January 14, 2020 • 49 mins
Joe Raineri opens the program looking at how the LSU Tigers may have capped off the greatest college football season ever with a National Championship win over Clemson. Joe says that the cheating scandal surrounding the Astros is not as big of a deal around players as it is to the public. Joe’s main question with the Astros cheating issues, is what happens to the mastermind of the whole situation in Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Enjoy the show and thanks so much for listening. Good morning,
(00:22):
Wake up, the morning line, learn pretty much all right,
welcome in on this uh Tuesday, Tuesday sounds good. Welcome
in Tuesday. It is January the fourteen people twenty. As
(00:47):
we said goodbye to the two thousand nineteen college football season.
Last night, we crowned a champion. And what a champion,
Uh they are. Congratulations to the L. S U. Tigers
getting the job done against the Clemson Tigers, one Tiger
beating another Tiger. L s U. Joe Burrow ed auderon
(01:11):
you name it, Go down the go down the list.
The L s U Tigers are national champions and what
a season it was. Some even talking this morning could
possibly be one of the greatest college football seasons ever,
as Joe Burrow uh just completed a history and I
mean historic college football season. Guys, The numbers are astronomical
(01:36):
when you look at it, and what he was able
to do forty two to twenty five was the final
Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow National champion. Now Joe Burrow
the first, the first guy to actually win a Heisman
and then go on to win the national championship, and
the last person to do that was Jamis Winston back
in two thousand thirteen. So let's hope he doesn't throw
(01:58):
nearly as many inter set options, or I hope he
doesn't like crab lakes. But four d and sixty three
yards is what Joe Burrow finished the night with guys
four hundred and sixty three yards, nine six touchdowns, five passing,
one rushing. He had zero and I mean zero turnovers.
(02:19):
He also set new National Title Game records for passing
yards and touchdowns, and he broke a former Clemson Tigers
record for total yards in the championship game, that being
Deshaun Watson, and then of course broke the n C
double a season single season record for touchdown passes in
the process. All in all, pretty darn good season, pretty
(02:41):
darn good night for the L. S U Tigers and
Ed Odern and his coaching staff, especially his offensive coordinator
um Steve Ensminger, who his passing game coordinator Joe Brady,
who brought a little of that New Orleans Saints offense
(03:01):
along with him in that passing game uh, and the
way that they were able to transform pretty much over
a year's time, an l s U program that was
never known for quarterback play, never known for passing the ball.
It was think Leonard for net guys. That's that is
what L s U has always been. They've always been
(03:24):
a team that more talent than anybody in the SEC,
more talented most teams in the country, but they just
couldn't get it done, mostly because whenever they faced quarterbacks
UH that could actually air the ball out. That was
where they had the biggest problem. And the up tempo
spread attack that was adopted taking a page out of
(03:46):
ironically enough, the same building that they played in last night,
the home of the New Orleans Saints. You kind of
felt like you were watching a little bit of Saints
football there, didn't You kind of felt like you had
Drew Brees, who was also pretty funny. It was Joe
Burrow's idol growing up. He was a big Drew Brees fan,
and yep, kind of looked a lot like him there
(04:09):
last night as he just carved up the Clemson defense.
It was a pretty darn good game early on, as
Clemson had a seventeen to seven lead early in the
first half there. And then you got to give credit
the at O drawn and to that to the coaching
staff of the l s U Tigers. I love Dabo Sweeney,
(04:32):
Bread Venerable, loved those guys, but a lot of their
success over the years has come from their ability to
in game adapt, halftime adjustments, and to really out coach
the guys on the other sideline. And that did not
happen last night. At a Drown and his crew identified
what Clemson was doing, and certainly defensively as well as offensively,
(04:56):
they were able to adapt, they were able to adjust,
and once they did that in the second half, they
were able to really in the second quarter just kind
of blow the doors off, scoring you know, three touchdowns
in the second quarter alone. They're on their way to
a rather easy forty five victory there. So Clemson unfortunately
(05:19):
got was the I believe their best their linebacker, they're
actually one of their leading tacklers, gets thrown out in
the third quarter for a targeting hit. UH. That was
a problem. There were a couple of very iffy calls
that went against including a touchdown it was called back
because of offensive past interference. Of course, I'm pretty sure
(05:39):
nobody in Ohio or Ohio State fans were crying for Clemson.
They're getting a player thrown out for targeting or UH
seemed to be getting flags thrown against them all night.
