Astros focus on baseball as they try to ride out scandal’s storm
Facing continued criticism for cheating, team clings to game in first full workout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — An elderly fan sat on the top row of aluminum bleachers, wearing a rainbow throwback Jose Altuve jersey.
Vultures circled a field near the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches — the Astros’ still-new spring training home was once a landfill. When Altuve and Co. took batting practice during the first full-team workout for Dusty Baker’s already-battered 2020 Astros, someone banged on a trash can near home plate.
Carlos Correa and Altuve intentionally took the professional high road. Mike Trout, the best player in Major League Baseball, publicly ripped the Astros. Justin Turner, a key member of the 2017 second-place Los Angeles Dodgers, ripped MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, the day after Manfred said the league seriously considered stripping the Astros of their ’17 world title.
Monday was the fifth day of spring training. It was also the strongest reminder to date of what these Astros are going to face from February through September — and October, if they’re one of the best teams in MLB again. A media circus. Visibly angry haters.
Question after question and situation after situation, which all must be risen above and placed in real-life perspective.
“I’ve actually gotten a lot of people who really know me and know who I am, who reached out and said that they’re here for us, here for me. And I really appreciate that,” said third baseman Alex Bregman, discussing what he’s been dealing with while living in the middle of a national storm. “It’s been a tough four months for everybody. Just trying to learn from everything and grow.”
The Astros tried to make baseball return Monday. They were mostly successful.
Center fielder George Springer discussed a potential contract extension. New general manager James Click signed a veteran relief pitcher, the day after stating that the 2020 Astros weren’t facing any immediate payroll restrictions from owner Jim Crane.
That last bit of minor news would have been major to fans before Gerrit Cole became a Yankee. In the first week of spring training, it completely flew under the radar on a day when Baker’s Astros attempted to do the same.
Altuve was asked if he never used the trash-can banging, signstealing system, as Correa had passionately insisted two days ago.
The face of the Astros leaned on what last Thursday was supposed to be devoted to: a heartfelt, teamwide apology, then a united step forward into a day-byday future.
“I like to talk about team,” Altuve said. “I like to talk about team results. I’m here taking full responsibility for the team.”
Hall of Famer Craig Biggio tried to help the team stay together, watching the workout from a distance and holding private conversations with players and coaches.
Correa began his Monday interview by saying that he wanted to talk about baseball, then pivoted to recent movies that he watched: “Parasite” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
I’ve received a lot of emails from readers saying the media should be harder on the Astros and Manfred should have done more. I’ve received some messages insisting that the media should immediately move on from a finished story and just leave the Astros alone.
As the media waited for Altuve on Monday morning, the Astros’ clubhouse TV broadcast a oneon-one national interview that Correa helped orchestrate. Then there was a detailed replay of Altuve’s 2019 American League Championship Series walk-off home run against the New York Yankees.
As the media returned to the clubhouse following the workout and surrounded Altuve’s locker, Trout was shown on the same TV, blasting his AL West opponent on MLB Network.
I’m sure you can read between the lines of the above two paragraphs.
“It’s sad for baseball,” Trout told reporters. “It’s tough. They cheated. I don’t agree with the punishments, the players not getting anything. It was a playerdriven thing. It sucks, too, because guys’ careers have been affected, a lot of people lost jobs. It was tough. Me going up to the plate knowing what was coming — it would be pretty fun up there.”
As the elderly fan wore his Altuve jersey on the top row of bleachers, a young fan was being interviewed by a TV station. The soundbite: The Astros weren’t punished enough.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Bregman lifted a batting-practice home run to left field.
Biggio stood alone on an agility field, then sat on a small bucket bearing MLB’s official logo while some of the Astros’ biggest remaining names fielded grounders.
Fans held up baseballs and photos for Altuve to sign, screaming his name. “Altuve! Altuve! Altuve!”
When someone asked Bregman
if the normally always-fun Astros could eventually get back to having fun, one of the best young players in the game stated the obvious: “Of course. Of course.”
The Washington Nationals, next-door neighbors and 2019 World Series winners, are on the spring schedule in five days.
The 2020 Astros open the real season against Trout’s Angels inside Minute Maid Park, then fly to Oakland to play Mike Fiers’ Athletics and face Trout’s Angels again on the road before the first week of April is complete.
There were blue skies and big white clouds Monday.
The Astros took the high road and tried to stick to baseball.
For this team, right now, that was enough.