If you thought their cheating would end with the retirement of David Ortiz, the BFLCB -- that's Big Fat Lying Cheating Bastard -- think again.
Look, we know all the New England teams cheat. For years, the Celtics would turn off the air-conditioning in the visitors' locker room at the Boston Garden. And they and the Bruins had their thuggish behavior. The Bruins let the ice melt a little at the new Garden to slow the Vancouver Canucks down in Game 6 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. The UConn basketball team got caught with recruiting violations. The New England Revolution are the dirtiest-tackling and most-diving team in Major League Soccer.
And the Patriots? Pardon me for using a technically term, but, Hoo boy!
Stealing signals using your eyes is allowed by Major League Baseball. Using electronic devices is not. The Sox got caught doing it to the Yankees with Apple Watches.
As yet, no decision has been made about if, or how, to punish them.
Yesterday, in Bleeding Yankee Blue the site's managing editor, Jeana Bellezza, stuck it to 'em. I've summarized, dropping some lines, but of the words I kept, they are as she wrote them:
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... 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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
Would that her prediction comes true. And they do need to be punished.
But the New England Patriots unfurled a 5th Super Bowl banner at Gillette Stadium last night, in the NFL season opened. And got their cheating asses kicked by the Kansas City Chiefs. (Of course, a team coached by Andy Reid looked great. It was September, not January).
And the NFL has never stripped the Patriots of a single victory, let alone any of those titles.
The Daily News headline was "HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?" The reference was to the watches, not to New York being "The Big Apple." But it also reminds us of a scene in Good Will Hunting, the Boston-based movie that launched Cambridge natives Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to stardom, and which name-dropped the Sox a few times.
The Yankees beat the Orioles 9-1 last night, and go into tonight's action 3 1/2 games behind the Sox, 3 in the loss column, with 23 to play, none against the Sox.
The Yankees start a series away to the Texas Rangers tonight. The Rangers are in the Dallas area, far from the Houston-centered devastation of Hurricane Harvey.
Right now, Hurricane Irma is bearing down on Florida. The Yanks' series away to the Tampa Bay Rays has been moved to Citi Field. The Rays will still be the home team, batting in the bottom half of the innings. But that means less traveling for the Yankees, which can only help.
Gee, I wonder how much Red Sox fans will whine about the Yankees having an "unfair advantage" because of this?
Probably less than Met fans will about the designated hitter being used in their ballpark.
Meanwhile, I haven't heard anything about Pat Robertson "praying the hurricanes away" this time.
Maybe he's just praying that Irma doesn't hit Mar-a-Lago. You can be damn sure that Dumb Donald won't be there this weekend! But he will be playing bad golf (and cheating at it) somewhere. He may be a New York native, but he cheats and defrauds like a New England sports team!
But the New England Patriots unfurled a 5th Super Bowl banner at Gillette Stadium last night, in the NFL season opened. And got their cheating asses kicked by the Kansas City Chiefs. (Of course, a team coached by Andy Reid looked great. It was September, not January).
And the NFL has never stripped the Patriots of a single victory, let alone any of those titles.
The Daily News headline was "HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?" The reference was to the watches, not to New York being "The Big Apple." But it also reminds us of a scene in Good Will Hunting, the Boston-based movie that launched Cambridge natives Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to stardom, and which name-dropped the Sox a few times.
The Yankees beat the Orioles 9-1 last night, and go into tonight's action 3 1/2 games behind the Sox, 3 in the loss column, with 23 to play, none against the Sox.
The Yankees start a series away to the Texas Rangers tonight. The Rangers are in the Dallas area, far from the Houston-centered devastation of Hurricane Harvey.
Right now, Hurricane Irma is bearing down on Florida. The Yanks' series away to the Tampa Bay Rays has been moved to Citi Field. The Rays will still be the home team, batting in the bottom half of the innings. But that means less traveling for the Yankees, which can only help.
Gee, I wonder how much Red Sox fans will whine about the Yankees having an "unfair advantage" because of this?
Probably less than Met fans will about the designated hitter being used in their ballpark.
Meanwhile, I haven't heard anything about Pat Robertson "praying the hurricanes away" this time.
Maybe he's just praying that Irma doesn't hit Mar-a-Lago. You can be damn sure that Dumb Donald won't be there this weekend! But he will be playing bad golf (and cheating at it) somewhere. He may be a New York native, but he cheats and defrauds like a New England sports team!