It was a rough night. L s U beat them,
and Trevor Lawrence unfortunately did not have a good game
and missing wide receivers everywhere, and when it came down
(06:04):
to it, one team made a lot more plays, a quarterback,
a star in the making, without a doubt, Joe Burrow
UH proved once again that the number one pick coming
up in the draft for those Cincinnati Bengals, You're gonna
be very hard to pass up Joe Burrow there, who
just looks apart. You can't ask him to do anything
(06:27):
more than what the kid has absolutely done for l
s U and for his own career. He will be
the number one pick. And unlike a couple of years
ago seeing guys like Baker Mayfield come out or even
last year, another Oklahoma quarterback coming out. There's something about
Joe Burrow I think watching him play guys where you
(06:47):
just think, I don't know, it feels very Drew Breezi ish,
only he's got a hell of a lot more legs
and his ability to be able to escape the pocket
is not something you can teach, guys, and he did
it on a number of occasions last night there using
his legs, his ability to be able to escape, not
(07:09):
get sacked, uh, not turn the ball over all attributes
that really give him a great shot at being very
successful in the NFL. So congratulations to l S you
who not only covered as a four and a half
point favorite, the total closed at sixty six and a
(07:30):
half the final sixty seven points. Guys, the over cash
last night. Much more to get to on this game,
plus the suspensions heard around the world, as well as
the firings of Major League Baseball. We'll talk about that
next year. It is the morning line on the Grid
poorts grid dot Com, Happy Chief Days daily Rhodo dot
(07:54):
Com learned from the game's best DFS players. We don't
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(08:14):
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players joined Daily Roado dot com. All right, welcome back
(08:43):
again here to the grid. It is the morning line.
I'm Joe ran Aire to get caught up with everything
that happened over the last twenty four hours in the
world sports and spart betting and bars. All about L
s U last night, capping off one of the most
dominant Kyle Edge football seasons that we have seen in
the history of the game. Actually taking down a team
(09:06):
that had won twenty nine straight games, taken down a
quarterback that had won straight games, taken down those Clemson Tigers.
They are forty two to twenty five. National championship belongs
in New Orleans. It belongs at L s You they
covered easily at four and a half points, and two
thirds of the public betters they love themselves, some L
(09:31):
s U Tigers. It was the It was the professional betters,
the some of the big money guys which took it
on the chin last night, as did many of the
books who were had heavy liability on the very public
favorite there being the L s U Tigers UH Clemson
(09:52):
a lot of smart money late they're pushing that line.
If you had noticed that it was hovering around five
and a half six all week long, and then about
an hour or two just before kickoff there we saw
that drop down to four four and a half in
some places, UM and I can see it even closed
at four in UH in a few books here around
(10:13):
the country. So none of it mattered because ultimately L.
S U went on to cover easily there forty two
to twenty five. But it is interesting that that money
came in came in fast. There was a lot of
it too. So usually when you have because the limits
(10:34):
on how much you can bet are usually lifted and
they're the highest they're going to be right before kickoff,
that's when you can really tell, all right, So which
way of the pros, the syndicates, the guys with the
you know, guys with the big bucks, where are they leaning?
And it was very easy to see that they were
leaning Clemson there a lot of that money came in. Also,
(10:55):
interesting enough, the total, which opened at around sixty six
and a half, I saw it reached seventy seventy and
a half over the last two weeks, but it closed
at sixty six and a half. It kept getting pushed down,
the total kept getting beat down and beat down, and
of course it landed at sixty seven, which is that's
(11:17):
a win. That is an absolute win for over betters. However, UH,
most of that money, certainly most of the professional money
pushing that line down there had under sixty seven and
a half UH and won their under bets because obviously,
if you got in late at sixty seven you were
(11:38):
a push. But if you hopped in the last second
and grab sixty six and a half, that wasn't any
good for the under. But it was the professional betters
that took that line from about sixty nine and a
half very inflated line, and kept betting it and betting
it and betting it and pushing it down. The public
was all over the over, but the pros were the
(11:59):
ones that pushing that down, and they were rewarded with
an under last night. So the sports books they won
with most of the public money being on the over
in that game, but they lost whatever gains they might
have had on the total. UH, they lost on the
side because it was three out of four tickets. Guys.
(12:23):
Mostly over the last two weeks, we're banging LSU there
and outside of that, late big money betters coming in
on Clemson, big payouts there to the public for the
sports books. So all in all, great game. We move on.
We got plenty of action going even tonight in fact,
where you got six NBA games, eleven NHL games, college
(12:47):
hoops games in action, and of course we'll all be
getting ready for one final weekend here to decide who
will be traveling to Miami to be crowned the NFL champ.
That's right, super Bowl champions. We've got two games left
here on Sunday. We'll start diving into the marketplace there
(13:07):
here in just a few let you know exactly what
the early line movements are telling us, indicating where does
the public seem to be going, where do the pros
seem to be going. We'll lay that out for you
coming up. But yesterday another bombshell story was kind of
dropped in our lap. And I'm shocked that they announced
(13:28):
this on a Monday, and they didn't bury this on
a Friday. But Major League Baseball and Rob Manfred announced
their punishments and their findings regarding the Houston Astros cheating
scandal about that was unearthed and uncovered a couple of
(13:50):
months back after a former Astros picture named Mike fires
Uh did an interview and kind of blew the lid
off of what was one of the worst kept secrets
in all of baseball about the Houston Astros back in
two thousand seventeen during their World Series run might have
(14:11):
been using electronics, Uh and other means to be able
to try to steal signals and to try and gain
an edge, certainly at home, to the point where they
were even setting up surveillance equipment inside the right inside
the tunnel there in your locker room, trying to figure
out who, what, where and how, banging on trash cans,
(14:34):
doing all of this stuff. So again, one of the
worst kept secrets, because most everybody that you talked to
in baseball, they've known for a long time how the
Astros are stealing signs. It's been one of the biggest complaints.
