The Houston Astros have dominated the Major League Baseball news cycle since it was revealed they cheated during their 2017 World Series run in which they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers. And although the scheme may have changed, the Astros electronically stole signs in 2018 as well.
Astros players have seemingly made the matter worse over recent weeks with a lack of remorse for their actions, causing a number of players throughout the league to speak out in frustration, including Dodgers players Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner and Clayton Kershaw, among others.
When things seemed to be dying down a bit, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred essentially poured propane on the fire by downplaying the need to punish Astros players, who were granted immunity by the league for cooperating with the investigation. Manfred called the trophy the Astros got for winning the World Series a “piece of metal” when asked why he hasn’t vacated the championship, which angered players even more, most notably Turner.
This scandal has become so big that now even players from other sports are weighing in on it. Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James took to Twitter to share his thoughts with Manfred:
Listen I know I don’t play baseball but I am in Sports and I know if someone cheated me out of winning the title and I found out about it I would be F*^king irate! I mean like uncontrollable about what I would/could do! Listen here baseball commissioner listen to your…..
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 18, 2020
players speaking today about how disgusted, mad, hurt, broken, etc etc about this. Literally the ball(⚾️) is in your court(or should I say field) and you need to fix this for the sake of Sports! #JustMyThoughtsComingFromASportsJunkieRegardlessMyOwnSportIPlay
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 18, 2020
Even former Dodgers first baseman David Freese, who is now retired, responded to James’ tweet:
Hahah well here we go!
— David Freese (@DavidFreese) February 18, 2020
James is perhaps the most famous athlete in the world, so Manfred can’t be happy with him bringing negative attention to baseball. Maybe it will lead to some sort of action, though as he can be added to a list that includes some of baseball’s best players, such as, Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Kris Bryant and Bryce Harper, calling for the Astros’ championship to be vacated.
As bad as the Astros organization and MLB as a whole want this story to die down, it doesn’t seem like that will be the case any time soon as long as players continue to be outraged.
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