1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Bang that garbage can slowly... the Astro organization is in some serious trouble

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Scout, Nov 16, 2019.

  1. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    Next to nothing?
     
  2. cyclingwriter2

    cyclingwriter2 Well-Known Member

    So is this akin to amphetamines/ steroids? It’s ok, if you steal signs just like the old timers used amphetamines! But cheat in a new way, you are messing with the game!”
     
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I have never liked the amphetamine / steroid equivalency. They are two different things. Just as scuffing a baseball is something different. Or corking a bat. You can call all of those things cheating, but not all of them are going to have equivalent impacts on the game and give the same level of advantage or have the same prevalency.

    I think someone can reasonably argue that steroids had way more impact on how the game was played than amphetamines have, by virtue of the fact that home records didn't start getting obliterated and middle relievers didn't start throwing 10 mph faster during the period you may have seen amphetamine use pick up in baseball. It may have given an advantage, but was the degree of the advantage anywhere near the same as what steroids / HGH, etc. proved to give?

    In terms of sign stealing, this is how I reconcile it personally. MLB actually addresses means by which it is illegal to steal signs, namely any mechanical means, and later, they specifically singled out using camers and electronic equipment as illegal. It's not like this was never addressed.

    On top of it, everyone has always known what is kosher and what isn't among themselves. The third and first base coaches peaking in and giving signals or a runner on second doing it is fine -- they may not like it, but it's up to the team in the field to try to protect against it.

    Putting a camera in centerfield that gives an instantaneous feed to the dugout and then someone immediately relaying it to the batter is not OK. Aside from it crossing what a lot of people feel is a line, it really unlevels the playing field by giving the home team access to a huge advantage that the visitor doesn't get as well.
     
  4. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    There's a centerfield camera on every broadcast by every team in MLB, visitor and home. No reason the visiting team bench coach couldn't access that view with a smartphone app provided by its local cable system. Not disagreeing with you, Ragu, the rules as written are for once clear, just noting that technological changes, for good or bad, are toothpaste that's hard to put back in the tube.
     
  5. Spartan Squad

    Spartan Squad Well-Known Member

    The broadest delay makes using the centerfield feed impractical.
     
  6. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    This tweeter has been combing through Astros footage and finding interesting nuggets.

     
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    You beat me to this. Unless you have the camera directly linked to a feed in the dugout tunnel, doing it the way Gee said means you are going to be sitting on a broadcast delay that is going to make it useless. When we are watching a game at home, it can be anywhere from several seconds to a minute behind what is happening in real time. The Astros seemed to be getting the sign as soon as the fingers went down, and were making the clanking noise right away.
     
  8. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    Is it possible they were plugged into the production feed and not the broadcast one?
     
  9. Elliotte Friedman

    Elliotte Friedman Moderator Staff Member

    That's exactly it

    Teams ask us for the "truck feed" all the time
     
    Inky_Wretch likes this.
  10. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    The Red Sox (and a number of other teams) OWN their local cable channel. If they asked for a production feed and to keep it top secret, NESN might find it a hard request to turn down.
     
  11. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    I seem to remember some CFB press boxes that had the production feed as well, while others had the broadcast.
     
  12. CD Boogie

    CD Boogie Well-Known Member

    It's also fucking scummy. I wouldn't want to be party to that shit. A champion in a major sport has never had to vacate their title. Maybe these clowns should be the first.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page