But when when that interview came out and kind of
blew the lid off of it, Rob Manfred and company
(14:56):
really had no choice but to investigate, and what they
found not surprising. It should not be surprising. And I
can tell you this, it is more surprising to people
who are outside of the game covering the game, um,
than it is two people actually in the game, because
(15:16):
we've had a chance to talk to a lot of
Major League Baseball players since this story broke out, former
Major League Baseball players, the former managers, and the reality is,
as much as we all want to throw our hands
up in the air and say, oh, I can't believe it,
it's a part of the game. It's stealing signs has
always been a part of the game. Did they cross
the line, Sure, a little bit. But this is not
(15:39):
nearly as big a deal with players as it is
with everybody else outside of the game. And mostly because
when you ask players and when you talk to him, uh,
you still have to execute. You still, even if you
know a fastball and curveball is coming, you still have
to be able to hit the ball. And players will
(16:00):
never admit that even if you know it's coming, I
should have made a better pitch. It's just a mindset
of what baseball players go through. And was it was
an underheaded note? Did Were they the only team doing it?
Probably not? Probably not due to the fact that, well,
they're the only team that actually won anything by doing it,
(16:22):
but they are far from the only team pushing the envelope,
and Major League Baseball and Rob Manford and everybody else
in Major League Baseball knows it. They just had the
most success with it, and that of course puts a
bright light on the Houston Astros and the organization. And
Rob Manfred left with little choice but to come down
(16:44):
hard on the Astros organization, and they went ahead and
not only announced the five million dollar maximum fine allowed
under I guess what the Major League Baseball constitution reads,
and the five million dollar fine is pretty much the
max that you can get for an infraction. Uh So, ouch,
(17:08):
the poor Houston Astro ownership there and Mr Crane five million,
what is he gonna do with five five million dollars
is brutal? Yeah. To put it in context, guys, the
Houston Astros when they started the two thousand seventeen baseball
season were valued at just about one billion dollars UM.
(17:29):
When they won the World Series UM, that number came
a lot closer to two billion dollars after that World
Series win. So five million dollars to gain close to
I don't know. Eight hundred million inequity and in value
for your organization. Yeah, I think they'll go ahead and
(17:50):
trade that in any day. But having to fall on
the sword and taken out along the way. Manager A. J.
Hinch he was suspended for one year. The GM Jeff
Luff now low now also suspend it a year. The
list goes on draft picks, but it's the reactions of everybody,
(18:11):
including the former general manager. Now that's got everyone's screaming.
We'll go ahead and let you know what those reactions are.
We'll do that coming up here on the Grid. Sports
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(19:44):
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(20:04):
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(20:49):
you check out the website for details. And boy oh boy,
talk about cheating man. Higher standards for the city and
the franchise, and I'm going above and beyond MLB's penalty
today I have made the decision to dismiss A. J.
(21:10):
Hinch and Jeff lu Now. We need to move forward
with a clean slate and the Astros will become stronger,
a stronger organization because of this. Today you can be
confident that will will be We will always do the
right thing and will not have this happened again on
my watch. Yeah. That would be the Houston Astros owner
(21:33):
Jim Crane announcing that he in fact accepts the league's findings.
And right after it was announced that not only the
general manager Jeff lu Now, but of course the uh
the g M Jeff lu Now rather the manager A. J.
Hinch were suspended by Rob Manfred for their findings and
their roles in this UH, in this cheating scandal. UH.
(21:58):
They basically we're we're gonna be banned for baseball for
a year. And certainly after that came out, we found
that the team was not only going to be short
five million dollars, find five million dollars, they were also
gonna lose first and second round picks in and twenty one.
(22:18):
And that suspension lasted for about an hour before you
just heard Jim Crane there, the the owner, hold that
press conference and announced that not only where they suspended,
but now they are unemployed. And you heard him talk
about how we need to move forward with a clean slates,
which is ironic since somehow or another that's supposed to
(22:39):
just wash everything away is get rid of the GM
and the manager and somehow that's going to be a
clean slate. And again, this all started, guys, because former
Astros player Mike Fires, who threw that no hitter back
in two thousand fifteen for the Astros, along with three
other quote unidentified people affiliated with the Astros, all confirming
(23:03):
that that two thousand seventeen championship season that players along
with employees of the organization UH put together this UH
this scheme, this elaborate scheme there to monitor catchers signals
from cameras UH positioned inside the ballpark there that were
(23:24):
relayed to monitors that were set up in the tunnel
by the astros locker room, which guys were monitoring, and
then they relayed the signs of the guys at home
played either by banging on trash cans or some other
ridiculous way. And now, of course it's so funny that
you bang on trash cans to know what the pitch
(23:46):
is coming. And now the Astro's reputation is just that
trash and crane. I listen, He's in an impossible situation.
