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

It feels like day one million of quarantine. I often get my days mixed up and honestly, as I sit here and write this piece today feels like yesterday. Oh, but there is one notable difference.

So today I did a House party chat with one of my friends. If you haven't used House party before, it's like Facetime or Skype, I downloaded it onto my phone and iPad. I have been using it a lot lately to keep in touch with my friends and family. I talked to one of my friends today that I am used to seeing on a regular basis. It felt weird talking to her on House party as opposed to in person but....it's a sign of the times, right? We spent a lot of time talking about how we both miss sports, especially baseball and also the outcome of the Red Sox investigation and suddenly it got interesting.

"All of these cheating managers are just the black marks of baseball," my friend said. That quickly got my attention, "what do you mean?"  I asked.

As she started to explain, I understood the comparison. I like the definition she used, found HERE.
"An indication of failure or censure." I'd say that is accurate. So then we started talking about three specific black marks: Alex Cora, A.J. Hinch and Carlos Beltran. They definitely left a black mark on baseball, but in the world of "second chances" we started talking about if any of these guys would get a second chance.

At BYB we have talked A LOT about Alex Cora for months now. If you read us regularly, you know how we feel about him. I still can't get past the fact that ALL of these former managers will be eligible to work for a team in 2021 even if this Coronavirus pandemic cancels all of the 2020 season. It's not a "just" punishment but, we know we can't expect that from failed commissioner Rob Manfred.

So now that Manfred has given his non-punishment to the Red Sox and we know that Cora was fired by the Red Sox and now suspended for a 2020 season (if there is one)....question is, will he ever manage again?

Or does he get a "pass" or a second chance? The groundwork is being laid ladies and gentlemen....or at least I think it could be. After months of silence, desperate Cora has broken his silence.

So he has finally apologized after hiding for months. He could've apologized a long time ago, but he didn't. Now he finally comes out of hiding and even after all of the controversy it looks like he has some public support...from the Red Sox. Have you seen THIS?

Tell me that doesn't leave the door wide open for a future reunion?

"We did part ways with Alex Cora given what had happened in Houston and it was a mutual parting of ways," Red Sox President Sam Kennedy said. "It was a difficult parting of ways because everyone with the Red Sox -- John Henry (owner), Tom Werner (chairman), myself, Chaim Bloom, Brian O'Halloran -- we all have great admiration and respect for Alex. He came to the conclusion, as did we, that we needed to part ways given the conduct in Houston. Nothing has changed on that front."

And what about that second chance?

" I do," said Kennedy. "That's my personal feeling. He does need to go through a rehabilitation process. What he did was wrong. He acknowledged it to us and apologized to us for that. But I'm a big believer in second chances and we all wish him well."

There it is. Might not sound like a big deal now....but I think it is. If a popular team in baseball such as the Red Sox have this opinion so will another team. Maybe not right now. Or maybe they do and they just won't say it yet.....but I think someone else will share the same opinion. Not to mention that the Red Sox did win the World Series in his first year of managing, cheating scandal aside. That will make some owner think twice about it come 2021....especially an owner that has a struggling team looking to make some changes.

Kennedy is right, we all know it. Cora cheated and he was wrong. But in the eyes of the Red Sox it seems like water under the bridge already which is disgusting. The man ruined the integrity of the game, but they are already calling for Cora's second chance.

Cora is a black mark on baseball, and he always will be. He may be a black mark that gets another chance, and we can all name players or managers (*cough*Pete Rose*cough*) that won't. It just doesn't sit right with me. 

What do YOU think? Does Cora get his second chance? Could we see him again in 2021? Tell us...and stay tuned for two other black marks, coming soon.

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

THE STANDINGS ARE WRONG, THE RED SOX ARE LOSERS

I feel bad for the Red Sox. They have gone from the chicken and beer scandal to making racial statements about how Masahiro Tanaka should't have a translator and needs to learn "baseball language" to cheaters and disgracing the game. They got caught with their hand in the baseball cookie jar again. This team is a PR nightmare.

I'm a blunt girl. I call it like I see it and I don't mince words. From now on I will no longer associate the Red Sox and Yankees as one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports. Instead, I will associate it as a team that disgraced the game and does not value integrity and the Yankees. The Yankees are by no means perfect and have had their own indiscretions (a.k.a Alex Rodriguez) but not like this.

So now we all know that the Red Sox cheated. They stole signs and THIS is how they did it. To be clear, my beef here is with using technology to steal signs. Granted, stealing signs has been a part of baseball for a long time and it is an art. I'm okay with that. If there is a runner on second base and the catcher doesn’t hide his signs well enough and the runner figures it out then that's on the catcher. If the third base coach doesn’t change his signs and someone in the dugout picks up on it, then blame the coach. That's HIS fault the other team figured it out but when sign-stealing goes high tech and team personnel (not players) get involved that is poor sportsmanship and disgraceful. It sends a bad message to fans, the league and worst of all young impressionable kids....which is a whole other topic that I won't even get into.

Photo of: Jon Jochim

And if using technology to gain an unfair advantage isn't enough for you to top it all off, Red Sox personnel blatantly decides he is too good to follow league rules. Just by wearing an Apple Watch in the dugout, Red Sox assistant athletic trainer Jon Jochim was in violation of the MLB decree against having a device capable of texting in the dugout. This rule is communicated to all 30 teams before the start of the season and even posted around all of the stadiums for internal use. Rules clearly state no electronic devices are allowed in the dugouts except for league issued iPads that have limitations (like the Internet) so teams can review plays thanks to Instant Replay nowadays. Players can't have their phones in the dugouts, or in the tunnel but Jochim is too good for MLB rules. He may not be the Red Sox manager, but he is still a leader in that organization.....and a poor one at that.

