THE BLACK MARKS OF BASEBALL & 2ND CHANCES: PART TWO

Remember when we used to talk about great baseball plays, thrilling come from behind wins and Yankee injuries? Yeah, me too. I long for the days that we talk about those again. I am hoping that comes back soon. I wonder when though, as I type this out I am listening to my state governor Doug Ducey extend our Stay at Home Order. It was supposed to expire today, April 30th. Instead, it is extended until May 15th. Guess I get to experience the same reaction that a bunch of my New York friends and family did weeks ago, huh?

Instead, I reminisce. It's a sign of the times, like I said earlier in THE BLACK MARKS OF BASEBALL & 2ND CHANCES: PART ONE. Alex Cora got the first look, I bet someone gives him a second chance, maybe even the Red Sox. You could give him a "maybe" on the likelihood scale, but there is another guy that I am "certain" gets another chance.

If one of these managers from cheating teams gets another chance I am betting money it would be A.J. Hinch. I think he has a lot more in his favor then Cora or Carlos Beltran does. He has a track record on his side, which any owner is going to look at and consider.

So Hinch did make a statement after Rob Manfred "punished" the Astros, and I believed his more than any other Astros player that made a statement. He claims he wasn't involved, and regardless of if he was more involved than he says, he has proven he can win....and not just a tainted World Series title.

Can a character flaw be forgiven if it results in wins? That's the real question here. Looking at it from an owner's perspective....if it makes them money, it is something to consider. It's all about the money for them, right? Jim Crane definitely made money when Hinch worked for him from 2015-2019. He managed 810 games during this time and won 481 games, which is a .594 Win-loss percentage. The Astros moved to the American League in 2013 at the bottom of their division and in 2015 Hinch turned the Astros around. They became competitive, and they gave the Yankees a few headaches in most recent years. That still says something.

We continue to think about the Hinch that apologized for not stepping in to stop the cheating, and the Hinch that destroyed two monitors in a desperate attempt to gain control. Oh and we can't forget when he denied the cheating allegations, either. That came back to bite him big time. Those are glaring issues....but at the end of the day, he proved he could manage a successful team before the cheating. An owner will look back at this and remember it, I am sure of it.

So will more people be willing to forgive a lapse in leadership compared to someone who had direct participation in a cheating scandal? I think so, which is why I think we will see him again.

This isn't about right or wrong....everyone who reads us KNOWS we have ripped the Astros from the very beginning. You know where we stand. But an owner on the other hand, will likely see just as many pros as cons to hiring Hinch in the future.

What do you think? Does an owner give Hinch a second chance? Stay tuned for the last black mark, I'm sure you can figure it out who it is by now.

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj