Coming out swinging
Shortstop defends Altuve’s honor and MVP, says Dodgers wasted chances to win in 2017
Astros shortstop Carlos Correa calls out critics of the team’s 2017 title and defends Jose Altuve in scandal.
CARLOS CORREA COUNTERPUNCHES BY DEFENDING TEAMMATES AND CHALLENGING CRITICS OF ASTROS’ 2017 WORLD SERIES TITLE
“JOSE ALTUVE, JOSH REDDICK, TONY KEMP, THEY DIDN’T USE IT AT ALL. THEY DIDN’T WANT TO. THEY WOULD GET MAD IF SOMEONE WOULD BANG THE TRASH CAN WHEN THEY WERE HITTING . ... THIS ALTUVE TALK ABOUT HIM STEALING THE MVP, THAT SHOULD BE DEAD. ”
“YES, I USED THE TRASH CANS. AND I’M HERE LIKE A MAN AND I’LL TELL YOU I USED IT. BECAUSE, MY CREDIBILITY, RIGHT HERE, THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR. EVERY TIME I SPEAK, I WANT YOU GUYS TO BELIEVE ME. SO I’LL TELL YOU, YES, I DID. A LOT OF PLAYERS USED IT. AND THAT’S WHY WE’RE GOING THROUGH THIS RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN 2017. BUT, ALTUVE, LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS CONVERSATION.”
“LAST YEAR, THERE WAS NOTHING (LIKE SIGN STEALING) AND WE GOT TO A WORLD SERIES. WE WERE CLOSE TO WINNING A CHAMPIONSHIP. IT STILL HURTS TO THIS DAY.”
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Carlos Correa attacked an avalanche of unanswered vitriol from around the majors toward his teammates for the electronic sign stealing of 2017 and whispers of more the following seasons. He fired away, offering the most candid comments of any player who was present during the 2017 season.
“I have no problem when people talk about what happened during the regular season of 2017,” Correa said, starting a sensational nine-minute conversation.
“We were wrong for everything we did. And everything that comes with it, we have to take. We have to be man enough to own it and take responsibility for all those actions that we took. But when you stand up there and say lies about my teammates, that’s when I have to say something.”
Correa continued with a completely unfiltered tangent, reiterating his remorse for the team’s wrongdoing in 2017 while defending the titles that same team secured. He absolved teammates of misconduct while making clear that he participated. He cited statistics and recounted three-yearold runs scored en route to the World Series, the most blatant attempt by any player to restore legitimacy to the title.
Correa spoke twice on Saturday, first to MLB Network and then three hours later to four local reporters outside of the team’s spring training clubhouse.
His answers were, for the most part, raw and rationalized, a mix of contrition for his role in the scandal and combative comebacks to opponents who’ve chided the club. He pleaded with reporters to “kill” the story that Houston wore buzzers during the 2019 season — a claim five Astros have denied on the record. In his MLB Network interview, he said that an unsightly, unfinished collarbone tattoo contributed to Jose Altuve’s reluctance to have his shirt ripped off after winning the pennant.
Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger’s Friday assertion that the Astros “stole” a World Series title and Altuve “stole” the American League Most Valuable Player caused Correa to come unglued.
“Yes, I used the trash cans,” Correa said. “And I’m here like a man and I’ll tell you I used it. Because, my credibility, right here, this is what I live for. Every time I speak, I want you guys to believe me. So I’ll tell you, yes, I did. A lot of players used it. And that’s why we’re going through this right now because of what happened in 2017.
“But, ( Jose) Altuve, leave him out of this conversation.”
Altuve declined comment on Saturday through an Astros spokesman. Pitcher Justin Verlander said Bellinger is “entitled to his opinion” and “it bothers me” that so many opponents continue to crush the reputations of his Houston teammates.
“(Altuve) earned that MVP and nobody can take that away from him,” Correa said. “When (Bellinger) stands up there and he says that he cheated (Aaron) Judge out of an MVP. A guy that hit .400 on the road? Are you kidding me? Like, that doesn’t sit well with me.
“If you state facts, if you tell the truth out there, if you talk about (2017) and whatever the Astros did, yeah, that’s OK. I’m not going to comment on that. I’m not going to talk anything about that. We have to take that. We made that mistake. We were wrong for everything we did … But when you stand up there and say lies about my teammates, that’s when I have to say something.”
Correa offered new insight into Altuve’s season. According to Correa, Altuve, Josh Reddick and Tony Kemp did not utilize the sign-stealing system. Any trash-can banging, intentional or unintentional, to signal upcoming pitches, apparently enraged the oft-affable Altuve.
“I remember one time somebody banged the trash can without his consent when he was hitting. I don’t remember if he got a hit or got out. I just remember he was heated,” Correa said. “And you guys don’t see Altuve mad very often. But you don’t want to see him mad. When he gets mad, he’s heated. He’s going to tell you whatever he feels and whatever he wants to say. I remember him heated every time somebody would accidentally or without his consent would bang on the trash can.”