Since the series Brian Cashman filed a detailed complaint with the commissioner's office and Rob Manfred is reportedly investigating. He also held a press conference at Fenway Park (shocker!) on it that you can find HERE and unsurprisingly he is remaining neutral. The Red Sox made a weak attempt to defend themselves by filing their own complaint against the Yankees on Tuesday claiming that YES Network uses a camera to steal signs and relay that information for the Yankees to use. There is no evidence to support this so it makes the Red Sox look even more pathetic.

So now that the Red Sox have been caught red handed they should suffer some sort of consequence but what exactly? Based on Manfred's interview anything is possible but I have a hard time believing that they would strip the Red Sox of a division title if they got it (please no) or even wins. I guess MLB could give them a big fine or take away a draft pick or two. No matter what though, I can't imagine the punishment fitting the crime.

It's sad that the Red Sox have to cheat to be competitive. They can't just play the game the right way....with integrity. It's sad that leadership ALLOWS scandals to surround the Red Sox and it stems from two people. First, it comes from GM Dave Dombrowski who defended his team as I would expect. "Do I think sign-stealing is wrong? No, I don't. People are trying to win however they can. It’s an edge they are trying to gain. Sometimes your sophistication of signs can make a difference." All fine, but then he started to sound like a whining kid, "this is not new, this has been something that has been going on for 10-12 days. Something like that. Maybe two weeks. The Yankees decide they want to give it today, for whatever reason. I think maybe because it just so happened the commissioner is in town today. I’m not sure there is a direct correlation to that." Oh quit trying to cover it up Dombrowski, you DO think there is correlation to that. You just won't man up to it. That's bad but the bigger criminal here is owner John Henry. This is Henry's team. It's HIS culture he has built with the idea that winning at any cost including cheating is acceptable. They don't love the game. Red Sox leadership needs a lesson on ethics.

I don't care what the AL East standings say. The Red Sox are losers. They may be at the top of the leader board but they had to cheat to get there. They don't have what it takes to win fairly and have lost all credibility. It's sad you have to cheat Dirty Sox.....but you lost the series and you will lose at the end of the season too.



--Jeana Bellezza

BYB Managing Editor 
Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ

BYB 'Family Member' Merchandise (2017)

ALL ALONE IN BEANTOWN

Uncle Rico has reached his limit.  It's evident that when a manager like Bobby Valentine doesn't do the job he's paid to do, pressure mounts among the fans of that ball club.  Yes, Red Sox Nation has collapsed, was gutted and the man that's been accused of dismantling it, Bobby V, has been beaten to a pulp and drug through broken glass.   Not only do the fans of Boston believe he failed them, but most of the sports media around the country have piled on too, me included.

Now, let me be clear, I am no fan of Bobby Valentine. I think he's arrogant, a snob and an ego-manic who's bought into his own hype.  But, he's also human.  I on the other hand, may not like the guy and his attitude at all, but I also hate to watch another human being self-destruct and fall as far as he has. That's my soft side, what can I say. Sure, I may be a rabid Yankee fan who never wants to see the Red Sox win a thing, but I also have a heart when it comes to human humiliation.  Valentine is getting smacked around pretty good right now and he snapped yesterday on The Big Show radio show when asked if he "checked out."  Bobby said: "What an embarrassing thing to say. If I were there right now, I'd punch you right in the mouth. Ha, ha. How's that sound? Is that like I checked out? What an embarrassing thing," said Valentine. "Why would somebody even, that's stuff that a comic strip person would write. If someone's here, watching me go out at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, watching me put in the right relief pitchers to get a win, putting on a hit-and-run when it was necessary, talking to the guys after the game in the food room — how could someone in real life say that?" Listen to the whole thing HERE.

You know what? I get it. Say what you will about Bobby, and I can't believe I'm about to defend this guy that I've despised all these years, but enough is enough. The pressure has mounted so high, no one can take this kind of pressure. That's what migrane headaches and vomiting are for.  It's too much already.

That comment by Bobby to The Big Show was a cry for help.  Bobby wants out of Boston because even he sees the writing on the wall, but his egos in the way. He won't resign because that would mean he failed.  The Boston fans hate what he did to their team though, and all of sports thinks he's a joke and Sox brass doesn't even want him there.  The only one who's stood by his side is John Henry, the only one who wanted him there in the first place and the only one who's NOT going to admit he made a horrendous decision dumping Terry Francona and signing Valentine in the first place.

(In Photo: John Henry)
Uncle Rico was put in a bad spot. His hyped-up ego took him to a place where he was clearly in over his head and now, like I hoped he would be, he was exposed for the world to see...he's a baseball fraud, not qualified to manage a thing, except for a Japanese team from the early 2000's. But even Bobby, lonely Bobby doesn't deserve to be dragged through the mud as bad as he has. Even Bobby's allowed to snap when the pressure builds this badly...I don't blame him. Why? Because when the world's against you, what else can you do but say your piece and eventually disappear.

My prediction... the end of Bobby V is near and for Yankeeland, yet another victory. Trust me, all of this is great for Yankeeland. Boston chaos? I'm a fan of it, but no human being should be put through the ringer as bad as this dim bulb has, sometimes having a heart needs to take a front seat, as crazy as that sounds coming from a guy like me who's been blast Big V all these months. 

Yeah, I may not like Bobby V, but I at least know when enough is enough.
 
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