There’s something about falling in love with a team that you just can’t explain.
I’ve always been a hometown kind of guy. For some reason, people in my city gravitated towards the Raiders when we were kids, and everyone liked the Cubs because metro-Detroit cable would get WGN.
But we loved all loved this stupid Astros team. We fell for them; Bregman the hustle guy, Correa and Springer the playmakers, and this little guy Jose Altuve who looked like a boy among men while hitting the damn cover off the ball.
THEN THEY GOT CAUGHT
Then it happened. They got caught. I HATE cheaters. When I was a kid, I was full-time referee among my friends. I always made what I thought was the correct call, no matter what team I was on. I never understood how you wouldn’t want the proper call to be made.
Maybe the Astros cheating wouldn’t sting so much if the team didn’t include guys we had grown to love, like Justin Verlander, or respect for their competitiveness, like Dallas Keuchel and Carlos Beltran. If the team didn’t seem like such a TEAM, I don’t think it would be getting to me like this.
Then there is AJ Hinch, a guy I’ve dreamed would wear the Olde English D post-Ron Gardenhire. He just seemed like such a purest, a Baseball Guy’s Guy. I know it’s harsh, but I feel betrayed. AJ Hinch is a traitor. He’s no longer on this Baseball Guys’ team.
THEY CHEATED US!
I’ve seen a lot of former players coming out saying they were stealing signs long ago. I have no problem with it being part of the game, I love the “thinking man’s game” part of baseball. But stealing signs using a camera and monitor is not the way the game was meant to be played.
This is our game and they cheated us. The Astros deserve every criticism and insult they get this season – all of it.
Featured photo at top from New York Post nypost.com:
