The Astros offered an apology for the sign-stealing scandal, but viewers weren’t convinced of its authenticity.
If you didn’t catch the Astros’ sign-stealing press conference yesterday, you didn’t miss much. Team owner Jim Crane spent 27 minutes serving up a lackluster apology that bordered on straight-up insolence, adding more fuel to the fire that is the team’s current PR situation.
According to Crane, the sign-stealing scheme didn’t actually have an effect on the outcome of the 2017 season. You know, the season that culminated in the Astros’ first-ever World Series title.
Crane gave off the distinct impression that he was sorry not for essentially stealing a World Series, but for getting caught.
"So then what are you guys apologizing for?"
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 13, 2020
"We're apologizing because we broke the rules."
Astros owner Jim Crane and @MarlyRiveraESPN went back and forth during the team's news conference. pic.twitter.com/2hdR1sFGcd
In short, the entire press conference was a dumpster fire from start to finish.
The Astros PR guy makes a statement and immediately walks through a bush.
— Savage Boston Sports 🇺🇸🍀❄️☃️ (@SavageBoston) February 13, 2020
Bush league organization pic.twitter.com/ekP2xjsXTF
Crane couldn’t decide whether or not sign-stealing gave his team (which, again, won the championship that year) an advantage over the competition.
"Our opinion is that this didn't impact the game." - Jim Crane
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 13, 2020
"I didn't say it didn't impact the game." - Jim Crane 55 seconds later pic.twitter.com/MnpPeeTUPL
Twitter was quick to drag Crane, along with key players Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve (who was, incidentally, crowned MVP in 2017), for the shockingly weak apology attempts.
MLB should see this as a giant sign that says "HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE" https://t.co/QIIUc6mtiC
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) February 13, 2020
Jim Crane bragging about the Astros being the first team to win 100 games in 3 consecutive seasons at a press conference about how they cheated to win is the weirdest flex of all time.
— Gabrielle (@gfstarr1) February 13, 2020
The Astros “apology” this morning pic.twitter.com/hp85dfRPfJ
— Jack (@MidwestDodger_) February 13, 2020
(The next one contains an F-bomb but was too good to pass up, so don’t blast the volume at work.)
Astros PR person talking to Jim Crane, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman this morning. pic.twitter.com/NzyL8wyMRo
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) February 13, 2020
The Astros method could help you out of a lot of jams in everyday life.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) February 13, 2020
Let's say you forget Valentine's Day.
"I'll make this brief. I'm sorry, but I don't think this impacted our relationship and we should move on. Thank you."
Quite understandably, Los Angeles-based KTLA pulled no punches when airing the press conference.
"Astros cheater" 😂 pic.twitter.com/nEe8Z9VYy1
— Samantha Cortese (@SamanthaCortese) February 13, 2020
It’s safe to say that Astros hitters are going to find themselves on the business end of a lot of beanballs this season.
Worth Watching
Justin Bieber showed Jimmy Fallon some hockey fundamentals in this clip for last night’s episode of The Tonight Show. It’s good stuff if you can get past Bieber’s mustache.
For more thoughts and opinions from Whitney McKinnon, check out her author page.