I get it. There is no way I think you
could remain to keep these guys employed. For that, you've
got to wipe the stink off. But the real question
is going to be what happens now to the Boston
(24:10):
Red Sox manager Mr. Cora there, Joe Carr, because Uh,
one of the things to pull away Alex cor rather,
one of the things to pull away from rod Manford's
findings yesterday was that this entire thing apparently mastermind by
(24:31):
the Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was heavily,
and I mean heavily, guys implicated in what mon Rob
Manford released yesterday and in their reports. So Major League
Baseball says that they have not concluded or figured out
what the punishment for Alex core is going to be
just yet, but they are still investigating the Boston Red
(24:54):
Sox because, let's face it, pretty good chance that if
he had, if he was orchestrating that in Houston, what
was gonna stop him from doing it in Boston. So
he was the bench coach for the Astros during that
World Series run there in two thousand seventeen, and I
mean it spells it out. Guys out care was the
(25:16):
guy behind it, orchestrated it, put it together, rand it
ran it apparently, and he was a guy that I
guess would call the Astros video replay room early in
the season to obtain information regarding the signals that opponents
were using. He streamlined the process. I mean, it's it
(25:36):
is damning for Alex Cora, who is really at this
point a dead man walking. It is just a matter
of if not when, just a matter of when not
if he is going to be removed from the Boston
Red Sox organization. Although ironically enough, you wouldn't notice it
if you actually tuned into any local media outlets in Boston.
(26:01):
They're acting like this is nothing, nothing to see here,
They have no idea, acting as if somehow or another,
the Red Sox aren't implicated that Alex Cara somehow is
this is all just all just flaff. It's just you
hate us because you don't want to be Yeah, that's
it's amazing. You won't be You'll be hard pressed to
(26:23):
find one news outlet or one certainly sports media outlet
in Boston that is honing in on Alex Cara right
now and talking about this not happening guys. But the
truth is they haven't concluded what this is going to
be or how it's going to be. I can tell
you this, if the Red Sox, no matter what it is,
(26:44):
at this point, the cat is out of the bag.
Once Rob Manfred implicated him in that report yesterday, I
don't know how he remains a manager in any capacity
or an employee of the Boston Red Sox, especially since
his suspension is reportedly going to be far longer than
what A J. Hinch is the manager was to receive.
(27:08):
So it's quite obvious. They have the person that is
really going to take the fall here, and that is
Alex Chorus. So the question remains when, not if, and
how fast will it be before the Boston Red Sox
organization gets out in front of this they know it's coming.
I would be absolutely shocked if if the announcement of
(27:31):
Alex Cors stepping down or or walking away something along
those lines, we don't hear it sooner rather than later,
because otherwise, Boston, you are just you are sitting there
implicating yourself, unless, of course, they find something to complicate
the Boston Red Sox that he implemented there. And why
(27:54):
wouldn't he You know, when you read the what was
going on here? Guys, it's it's a lay. He really was.
Rob Manford spells it out. He really was the guy
that apparently A J. Hinch during a couple of times
during the season, apparently broke the monitors that they were
using uh to relay those signals back into the into
(28:16):
the tunnel there in the replay room. Uh. He was
apparently so bent about it, thought it was ridiculous, and
it spells it out. Manford talks about how a J.
Hinch really he was kind of vindicated with this because
car Manford wrote that listen, he he absolutely showed his displeasure.
He wasn't happy about it, but unfortunately he did not
(28:40):
stop it. He did not go out of his way
to end the practice, although he did do a number
of different things voicing his displeasure about it, but never
did anything to actually stop the process from happening. And
that was why he was suspended. Uh. The other situation
of us was Jeff lu Now, who is just alienated
(29:02):
about everybody because lu Now was the guy that releases
a statement yesterday, and the opening statement is I just
want to you know, I take full responsibility there for
for what what happened under my watch. However, I'm not
(29:23):
a cheater, and he goes on in his he flat
out says it, I'm not a cheat. To anybody who
worked closely with me during my thirty two year career
inside and outside of baseball can attest to my integrity,
I do not know. I do not know rules were
being broken, which is hilarious because you were just suspended
and then fired for cheating. And he opens the statement
(29:46):
with I am not a cheater. He then goes on
to act as if He had absolutely no idea what
was going on there. He points the finger at Alex Cora.
