[ARETE] Sport and Society - The World Series

[richard crepeau]

SPORT AND SOCIETY FOR ARETE

October 29, 2022



The last few weeks has offered some very good and exciting baseball. The new format of the playoffs has not noticeably damaged the playoff process. As in the case of most playoffs, some good teams are eliminated; some very hot teams move forward; and some very good teams advance. This is generally the case in most playoff schemes in most sports. A short series, five to seven games, does not always reward the best team. The Philadelphia Phillies, the hot team, and the Houston Astros, the very good team, have advanced to the World Series. It looks like a very good matchup.

Watching many of these games, I noticed that the television announcers have become obsessed with one particular word that they seem to use in an infinite variety of ways. That word is “electric.” The usage is not confined to any particular announcer nor any particular network. It pops up in games, in pre-game and post-game analysis, and seemingly can be applied to most everything in or around the games.

The only thing that it is not used for is to describe the lighting in the various stadia. It is, by the way, electric.

Pitchers are electric. They have electric arms and electric stuff. Their fastballs are often electric, and sometimes even their sliders are electric. Hitters too can display electricity when their hits are particularly hard. Anything hit over 105 mph seems to qualify as electric. When the fans get loud, they are electric or create an electric atmosphere in the stadium.

I don’t want to suggest that this is necessarily a bad use of the word “electric.” That can be debated elsewhere. I am not calling for announcers to “pull the plug” on its usage. What I am suggesting is that a bit of moderation in its use and application would be welcomed.

More serious, I think, is the notion that the Houston Astros are a corrupt team and franchise that should not be supported by any true fan of the game. The charge is that the Astros are marked by the cheating that they were doing in the 2017 World Series, and that they were not sufficiently punished by baseball authorities.

There are within these points of view several issues to address. How much cheating was there and did it, in fact, affect the outcome of that World Series? The debate over these two questions will probably never end. It is not clear how many players participated in the sign stealing. It is not clear how many players used the information from the sign stealing. Nor, is it clear what impact knowing the signs had on performance. Data analysis of the impact has been inconclusive.

As to punishment, the feeling is that what was done officially was not adequate. That may be so. What is ignored is the punishment that has been handed out unofficially or by the teams. As to the team actions, the manager, general manager, the front office personal paid with their jobs. Some were suspended for a year and then came back with other teams. Only three players on that World Series team are on the current roster. This is not the 1917 Houston Astros.

Unofficial punishment has been handed out by fans. From the time of the announcement of the scandal until today, the Astros are booed on the road, at spring training, and anywhere they are acknowledged to be present, outside of Houston. After four years and the many changes in the team, is it unreasonable to suggest that it is time to let it go?

Some players from the 1917 Astros team were signed by other teams to multi-year, multi-million-dollar contracts. Is former Astro pitcher Derek Cole, booed by the Yankee fans when he takes the mound for their team? I am guessing, no.

I am not saying that fans do not have a right to boo whoever they want to boo. What I am saying is that this very good team that is favored to win the World Series does not deserve to be booed and denounced as “Cheaters.” They are not cheaters. Most of these players were not in any way connected to the 2017 team. These players and coaches did nothing to deserve the accusations of cheating.

Finally, a word about the crime, sign stealing. Is it cheating? Maybe. It has a long and storied history in baseball. Beyond that, all sorts of “cheating” has been immortalized in baseball folklore. Is it being done now? Probably.

So, it is time to let go. Boo the players from the 2017 Astros who are still out there playing for the Astros and others, but this team does not deserve the blanket indictment that so many seem to want to put on them.

Whatever the case, enjoy the World Series. This is a great matchup of the hot team against the better team.

On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don’t have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.



Copyright 2022 by Richard C. Crepeau

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