Getting back to normalcy difficult task amid chatter
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Onto the agility fields ran the Astros, a team trying to convince onlookers of normalcy that doesn’t yet exist. Fans lined a left-field fence and cheered their arrival. A cacophony of Latin music came from the batting cages. Lance McCullers Jr. brought a resistance band to loosen his arm for a muchanticipated bullpen session.
When it ended without incident, the pitcher proceeded back inside the clubhouse. The media scrum awaiting had thinned considerably since Thursday, when McCullers and his nine teammates from the 2017 Astros took blame for banging trash cans and stealing signs.
“We apologized for it,” McCullers said. “I think you guys spoke to pretty much everyone on the 2017 team that’s here in an Astros (uniform). We meant what we said. We can’t control how people feel yesterday or moving forward. We all addressed it. We all stand by what we individually said and we’re looking forward to moving forward with a good 2020 club.”
Friday, the Astros attempted an act of routine. They held a baseball practice punctuated by bullpen sessions and fundamental work. Manager Dusty Baker milled around the fields, alternating between the ros
ter card he keeps in his back pocket and sneaking a peek at surnames on jerseys.
Still, the Astros try to trudge along. Their first workout Thursday was overtaken by the beginning of an apology tour. Owner Jim Crane’s confusing claim that the electronic sign stealing in 2017 “didn’t impact the game” overshadowed almost all of his players’ remorse.
“It was like semi what I experienced in the steroid era. This is the frenzy it kind of caused,” Baker said of Thursday’s theatrics.
“It’s in the past now. I’m hoping the players don’t have to answer any more questions about it. Because how many times can you say the same thing? It’s time for us to get to work, put it behind us, ask for forgiveness. The guys said they were sorry.
“I got a book I’m reading now that says ‘We ask for forgiveness and never mention it again.’ ”
The book’s teaching is not playing out. The tense tenor continuing to follow the team spoils whatever hope Baker or Houston has for focusing forward. An abundance of apologies Thursday satisfied few in the sport. A day later, vitriol toward the unpunished Astros players reached its apex.
Reigning National League Most Valuable Player Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers said the commissioner’s choice to grant players immunity was “weak.” He intimated Houston has been “cheating for three years.” He took aim toward
Jose Altuve’s 2017 American League Most Valuable Player award and the team’s World Series title so many now view as illegitimate.
“What people don’t realize is Altuve stole an MVP from (Yankee Aaron) Judge,” Bellinger said at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. “Everyone knows they stole the ring from us.”
Excoriations even arrived from across the facility, where Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo lambasted the team’s apology effort. Stephen Strasburg, who won Game 6 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park last October, lamented the minimization of his team’s victory this offseason “because some guys were cheating.”
“We are all going to be retired, ex-major league baseball players a lot longer than we actually are (playing),” Strasburg said. “One of the things that we talked about going into last season was that we wanted to do everything we can to leave it all out there on the field.”
“Knowing that some day, I’m going to hopefully have some grandkids and be able to sit down and talk to them about the experience of the World Series and not really feel ashamed of it all.”
For as long as the Astros franchise exists, this scandal’s stain will indelibly stay. The players who participate will continue along as targets throughout the 2020 season. Retaliation is almost expected. The Mets were hit a major-league high 95 times last season. The Astros may shatter that mark.
Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling, who was nearly traded to the Angels
this offseason, acknowledged Friday he had contemplated whether to throw at the Astros players if he were in the division. The trade fell through. Stripling’s sentiment may not.
“How can they not? Heck, if this was the ’80s, they’d get pegged every inning, right,” Stripling said. “Let’s see what 2020 looks like. But I got to think it happens.”
In regards to intentionally hitting players, Stripling said he’d “lean towards yes.” Reds righthander Trevor Bauer, a frequent critic of the Astros even before the sign-stealing scheme, said he’d “never let (the Astros) forget they’re cheaters.”
“I’m not worried about it,” Baker said of opposing venom. “You can’t live your life in fear. You just play your game. If it happens, it happens. I don’t foresee anything happening. That’s kind of like being afraid of being in a car accident while you’re riding down the street.
“You can’t live your life in fear. You just have to play your game.”
The Astros are trying to adhere to such an adage.
After making it clear he would answer only baseball questions, Altuve was asked Friday whether he was worried about being hit by a pitch in retaliation.
“I’ve got to go and play baseball and, like I said, try to help my team,” Altuve said. “We’re talking about going out there and playing good baseball and going to the playoffs. That’s what I’m concerned about.”