Groz: MLB could have avoided Astros mess by learning from David Stern
Feb 16, 2020, 12:02 PM
The events that make up the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal are one thing. The events that make up the mess of the past few weeks from MLB’s handling of it are a completely different issue entirely.
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The Astros’ cheating became known shortly after the end of the 2019 World Series, as current Oakland starting pitcher and former Astro Mike Fiers blew the whistle on Houston using technology to steal signs from opposing pitchers and catchers, which were then relayed to an Astros batter before the pitch was thrown.
Penalties were handed down last month, and yet even in a world where a 24-hour news cycle makes it hard to keep stories in the news, there’s something else about the scandal to talk about seemingly each day. A big reason why is that people in the MLB – whether it’s commissioner Rob Manfred, current and former Astros players or ticked-off pitchers from around baseball – continue to talk about it.
As 710 ESPN Seattle’s Dave “The Groz” Grosby points out in his latest Just A Minute segment, MLB should have taken a cue from another league in how to deal with a scandal of this magnitude.
In 2007, NBA referee Tim Donaghy was ensnared in controversy for betting on – and conspiring to fix – games he officiated. And while late former NBA commissioner David Stern still isn’t a popular name to those in Seattle, The Groz explains in the attached video that he handled the Donaghy scandal in a way that prevented the story from carrying on, unlike what is happening now with baseball.
You can find a new Just A Minute videos from The Groz on 710 ESPN Seattle’s YouTube channel twice every week.
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