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Win at all Costs: Lessons from Major League Baseball’s Sign-Stealing Crisis
We’re just a week shy of the start of Spring Training, where optimism reigns and hopeful fans begin their countdown to Opening Day. The tenor has shifted this year, however. Storm clouds are collecting overhead thanks to a developing story in South Texas that hasn’t quite reached its conclusion. I’m talking, of course, about the Houston Astros and their foray in the dark arts of cheating.
The Astros, among the most likeable franchises in recent memory during their rise from the ashes all the way to a World Series victory in 2017, have taken quite a precipitous tumble. Revelations of rampant and egregious cheating will do that. According to the allegations, first levied during the Astros’ most recent playoff run this past October, the team deployed a carefully orchestrated sign-stealing effort that included a system of blinking lights, cameras, bat-to-trash can alerts, and — allegedly — buzzers worn beneath jerseys. The GM was in on it, the field manager was in on it, and many players were as well.
Aftershocks from the Astros’ ruse have not stopped. The first wave hit Houston, naturally, but the Boston Red Sox cut ties with manager Alex Cora shortly thereafter, and New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran recently stepped down as well. And that’s just the ongoing fallout from the situation in…