Data compiled by Astros fan Tony Adams appear to corroborate Correa’s claim. Both Reddick and Altuve heard bangs on fewer than four percent of their charted pitches. Of Altuve’s 866 pitches during the 2017 season that Adams charted, just 24 were preceded by bangs. Reddick had just 28 on 725 pitches.
Confronted last month with the claim that his MVP may be tainted, Altuve said “a lot of people that believe I’m the MVP, and there’s a lot of people who don’t believe the MVP.” Correa clearly falls into the former group.
Though they had an identical bWAR, Altuve was a landslide winner over Judge. The 5-foot-6 face of Houston’s franchise received 27 first-place votes. Judge got two. The Yankees slugger boasted a 1.049 OPS and 52 home runs — both of which far outpaced Altuve.
Altuve hit .346, higher than any qualified major leaguer. He struck an American League-high 204 hits and stole 32 bases.
Altuve hit 70 points better on the road than inside Minute Maid Park, where the Astros are known to have electronically stolen signs. Reports since the investigation indicated the team attempted to decode signs on the road, too, a notion Correa vehemently denied.
“No. Not at all. It’s impossible, man,” Correa said. “If you look in our division, you go to Oakland, man. Like, you see all the players right there, you have to go (upstairs to the clubhouse). No. I’m not even going to go into details. It’s just a straight ‘no.’ It’s impossible to just be on the road and steal signs. The (opposing) team owns the cameras and everything on the road. So, no, I’m not going to go in any detail about that.”
Correa’s defense of his team continued into the postseason. Asked whether any postseason hits were aided at all by the trash can banging, Correa deflected, describing almost every run scored at home during their two home World Series wins. Before, he lambasted the Yankees offense in the ALCS.
“They scored one run in the first game, one run in the second game, they scored one run in Game 6 and they scored no runs in Game 7,” Correa said. “If you expect to win with three runs in four games, you’re out of your mind.”
Four of the five run-scoring hits during Game 3 of the World Series came with runners on base — when Correa said the Dodgers used multiple signs and prevented the Astros from using their trash can banging system. The other scored because of Dodgers pitcher Tony Watson’s throwing error.
Correa was less descriptive of the team’s wild, 13-12 Game 5 win. Houston hammered Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw for six earned runs in 42⁄3 innings after not touching him in Game 1 at Dodger Stadium. Correa mentioned his double and Yuli Gurriel’s home run against Kershaw along with Jose Altuve’s three-run shot off Kenta Maeda. All hits came with men on base when, apparently, the system was ineffective.
“And, (Alex) Bregman hit a walk-off single with a pinch-runner — Derek Fisher — that didn’t know what was going on in the game because he hadn’t been involved in the game. He was just warming up getting ready to run. Multiple signs. Walk-off,” said Correa.
Correa did not detail George Springer’s solo home run against Brandon Morrow in the seventh inning or Brian McCann’s solo shot against Tony Cingrani in the 10th. What’s impossible for anyone to accurately measure, though, is whether the system was helpful — or even utilized — in non run-scoring situations.
Bellinger finished that World Series 4-for-28. Correa remembered more Bellinger’s throwing error in the first inning of Game 7 — a game Houston won in Los Angeles.
“He throws a ball away in the first inning and we scored two runs,” Correa said. “We win Game 7 on the road because they left 20 guys on base. And you’re telling me, you’re telling our team and our fans that we cheated you out of a World Series championship?”
“(Bellinger) should not be talking about that, he should have done something about that.”
When the Astros apologized as a team on Thursday, Correa spoke with more candor than any of his teammates or bosses. He reiterated that the team did not cheat in 2018 or 2019, though Major League Baseball’s report stated the team tried to electronically decode signs in the beginning of the 2018 regular season. The trash can banging, Correa said, was gone after 2017.
Some around the sport remain skeptical. Bellinger accused the Astros of cheating for the last three years. Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki said Houston cheated during the 2019 World Series, intimating that whistling noises coming from the dugout.
“Like, seriously, bro,” Correa said. “The commissioner’s report clearly says that in 2019 nothing happened. Just straight up baseball players with talent playing the game of baseball. And you have the audacity to tell the reporters that, yeah, they were cheating? Because we heard the whistles? The fans whistle in the game. The fans are whistling all the time in the game. What does a whistle mean? So, don’t go out there and tell reporters that we were cheating.”
Washington still won the World Series, defeating the Astros in seven games. The road team won all seven contests.
“And he’s still talking about that,” Correa wondered. “Enjoy your ring. Enjoy your teammates. Enjoy what you guys accomplished. Congratulations to you guys. You guys played better than us. That was it.”