The Nats Had Heard The Rumors Of The Astros Cheating So They Prepared For It In The World Series To Stay A Step Ahead
I love every last detail we can get out of this Astros cheating scandal story. I hope it never dies down. I hope Jom Boy is posting clips of the Astros cheating until the cows come home. I couldn’t get enough of those numbers yesterday.
And all the videos. It’s just so blatantly obvious. It’s loud as hell in every single one.
And as it turns out, the Nats were weary of it. They knew the rumors about the Astros cheating. So they prepared for it:
Washington Post – Given the general paranoia about sign-stealing — legal and not — that grips the game now, the Nationals began to mix their signs more elaborately as they faced the Milwaukee Brewers in the wild-card game, the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division series and the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.
“It was mainly because we thought we had heard some whistling,” Menhart said. “Did we really hear it? Whether you do or you don’t, just to put those thoughts in our minds is dangerous. So we just said, ‘Let’s nip this now.’”
Menhart said the Nationals’ video staff worked with the coaches and front office, and eventually with the players, to combat subterfuge regardless of its origins. When the Nats had their first workout after sweeping the Cardinals, the coaching staff revealed to the pitchers their counterintelligence plan to fend off the Astros.
There were some layers to the Nats’ plan for Houston. First, each pitcher had to have his own set of signs, and catchers Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki had to be familiar with each one. So the staff printed out cards with the codes and had them laminated. The catchers could have them in their wristbands, a la an NFL quarterback with play calls strapped to his forearm, and the pitchers would have them in their caps. Each pitcher had five sets of signs, and they could change them from game to game — or even batter to batter, if necessary. Using the set labeled No. 2, but worried the Astros were catching on? The pitcher could signal to the catcher to move to set No. 3.
I would recommend reading the entire WaPo article, they go into more detail about how the Nationals prepped just in case the Astros were stealing signs in the illegal way. It’s fascinating stuff. And what makes it crazier is it obviously worked- no matter what the Stros were doing to get an edge at home in the World Series, clearly the Nats were a step ahead, as they won all 4 in Minute Maid Park.
Imagine cheating, or trying to cheat, and then still losing the World Series. That asshole AJ Hinch must have been fucking FURIOUSSSSS. Like banging the table, trying to figure out why his cheating wasn’t woking.
And thank god for Paul Menhart. Way to get ahead of it. He also figured out Starsburg’s pitch-tipping mid game. If not for that, the Stros probably win the World Series. Masterful performance from him, he better never pay for a drink in DC for the rest of his life.
We talked about the Astros cheating scandal at the top of the newest episode of Cracking Aces because I find it extremely fascinating, plus it’s very similar to the poker cheating scandal from a couple months back.
We also had on the godfather of Twitch, Jason Somerville.
Jason was streaming on Twitch before it was cool and has built an entire business out of it now in Vegas.
Pretty good week for us. Had Daniel Negreanu on the show on Tuesday, and then Somerville on today’s. Two huge names in the poker biz, each with great journeys and fascinating stories. I def recommend checking it out.
And follow the IG for more cool hands like this:
