Isn't that the type of lame excuse everyone uses for everything illegal, immoral and unethical nowadays? You Astros fans would sure like it all to be swept under the rug. You know, the "alternate universe BS we are inundated with all too much nowadays. We see bad crap with our own eyes and someone is trying to tell us we really didn't see it. Like we are all idiots or something. Don't want to dwell on the FACT that the Astros were cheaters.

We keep hearing all this BS about how the Astros were good without the cheating. lol Then why did they cheat? What a bunch of crap that is.

Go back and look at those World Series games against the Dodgers. A team who spent over $200 million dollars to win the World Series honestly only to lose to a team who was banging on the trash can cheating their asses off. Take away the cheating and there is more than a good chance the Astros do not win the World Series.

Take away the cheating and the Dodgers win in 5 games. Sorry that's how a large percentage of fans see it.

The Astros should have been stripped of the title and penalized the next couple seasons. They disgraced the game.

Carlos Beltran ruined his legacy. Played his entire career with the reputation of being a clean player with a respect for the game. Gets hired as the Mets manager and......

Not anymore. Once he became part of the "Astros Culture" (a nicer word for cheaters) he pretty-much sealed his fate. He's now the new Pete Rose.

It amazes me that MLB allowed the Astros to retain their World Series title after being caught cheating?

That was a big mistake with today's lack of respect for the rules, the law, basically anything. A clear sign that the benefits of cheating in MLB definitely outweigh the punishment.

If MLB would have done the right thing and punished the Astros appropriately, they would have already served their punishment and would have the respect of most of the fans back by now.

As it is now all they have is the blind love from their most rabid fans and a bad taste in the mouths of everyone else.

Don't forget the Asterix.

Houston Astros 2107 World Series Champs*

One of the things that sticks in my memory was the response from Mike Trout when he found out the Astros were cheaters.

Here's a guy who represents everything that is good in baseball, is generally perceived as the best player in MLB, and who doesn't like the limelight and he was furious!!! Never seen him so mad before or since.

ALL real fans who respect the integrity game were furious.

Isn't that the other lame excuse people make when faced with the reality that their team or whatever isn't what they thought it was.

"Well everyone else is doing it too."

lol

If you don't have any proof it's BS. Just another conspiracy theory (and we have all too many of them nowadays).

That wasn't the case with the Astros. They were caught red-handed cheating their asses off!

Anyone can say what you have with zero evidence (we see it every day nowadays).

The Astros were caught red-handed cheating. It wasn't an individual or a few bad apples. It was the entire corrupt organization.

Yeah right. That's laughable. You obviously know zippo about me.

My wife wishes that was the case. She's laughing right now as I read this to her. lol

For years, some individuals on other teams had suspected the Astros of stealing signs, but there was no public reporting on the subject until November 2019, when reporters Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich at The Athletic published an article detailing the team's activities. Mike Fiers, a pitcher who played for the Astros in 2017, told The Athletic that the organization used a video camera in the center field seats to film the opposing catcher's signals to the pitcher regarding the next pitch. Astros players or team staffers watching the live camera feed behind the dugout used various audio cues, such as banging on a trash can, to signal to the batter what type of pitch was coming next. MLB investigated the allegations and confirmed in January 2020 that the Astros illegally used a camera system to steal signs during the 2017 regular season and postseason, during which they won the World Series, as well as in part of the 2018 season. MLB found no evidence of illicit sign stealing in the 2019 season, in which the Astros advanced to the World Series, but lost in seven games to the Washington Nationals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Astros_sign_stealing_scandal

Do you have the season pass? I do... every year. Most Americans are fed-up with the attitude that it is OK to cheat, lie, dishonor just about everything we hold sacred. The kind of crap you are defending is the type of stuff that ruins the game.

The Giants are a great story this year but I hope the Dodgers face the Astros again in the World Series.

This is what happened to the Astros when the rest of the league found out how they were cheating....

Regardless of who wins the NLCS and ALCS I am a National league fan all the way.

How 'bout those 1st place Cards? Don't count them out.

cardinals-2022 (resized).jpg

Did you notice how fast Paul Goldschmidt came flying out of the dugout? He's usually the level-headed laid-back type. All I know is I wouldn't want to tangle with him.

It did just look like a bunch of pushing and shoving though. These guys usually know better than to throw a punch. Automatic suspension and fines.

The best move came from Arenado though when he tossed the Mets catcher Tomas Nido aside like a rag doll.

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Alonso got hit in the head with 3-2 count. No one is dumb enough to think it was intentional. The throw at Arenado though was intentional.

It's all part of the game though and is a big reason why the DH totally sucks. Pitchers can throw at batters intentionally and don't have to worry about payback.

You can call the guys getting buzzed with the 100 MPH fastballs at their chin pussies if you want but I think they've turned the NL into a pussy league like the AL.

How many of those hit by pitches for Alonso were intentional? It's pretty-obvious neither one was.

As a pitcher I'd feel a lot worse if intentionally beaned a batter than if I did it accidentally. Especially if it ended their career.

Enough with the "genius" of the Dodgers and their scouting of athletes. Let's explain their success in more simple terms for all to understand.

The Top 4 Payrolls in MLB 2022
1) LA Dodgers = $277,108,333
2) NY Mets = $253,119,999
3) NY Yankees = $240,290,714
4) Philadelphia Phillies = $221,738,462

https://boardroom.tv/mlb-team-payrolls-2022/

Yeah you can preach to us about how "great" the Yankees and Dodgers are but there's no denying that when your team payroll is twice as much as the average team's it tends to give you a little bit of an advantage.

The Top 4 Payrolls in MLB 2022
1) LA Dodgers = $277,108,333 ---- Solidly in 1st place in their division
2) NY Mets = $253,119,999 ---- Solidly in 1st place in their division
3) NY Yankees = $240,290,714 ---- Solidly in 1st place in their division
4) Philadelphia Phillies = $221,738,462 ---- Currently 3rd place in their division (behind the Mets & Braves)

I have to disagree with just about everything you state here.

The Mets "gave back" 5 games to the Braves? Yeah right! Do you think that maybe the Braves 14 game win streak might have had something to do with it or was it all just the Mets "giving the games back" to the Braves. lol

The Brewers are doing what they do just about every year and while it may be true that the bottom three in the NL Central are toast, the Brewers and Cards are serious contenders that can compete with the Dodgers and Mets and beat them on any given day.

The Twins are usually pretenders. We'll see this year.

We'll see how playoff bound your Red Sox are after tonight's game with Michael Wacha (a former St Louis cardinals pitcher) vs Adam Wainright at Fenway.

Should be a good matchup.

Yeah I liked how the Cards just gave the New York Yankees the broom. I guess the Yanks are just "Meh" too.

I'd be "encouraged" too if my team spent the most money assembling a team in the history of MLB.

2022 LA Dodgers Payroll = $310,600,000 (#1)

Albert Puhols has turned out to be a whole lot more than the Cards expected from him this season.

He's batting .258 and just hit career homer 690 (a Grand Slam) as a pinch hitter. The Cards finally gave Waino some run support as they destroyed the Rockies 13-0.

x

Well all I know is the hottest team in the NL right now is the St. Louis Cardinals. They've won 8 of their last 10 and have a 5.5 game lead in the Central over the Brew Crew. Goldschmidt and Arenado are on fire and the pitching staff is coming around just in time for a post-season run. The Cards appear to be peaking at just the right time.

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I used to live in Williamsport and watch it every year. Great baseball!

That's the same lame excuse for corruption every crooked politician, gangster, businessman, immature little kid, etc. always says when they get caught.

The bottom line is the Astros got caught cheating and got off way too easy.

They were allowed retain their World Series title. Some of us baseball purists still don't understand that BS? MLB didn't have the courage to do what was right and send a message to all of the teams. Subsequently it will continue to happen and I wouldn't be too surprised to see the Astros get caught again someday. If the ends justifies the means they will continue to do it.

Again with the straw man BS. People like you just never seem to be able to take responsibility for their own actions. It's always someone else's fault. "Well since I got caught we now need to investigate everyone because I'm not the only one!"

That's why I won't be surprised if the Astros get caught again with that attitude.

There are people who commit murder every year who get caught, but according to your failed logic we should just let them go because there are so many other unsolved murders out there.

MLB does investigate every team. They don't just pick on the Astros. The reality is the Astros committed the worst offense since the "Black Sox" scandal and should thank the stars above that they were allowed to retain their "tainted" World Series Championship. There should be a big asterix next to it.

I felt bad for the Dodgers. They are the ones who really got screwed.

Unlike some, I don't really have a stake in all this as far as a favorite team goes.

I'm a St. Louis Cardinals fan but I'm also a MLB fan and as a MLB fan I was offended by the Astros' conduct and also took offense with the seemingly weak response from MLB considering the magnitude of the infractions.

One thing that was really-sad was to find out Carlos Beltran was involved in it with the rest of them. Of all the players, he was one of the last ones I would have thought would be involved with this kind of corrupt BS. He paid dearly for it too when the Mets cancelled his coaching deal, unlike the rest of the players involved in the cheating scandal who got off pretty-easy.

The reality is that no other team in baseball in modern times has disgraced the game like the Houston Astros did. Not even close. Are the other teams perfect? No but that doesn't excuse the Astros. You are going to have to find some better "deep state" conspiracy theories than that Donald. lol

All I know is the Cards have a challenging task ahead of them starting a 3 game series with the Braves tonight in St. Louis. Hopefully the game will be played fairly and not totally-corrupt and rigged as you claim they all are now. lol

Yeah the Cards faced him earlier in the season with similar results. He's the real-deal.

