The Goat Pen

The problem with that guy's case would seem to me to be being able to prove material damages. Your career in baseball is never ruined by one game, and it is not a scenario like say tennis or track or something like that, where you could say "I could have won X tournament/race! But I was eliminated!"

A baseball team is not necessarily even signing a player based on his historical performance at all, much less one game. It is "what will he do in the future?" that matters, even after that someone could sign this guy based on performances in spring training or Japan, and I'm guessing that 0 teams in MLB are looking at this guy now and changing their opinion because "oh thats totally different if we throw out that one Astros game." Tons of dudes got shelled for 4 runs in 1/3 of an inning in 2017 by other teams that still have major league careers. The guy got released because he sucked...in all the games, not just one against the Astros.

The case would have way more merit, if it was someone who was arbitration eligible, who could claim that they would have won an award or made an all-star appeareance but they got beat out by a cheating Astros player and therefore had to take less money in arbitration. That would have a better chance of showing real damages. At best I can see this dude winning and being given like a few thousand dollars or some other token amount while opening up a ridiculous pandoras box.

Hedge. It is when you're standing on second base. It's not when you have a camera in the stands relaying it to a coach who bangs on a garbage can to relay it.

FREE PETE ROSE!

hedge wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 12:59 pm I'm not a baseball guy as everyone knows, but what's the problem with picking off signals? I would think that's just part of the game, if you can't signal your pitcher in such a way as to not get the signal picked off, that's your problem...

That's part of the problem with this. Some things that are perfectly legal are being misconstrued and wrapped up in things in the eyes of both the moronic wing of the baseball media and uninformed fans.

Use of technology to decode signals=legal and every team does it (or should). Every team has advance scouts. They dont need them to see players hit and pitch. Almost the entire purpose of them now when everybody has available video of every game is to watch the coaches and dugouts to try and gain advantages. Building databases and algorithms that you can feed signals from prior games into to determine what the sign sequences were after the fact is also allowed (ie the Codebreaker thing the Astros developed)

Signalling to batter (through various means including verbal, banging on something, whistling, signals from a runner on second base) what pitch you think coming=legal and every team does it

Using a live camera to determine signals in real time (illegal). The Astros did this. Multiple teams have done this throughout the history of baseball, and many more have been accused of it. The Astros are the first to have a former teammate confirm it in the same timeframe that it happened (many many ex-players have said their teams did it, but only years after the fact when everybody was retired and nobody cared)

Using electronic devices to signal to the players, relay information between team members, etc other than the approved things like bullpen phones (illegal). The Astros are not accused of doing this (at least not officially, conspiracy type fans believe this happened because of social media posts), although it is part of what the Yankees and Red Sox received punishment for in 2017 that led to a memo by Manfred regarding electronic devices and some MLB rule changes for the 2018 season.

I don't believe that any World Series or even playoff series has been impacted by this in any material way, although it certainly could have changed some regular season games. Anybody who has watched a postseason series in the last 5 years, can easily see that paranoia regarding signs has been in full effect for years. Most teams were using complex signs and changing them up so often it was affecting watching the game. Catchers in the postseason also started regularly faking where they were setting up for a pitch and moving late. The mound visits rule was put into effect largely because there were so many mound visits in the 2017 and 2018 playoffs, which IMO were hugely impacted by all teams feeling the need to go out to the mound to change the signs every few batters.

hedge wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 12:59 pm ..........but what's the problem with picking off signals? I would think that's just part of the game.

Can't believe I'm actually agreeing with Hedge on something.......

The weirdest, most fucked up thing about the 2017 World Series is still the fact that the baseballs changed so much that pop ups were sailing out of Dodger Stadium like Coors Field.

So maybe a team would have an advantage if they just let the pitcher decide what he was going to throw on every pitch. The manager could still send signals (even fake signals, even "signals" that he was just making up on the spot that mean nothing to the pitcher) and that would throw the other team off even more. Goddamn, they're paying these guys tens of millions of dollars a year, you'd think they figure out what pitch to throw...

Mano y mano, baby!

hedge wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:55 pm So maybe a team would have an advantage if they just let the pitcher decide what he was going to throw on every pitch. The manager could still send signals (even fake signals, even "signals" that he was just making up on the spot that mean nothing to the pitcher) and that would throw the other team off even more. Goddamn, they're paying these guys tens of millions of dollars a year, you'd think they figure out what pitch to throw...

If you think the other team is stealing your signs (illegally or otherwise), one basic temporary fix is to obviously signal offspeed or breaking ball and then throw the heater up and in.

I’m voting for Bernie in the SC primary.

You wonder what’s going through Pete’s and Amy’s mind regarding Bloomberg since they are moderate candidates. Will they back out before Super Tuesday and take one for the team? or they’re pissed off at Bloomberg that they’ll hang in just to thwart him.

https://www.axios.com/bernie-sanders-mi ... 15010.html

Disclaimer: aTm is an Astros fan.

Rat:

hi

sardis wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 3:09 pm You wonder what’s going through Pete’s and Amy’s mind regarding Bloomberg since they are moderate candidates. Will they back out before Super Tuesday and take one for the team? or they’re pissed off at Bloomberg that they’ll hang in just to thwart him.

https://www.axios.com/bernie-sanders-mi ... 15010.html

He could give each one of them $7m to drop out.

shaddup

Who's the wizard?

eCat wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 3:34 pm

sardis wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 3:09 pm You wonder what’s going through Pete’s and Amy’s mind regarding Bloomberg since they are moderate candidates. Will they back out before Super Tuesday and take one for the team? or they’re pissed off at Bloomberg that they’ll hang in just to thwart him.

https://www.axios.com/bernie-sanders-mi ... 15010.html

He could give each one of them $7m to drop out.

He could give them much more than that.

I'm actually warming up to this idea. Would help boost our falling birth rate.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/19/suraj-p ... -kids.html

Jungle Rat wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:10 pm FREE PETE ROSE!

No kidding. They ought to build the guy his own wing at the HoF in light of current events. NO penalty for the Astros is bs. The commissioner ought to re-watch Eight Men Out.