That is absolutely yes. He blames Alex Cora and lower
level Astro's employees that orchestrated this whole thing. He had
(30:08):
no idea what was going on. And yet Rob Manford
a Major League Baseball who have quite detailed findings here
with the over sixty some odd people that they interviewed, uh, emails,
they got everything. It's uh, it's quite obvious that he
(30:29):
knew exactly what was going on because the owner, the
owner Jim Crane had actually on record approached him during
that season and said, major League Baseball sent us a
warning here, do you know if this is going on
in the clubhouse, make sure it stops. They have that
(30:50):
on record, and of course he didn't make it stop.
He just continued to watch it happens. More on the
cheating scandal. Major League Baseball will do that. Next to
on the grid work. I want to be the next
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(31:11):
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(31:31):
dunc to learn more. I want to say one thing
to the American people. I want you to listen to me.
I'm gonna say this again, I did not have sexual
relations for that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. When very true, very
(32:03):
very true. Yes. The theme around the sports world cheating
the Houston Astros. Uh. Pretty much the hammer comes down
on the Astros there as they were found guilty of
cheating their way through the two thousand seventeen World Series
(32:23):
Championship and along the way they have managed to suspend
the manager, General manager A. J. Hinch and Jeff lu Now. Uh,
they also got fired by the ownership group there in Houston.
Mr Crane says you gotta go. Uh. Former assistant GM
Brandon Tobman he suspended for one year, although they had
(32:46):
removed him already a couple of months back. Uh. They
also are giving up a their first and second round
picks for the next two years, and they were also
fine five million dollars, which I think it's hilarious given
the fact that they made close to a billion dollars
in value by winning that championship since winning that championship
(33:06):
in two thousand and seventeen. But really, the big findings
here is that it points out, beyond a shadow of
a doubt, that Alex Carra, the Houston bench coach, the
now Boston Red Sox manager, was the mastermind behind all
of it, and he was the guy that fueled it.
He was the guy that streamlined the process. So one
(33:27):
has to wonder because they are now, in fact Major
League Baseball investigating the the Boston Red Sox, and you
have to wonder, would this be something he only did
in two thousand seventeen with the Astros. Would he have
not brought this knowledge? Isn't it Once a cheater, always
a cheater. Isn't that they would have figured out something
(33:47):
to do in Boston? So, uh, the hunt is on.
Rob Manford in Major League Baseball said they will not
release the punishment for ale Score until they finished the
investigation into Boston. But again, well, you know there is
if he's the mastermind and we already know what happened
to A J. Hinch and company. Then I have absolutely
(34:11):
no doubt that Alex Cora will be at least double
that to their the fines and everything else. Uh, he
very much well could be finished in Major League Baseball
just like that. And it's funny the way Manfred really
did kind of just everybody, not only Rob Manfred, but
(34:33):
of course Jeff lu Now in his released statement pushes
it all on Cora and pretends like he had nothing
to do with it, absolutely no idea what was going on.
This was all him. But yet there was about two
months into the two thousand seventeen season, there was absolutely
(34:54):
also current Mets manager by the way, Carlos Beltran, he
was mentioned by name as to somebody that was involved
with the whole banging on the drum and banging on
the garbage can system. There no word yet on what
that is. So far, no players have been implicated at all,
but this is definitely falling on the GM and the
(35:15):
manager in the organization. And there was a letter. Uh
and this had happened listen two thousand sixteen. Uh, they
had looked into the Astros. Two thousand seventeen, a letter
was sent to the ASTROS owner saying if this is
going on, stop it. And then of course, uh, that
(35:38):
is really where the ownership group went to lu Now
and said, listen, you are two two emails that were
uncovered sent to lu Now pointing out that if this
is going on, okay, if this is happening, make sure
it stops. And then of course it did not stop it.
It progressed right through. Obviously the word old series there
(36:01):
and lu Now was suspended by Rob Manford simply because
the scandal happened under his watch and failure by leaders
of the Baseball Operations Apartment and the field manager to
adequately manage the employees under their supervision. That is what
Rob Manford wrote in his findings, which is why he
(36:22):
justified suspending Hinch and lu Now. Manford left the discipline
of the lower level ASTROS employees. Um. He's saying that
this was completely under the discretion of lu Now, that
he knew what was going on, and he could have intervened.
The owner even went to him and said stop it
(36:42):
if this is what's going on, and he did not.
But that did not stop lu Now of course from
releasing that statement yesterday saying got nothing to do with me. Guys,
I am not a cheater, although I take full responsibility
under my watch. However, I'm not a cheater. But yeah,
he was just he was just caught cheating and overseeing
(37:05):
it and not doing anything about it. Now A J. Hinch.
On the other hand, he did release a statement as well,
only there could not be uh two statements that were
further apart from one another. Uh. A J. Hinch took
full responsibility UH for his actions and for his role
(37:25):
in this. He Uh. He said, listen, it was my responsibility.
I should have done more. I didn't, and this is
all on me. Uh. He didn't make any excuses, didn't
deny anything. He just basically said, I'm good to go.
