has a different feel
- Houston Astros accused of stealing signs on the way to 2017 World Series
- Every team cheats in some way or another
- "If you're not cheating, you're not trying"
- Corked bats, scuffed pitches
- Baseballs were juiced last year to generate interest
- The sport is fading in popularity
- Too slow for short attention spans of today's society
- Steroids in the late '90s were ignored in favor of home run records
- Did the punishment fit the crime?
- Astros were fined and lost draft picks, but could have been worse
- MLB didn't expect this to blow up; former Astro revealed it in an interview
- Public reaction has been loud
- Two other teams have fired their managers who had connections to Astros that season
- Did MLB and the teams coordinate these actions?
- MLB wants this to go away and it's not
- Other teams and players are upset about it
- A pitcher sued because Astros lit him up and he was out of the majors
- Astros are going to be booed mercilessly all season on the road
- We don't know how much the sign stealing helped them
- Houston will get some big TV ratings this season
- Brought to you by Google Maps
- Altuve was a heroic figure, now tarnished
- MMA and pro wrestling are resonating with a younger generation
- A lot of baseball teams struggle to fill the seats
- Young kids would rather watch eSports, where other people play video games
- Easier to cheat in baseball or basketball
- Astros intern figured out how to steal signs and convinced management to adopt it
- Astros players should expect to get hit by a lot of pitches this season
Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
