Hinch’s candid Houston return
Detroit manager AJ Hinch reflected on the Astros’ signstealing scandal that cost him his job as the team’s manager in his return to Houston on Monday, saying it put a “cloud over the sport.”
Hinch was suspended by Commissioner Rob Manfred for a year in January 2020 and subsequently fired by owner Jim Crane for his role in the scheme that violated rules by using a video camera to steal catchers’ signs during Houston’s run to the 2017 World Series title and again in the 2018 season.
He was hired by the Tigers this offseason and discussed the scandal prior to Monday night’s opener of a threegame series against the Astros.
Asked whether he still takes pride in leading the Astros to their first title in a season tainted by cheating, he gave a long and frank answer.
“I do believe that we did some good things in Houston,” Hinch said. “I do believe we were wrong in the behavior and the decisions that we made in 2017, and it’s hard to have that cloud over the sport and be responsible for that and be the man that was the manager that it happened on my watch.”
Hinch spent five seasons in Houston, helping turn around a team that had sunk to embarrassing lows during a rebuild in the years before he arrived. The Astros won more than 100 games in each of his last three seasons, capped by a franchisebest 107 wins in 2019 when they lost to the Nationals in the World Series.
Hinchhas been largely quiet in publicly reflecting on his time in Houston because his “relationship with that time is complicated.” He said he has tried to keep the stain of his actions away from the Tigers since his hire.
The Astros have faced hostile crowds on the road this season from fans still upset about Houston’s cheating — spectators weren’t allowed at games last season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hinch said some fans have “let me know that they haven’t forgot that I was on that team,” but that he hasn’t received nearly as much venom as the remaining Astros have. He understands why people are upset, but he doesn’t devote any energy to worrying about how fans respond to him.
“It’s part of the back of my baseball card, so to speak,” he said. “And it’s going to be attached to me for the rest of my career. I’ve tried to continually show how contrite I am for being the manager and how much wrong is wrong.”
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