And again, Manford's report kind of vindicated Hinch when he
wrote that, UH. He showed UH a number of different
(37:47):
times throughout the season his displeasure with it, mostly destroying
the monitors they were using UH in order to be
able to decode the signs, So he showed a number
of times he was not happy with it. However, he
just he never told anybody to stop. But that is
not the organ. That is not the way lu now
uh lu now went lu Now went just guns a blazing,
(38:12):
blaming everybody. Uh, it's just absolutely hysterical. I did not
personally direct oversea and engage in any misconduct. The the
sign stealing initiative was not planned or directed by baseball man.
He went over and over and over basically throwing Cora
(38:32):
under the bus, saying it was all him and that
this is ridiculous, and but I take full responsibility. And
I'm not a teachater. I do not know, uh if
this guy ever works again in major League baseball. Uh,
he is certainly not going down without swinging. But at
this particular point, I've got to believe that A. J.
(38:53):
Hinch one of the best managers in the game. I
do believe his contriteness there and his ability to be
able to say my bad guys. I take full responsibility.
I think that'll go a long way and helping him
return to major League baseball as far as Jeff lu now, yeah,
new don't see that happening anytime anytime soon. So uh,
(39:16):
congratulations to the Astros organization to do the right thing
here quickly, uh, because this story will die down eventually.
There are a whole lot of people, though, that feel
the Boston Red Sox should be proactive here and get
out in front and make sure that because obviously the
(39:38):
damage is done with Cora, he's already implicated. So if
he's implicated, what is there if A J. Hinch gets fired?
What is the Red Sox doing keeping a cheater who,
in all likelihood is going to be suspended way longer
than what Hinch got, which was a full year. Why
is he still employed? And why are the Red Sox
not saying anything? I doubt it will be very long
(40:01):
before why they remained silent? Although like we told you,
you'd be hard pressed to find any sort of talk
of this in the media in Boston, acting as if
there's nothing to see here, but there, in fact is
going to be plenty to see. The only question is
did he also bring down the Boston Red Sox, who
(40:21):
may or may not have had some success based upon
the knowledge his cheating ability. But I will, like I
said to start with, this is much bigger issue for
many of those outside of Major League Baseball than it
is for the players of Major League Baseball, because the
players will all tell you, listen to this the beginning
(40:42):
of time. We're all in our own way trying to
steal signs trying to gain an edge. Uh, it really
was one of the worst kept secrets in baseball. Everyone
kind of knew what was going on, and honestly, if
you are and this was another reaction from a lot
of people in the game, the reaction was, we gotta
(41:02):
be better at hiding signs. Then we we can't be.
We knew what was going on and we still warrant
better enough to be able to mask it. So players like, yeah,
it socks, it's terrible. But again, like Alex Cora, where
did the als core get You think he invented it
with Houston or did he get it along the line.
This is again the worst cap secret. It has been
(41:25):
happening for years. The Astros are far from the only
organization I'm sure that have done something along these lines
and used electronics and video. The problem is they were
the most successful. And of course now Rob Banford has
to step in and show that he is not messing around.
But the idea that somehow this should the World Series
(41:48):
should be taken away, that was the other hot take
we got throughout the day yesterday. The World Series should
be taking away taken away? Where like, what are you
supposed to do with the World Series. Now we're supposed
to vacate the World Series. There is nothing worse in
sports than when punishment includes pretending that victories did not happen.
(42:15):
That is, there is nothing to me in the world
of sports that is more stupid. That is just the
most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. We've seen this with
scandals in the past, with Penn stayed oh or vacate
the You're gonna pretend that there is nothing worse than
pretending that games did not happen number one and number two,
(42:36):
that there weren't actually winners and losers or outcomes of
those games. So taking away the World Series is not
going to take away the reality of what happened there.
I think it's absolutely ridiculous to people behind it paid
the price, although I do think the money aspect is
a joke with the five million since they made eight
(42:58):
hundred million, I am or the five million dollar price
tag associated with winning a World Series if it gets
you there and the windfall that comes after it, I
am not really sure five million dollars is going to
deter organizations from pushing the envelope further. And if you've
got to sacrifice the GM and a manager these days,
(43:21):
so be it's we'll find another one. We're good to go. Uh,
it's it's a very slippery slope. It'll be interesting to
see what happens moving forward, but for right now, we
all wait to see what is the punishment. What did
the Red Sox know, did they do anything? And exactly
how long is it gonna take them to realize Alex
(43:44):
Cora is a dead man walking and it is time
to remove him as the manager of the Boston Red
Sox and fire him in the wake of what is
about to be handed down by Rob Manford and Major
League Baseball. But let us not pretend like the Astros
still did not win the World Series. They are still
World Series champs. Nothing anybody does is going to be
(44:05):
able to take that away, including some sort of rule
that says you're not champions anymore now they are. They
wanted they got the trophy. Did they cheat? Absolutely? But
if I'm Pete Rose right now that I am Pete
Rose's people, and you just admit, admitted, admitted that we
(44:28):
had a cheating scandal in Major League Baseball. Uh, not
the Black Socks scandal where they threw a World Series,
but at the same time a cheating scandal nonetheless. Uh,
and you have a lifetime ban for Pete Rose because
he gambled on baseball? Another no, no, because of the
integrity of the game. Well, what does this say about
(44:50):
the integrity of the game. These guys got a one
year suspension? Uh? No, players were implicated even though they're
the ones that executed it. Um exactly, how do you
still justify keeping Pete Rose banned for life your all
time hits leader. I can't wait to see the argument
for this one way or the other coming up, because
(45:13):
it will be brought up time and time again, and
they've kind of shot themselves in the foot with this.