Yeah I remember years ago back when the Braves were consistently good they didn't have the attendance you'd expect. There were playoff games that were not sold out.

It looks like the attendance is a lot better nowadays. Winning the World series tends to give attendance a boost.

Yeah and he went 4 for 4 only missing the triple for the cycle.

Boy that's something to really be proud of.

"We're still champs after we were caught cheating"! lol

Not all "elite" players achieve Hall of Fame but all Hall of Fame players were "elite" for the majority of their careers.

Well the born-again hard Cards just swept the Cubbies and starting tomorrow host a 4-game series with the nasty Nats at Busch.

Hopefully the Cards will do better than the Mets just did against them.

Check this highlight out from today's game.

A 0-0 tie in the 8th with one out and Tommy Edman on 2nd and they bring in the big gun Albert Pujols as a pinch-hitter for Lars Nootbaar. He crushes #695 and is now one away from A-Rod.

It may be his final year but he has earned his position on the team. Definitely a bargain batting .272 with 16 clutch homers in limited play as DH and at 1st base. Any of the playoff contenders would be lucky to have him on the roster.

The Cards have now extended their 1st place NL Central lead over the Brewers to 8.5 games.

700 would be nice but 697 would be too.

Yes he's for real! Not just a farewell tour to sell more tickets. He is a legitimate team leader and the way he is playing right now, he could probably be in the starting lineup of just about any team.

I don't want to jinx the Cards but they way they have been playing with 28 games left in the season and now 8.5 games ahead of the Brew Crew, the Mets & Braves might want to keep an eye on their rear-view mirrors. The #2 playoff spot is not a sure thing.

Mets are 5.5 and Braves are 4.5 ahead of the Cards.

Even though that pitch was a ball, it was a tad too close to take if you want to control your own destiny with the game on the line full count, bases loaded with two outs.

From the sound of it, you'll just be bitching and whining about them too once they come out.

This was the game of the day. Cards down 5-1 in the bottom of the 9th........... think they are toast?

Yeah they are. The Cards are 8-2 in their last 10 games and 31-12 since the All-Star break.

At the All-Star break the Cards were 50-44 and were 1/2 game behind the Brewers in the NL Central.

Now the Cards are 81-56 and are 9 games up on the 2nd place Brewers.

Tommy Edman was the "hero" last night with his walk-off hit but Yadier Molina deserves a lot of the credit because before Edman came to the plate, Yadi was up with 2 outs and hit a clutch RBI double to set it all up for Tommy. I think they said Yadi has 7 hits in his last 14 at bats. Goldy got his 35th homer. The team is firing on all cylinders.

Superstar Yadier Molina just crushed a homer into Big Mac Land and is 8 for his last 15 at bats!

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Make that Back to back jacks for Yadi!

The dude is in flames!!

Hopefully the Cards win this freakin' game. Those Nats are pesky and playing good ball right now.

Yeah right. That's your "issue" huh? lol

"Oh they have to shorten the baseball season because it gets cold in October."

God forbid they have to "suffer" through the same fall weather they've played the "Fall Classic" in for the past 100 years. And that's only the teams without domes.

How 'bout football. I bet the weather up there in Lambeau is an even bigger "issue" with you?

Yeah it's hard to beat the Mets when Max is perfect for 6 innings. He's expensive but he delivers. As soon as they pulled him the Brewers got their 1st hit.

Cards go on their big 8 game road trip starting tomorrow 3 games with Padres followed by 3 games with Dodgers and then wrap it up with 2 games in Milwaukee.

All are pretty-much meaningless to the Cards and Dodgers as far as the post-season goes.

The Padres and Brewers on the other hand should be playing every game from here on like it's Game 7 of the World Series.

Here's #699

And then #700

It pissed about a million Cardinals fans off that we didn't get to see Albert hit #'s 699 & 700 live. Even guys like me who have it on local cable plus the MLB package.

Why? Because MLB decided this year that they were going to show a few games exclusively on other platforms not included in the MLB package. A few games for YouTube and a few more for Peacock. Unless you give them your credit card info and sign up you don't get to see the games.

So after spending hundreds of dollars on cable TV plus another $129 for the MLB season ticket, St. Louis Cardinals fans got screwed - big time. The game was only shown on freakin' YouTube!

I know a lot of people who signed up for the MLB package just so they could see Albert hit #700. They got shafted by the greedy bastards running MLB and subsequently are canceling their MLB subscriptions for next year. After all, who the hell wants to join 4 different pay per view media outlets just to watch your team play baseball?

This coupled with all the retarded rule changes that are supposed to draw more fans in are only driving the real fans away from the game. I for one had zero problems with the rules the way they have been for the past 100 years. The only so called "fans" who supposedly advocated for rule changes aren't really fans at all but rather "casual" viewers who won't be watching every game like the loyal viewers who liked the game just the way it was.

?

Yeah that's sure a travesty. The Astros deserve all the "heckling" they receive and then some.