There may be no crying in baseball, but unfortunately the same can’t be said for cheating.
Bending, if not breaking the rules is almost a time honored tradition in America’s favorite pastime. From doctored baseballs to pine tar, and through the scandals of the steroid era and today’s controversy involving electronic sign stealing, there is plenty of evidence that both players and teams have gone too far in their pursuit of a competitive advantage.
But baseball’s long and complicated history with cheating — often unofficially sanctioned around the league with a code of silence — should not be used as an excuse to skirt responsibility or corrective action when a team is caught.
In January, Major League Baseball suspended Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow for Houston’s use of electronics to steal sings during its 2017 World Series season and in 2018 as well. The Astros were also fined a maximum of $5 million, and both Hinch and Luhnow were subsequently fired by the team.
That scandal and similar allegations have found their way to Boston. Now former Red Sox manager Alex Cora was the Houston bench coach during the 2017, and according to the league, was instrumental in the sign stealing system. The Red Sox are currently under investigation by the league for alleged sign-stealing during their 2018 World Series season.
Hall of Fame former Red Sox player Jim Rice, now a baseball analyst for the New England Sports Network (NESN), downplayed the sign-stealing scandal at an event in Bangor last week. He told the crowd at Husson University that “all teams cheat and all the players cheat. It’s part of baseball.”
There are plenty of reasons to withhold judgment on the allegations against the Red Sox until the league concludes and publicizes its investigation. But Red Sox fans should not merely dismiss the allegations as something that everybody else does.
Winning matters, but so does winning the right way. That is why Cora’s departure was the appropriate and needed path forward for the Red Sox.
“While it was difficult personally for a lot of people, [and] professionally, it was ultimately an easy decision for the Red Sox and for Alex,” said Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy. “Alex is an incredibly talented manager and accomplished great things with us. He expressed remorse. He apologized yesterday to us for the embarrassment that this caused.”
It should have been an easy decision, and there should be embarrassment attached to cheating. Fans should want to root for a team they can be proud of — not just because of wins and losses, but because of how the game is played.
Cora, despite his charisma and championship calibre, had to go. And Red Sox fans should demand better from the team.
The 2018 Red Sox were electric to watch. It’s painful to think that a championship season could be compromised in the history books. But we cannot simply dismiss or accept cheating, in sports or in other parts of life, as something that everyone does. The rules should still matter, even when it’s our team in question.