But while more on the cheating scandal, what it means
moving forward, what's the NFL coming up this weekend? Final
two games? We'll do that coming up as we look
to make it rain back tomorrow, breaking it all down
for you here on the Morning Line. I want to
(45:37):
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com backslash doc to learn more. Hiver slept Look, I
need your help here. Did you miss on the morning line?
What happens now to the Boston Red Sox manager Mr Cora? There,
(46:23):
Joe Carr? Because uh, one of the things to pull
away Alex cor rather, one of the things to pull
away from Rod Manford's findings yesterday was that this entire
thing apparently mastermind by the Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora,
who was heavily and I mean heavily guys implicated in
(46:44):
what mon Rob Manford released yesterday and in their reports.
So Major League Baseball says that they have not concluded
or figured out what the punishment for Alex core is
going to be just yet, but they are still investigating
the Boston Red Sox because, let's face it, pretty good
chance that if he had if he was orchestrating that
(47:04):
in Houston, what was gonna stop him from doing it
in Boston? So he was the bench coach for the
Astros during that World Series run there in two thousand seventeen,
and I mean it spells it out. Guys out care
was the guy behind it, orchestrated it, put it together,
rand it ran it apparently, and he was a guy
(47:25):
that I guess would call the Astros video replay room
early in the season to obtain information regarding the signals
that opponents were using. He streamlined the process. I mean,
it's it is damning for Alex Cora, who is really
at this point a dead man walking. It is just
a matter of if not when, just a matter of
when not if he is going to be removed from
(47:48):
the Boston Red Sox organization. Although ironically enough, you wouldn't
notice it if you actually tuned into any local media
outlets in Boston. They're acting like this is nothing, nothing
to see here. They have no idea, acting as if
somehow or another, the Red Sox aren't implicated that Alex
(48:09):
Cara somehow is this is all just all just flawf.
It's just you hate us because you don't want to
be it. Yeah, that's it's amazing. You won't be It'll
be hard pressed to find one news outlet or one
certainly sports media outlet in Boston that is honing in
on Alex Cara right now and talking about this not happening, guys.
(48:31):
But the truth is they haven't concluded what this is
going to be or how it's going to be. I
can tell you this, if the Red Sox, no matter
what it is, at this point, the cat is out
of the bag. Once Rob Manfred implicated him in that
report yesterday, I don't know how he remains a manager
in any capacity or an employee of the Boston Red Sox,
especially since his suspension is reportedly going to be far
(48:56):
longer than what A J. Hinch is the manager was
to receive. So it's quite obvious they have the person
that is really going to take the fall here, and
that is Alex Chorus
Hey, thanks for downloading the podcast. If you want to
listen live, all you have to do is download the
I Heart Radio app and search for Fantasy Sports Radio Network. Also,
if you want to catch this show on video, for
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that's where you can find Sports Grids Fantasy Sports Network.
Enjoy the show and thanks so much for listening. Good morning,
(00:22):
Wake up, the morning line, learn pretty much all right,
welcome in on this uh Tuesday, Tuesday sounds good. Welcome
in Tuesday. It is January the fourteen people twenty. As
(00:47):
we said goodbye to the two thousand nineteen college football season.
Last night, we crowned a champion. And what a champion,
Uh they are. Congratulations to the L. S U. Tigers
getting the job done against the Clemson Tigers, one Tiger
beating another Tiger. L s U. Joe Burrow ed auderon
(01:11):
you name it, Go down the go down the list.
The L s U Tigers are national champions and what
a season it was. Some even talking this morning could
possibly be one of the greatest college football seasons ever,
as Joe Burrow uh just completed a history and I
mean historic college football season. Guys, The numbers are astronomical
(01:36):
when you look at it, and what he was able
to do forty two to twenty five was the final
Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow National champion. Now Joe Burrow
the first, the first guy to actually win a Heisman
and then go on to win the national championship, and
the last person to do that was Jamis Winston back
in two thousand thirteen. So let's hope he doesn't throw
(01:58):
nearly as many inter set options, or I hope he
doesn't like crab lakes. But four d and sixty three
yards is what Joe Burrow finished the night with guys
four hundred and sixty three yards, nine six touchdowns, five passing,
one rushing. He had zero and I mean zero turnovers.
