Bruce Jenkins:
The Astros’ Thursday news conference was deeply disappointing.
From the department of “Good lord, they just don’t get it,” we present the Houston Astros and their pathetic performance in Thursday morning’s media session. We were expecting sincere apologies, and we got dodgy insurance salesmen halfway out the door.
This was the Astros’ time to appease the public and other majorleague teams after an MLB investigation revealed the extent of their illegal, technologydriven system of stealing signs. Nobody expected, say, Jose Altuve to admit he knew a fastball was coming when he belted a threerun homer off Kenta Maeda in Game 5 of the 2017 World Series. There are far too many variables, too many achievements legitimately earned, to properly analyze thousands of pitches over the course of a season. But for heaven’s sake, show
some kind of remorse. The remarks of Jim Crane, the Astros’ owner, were comically weak. He basically blamed manager AJHinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow, each of whom was fired, despite what the MLB investigation called a “playerdriven” scheme. Crane admitted no accountability of his own. And get this: He actually said that whatever the Astros were doing, “it didn’t impact the game.”
Across the wide landscape of training camps, angry players hurled fruit and coffee at their clubhouse television screens. Rightfully so, the A’s were particularly vocal.
Houston third baseman Alex Bregman took the microphone for a brief statement, and although he was looking straight ahead, it sounded as if he were reading. You halfexpected “Page two” to be part of the statement. He said he was “really sorry about the choices that were made by my team, by the organization and by me,” but it seemed like he just wanted to get the hell out of there. Altuve looked nervous and unsettled during his ensuing turn.
As the day progressed, clubhouse interviews revealed a bit more regret from the players. But they blew their chance at the outset, for the maximum possible audience. That’s what people will remember. And you had to feel sorry for manager Dusty Baker, who wasn’t around for any of the unsavory tactics and is just trying to steer this foundering ship into calm waters.
Perhaps the Astros are waiting to hear the results of MLB’s investigation of the Boston Red Sox, allegedly performing similarly illegal acts during the 2018 World Series. Then they can say, “See? See that? We weren’t the only ones.” On that score, the general feeling around the majors is that the Astros definitely weren’t alone in their technological pursuit. But it’s their stage right now, and it’s the most important one, and they are failing miserably.