(02:19):
He also set new National Title Game records for passing
yards and touchdowns, and he broke a former Clemson Tigers
record for total yards in the championship game, that being
Deshaun Watson, and then of course broke the n C
double a season single season record for touchdown passes in
the process. All in all, pretty darn good season, pretty
(02:41):
darn good night for the L. S U Tigers and
Ed Odern and his coaching staff, especially his offensive coordinator
um Steve Ensminger, who his passing game coordinator Joe Brady,
who brought a little of that New Orleans Saints offense
(03:01):
along with him in that passing game uh, and the
way that they were able to transform pretty much over
a year's time, an l s U program that was
never known for quarterback play, never known for passing the ball.
It was think Leonard for net guys. That's that is
what L s U has always been. They've always been
(03:24):
a team that more talent than anybody in the SEC,
more talented most teams in the country, but they just
couldn't get it done, mostly because whenever they faced quarterbacks
UH that could actually air the ball out. That was
where they had the biggest problem. And the up tempo
spread attack that was adopted taking a page out of
(03:46):
ironically enough, the same building that they played in last night,
the home of the New Orleans Saints. You kind of
felt like you were watching a little bit of Saints
football there, didn't You kind of felt like you had
Drew Brees, who was also pretty funny. It was Joe
Burrow's idol growing up. He was a big Drew Brees fan,
and yep, kind of looked a lot like him there
(04:09):
last night as he just carved up the Clemson defense.
It was a pretty darn good game early on, as
Clemson had a seventeen to seven lead early in the
first half there. And then you got to give credit
the at O drawn and to that to the coaching
staff of the l s U Tigers. I love Dabo Sweeney,
(04:32):
Bread Venerable, loved those guys, but a lot of their
success over the years has come from their ability to
in game adapt, halftime adjustments, and to really out coach
the guys on the other sideline. And that did not
happen last night. At a Drown and his crew identified
what Clemson was doing, and certainly defensively as well as offensively,
(04:56):
they were able to adapt, they were able to adjust,
and once they did that in the second half, they
were able to really in the second quarter just kind
of blow the doors off, scoring you know, three touchdowns
in the second quarter alone. They're on their way to
a rather easy forty five victory there. So Clemson unfortunately
(05:19):
got was the I believe their best their linebacker, they're
actually one of their leading tacklers, gets thrown out in
the third quarter for a targeting hit. UH. That was
a problem. There were a couple of very iffy calls
that went against including a touchdown it was called back
because of offensive past interference. Of course, I'm pretty sure
(05:39):
nobody in Ohio or Ohio State fans were crying for Clemson.
They're getting a player thrown out for targeting or UH
seemed to be getting flags thrown against them all night.
It was a rough night. L s U beat them,
and Trevor Lawrence unfortunately did not have a good game
and missing wide receivers everywhere, and when it came down
(06:04):
to it, one team made a lot more plays, a quarterback,
a star in the making, without a doubt, Joe Burrow
UH proved once again that the number one pick coming
up in the draft for those Cincinnati Bengals, You're gonna
be very hard to pass up Joe Burrow there, who
just looks apart. You can't ask him to do anything
(06:27):
more than what the kid has absolutely done for l
s U and for his own career. He will be
the number one pick. And unlike a couple of years
ago seeing guys like Baker Mayfield come out or even
last year, another Oklahoma quarterback coming out. There's something about
Joe Burrow I think watching him play guys where you
(06:47):
just think, I don't know, it feels very Drew Breezi ish,
only he's got a hell of a lot more legs
and his ability to be able to escape the pocket
is not something you can teach, guys, and he did
it on a number of occasions last night there using
his legs, his ability to be able to escape, not
(07:09):
get sacked, uh, not turn the ball over all attributes
that really give him a great shot at being very
successful in the NFL. So congratulations to l S you
who not only covered as a four and a half
point favorite, the total closed at sixty six and a
(07:30):
half the final sixty seven points. Guys, the over cash
last night. Much more to get to on this game,
plus the suspensions heard around the world, as well as
the firings of Major League Baseball. We'll talk about that
next year. It is the morning line on the Grid
poorts grid dot Com, Happy Chief Days daily Rhodo dot
(07:54):
Com learned from the game's best DFS players. We don't
just give you premier advice. We play every day, all
major sports, all year round. We never stopped industry leading
DFS tools and custom projections, and now the Daily Roado
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(08:14):
cast games and turneys learned from the game's best DFS
players joined Daily Roado dot com. All right, welcome back
(08:43):
again here to the grid. It is the morning line.
I'm Joe ran Aire to get caught up with everything
that happened over the last twenty four hours in the
world sports and spart betting and bars. All about L
s U last night, capping off one of the most
dominant Kyle Edge football seasons that we have seen in
the history of the game. Actually taking down a team
(09:06):
that had won twenty nine straight games, taken down a
quarterback that had won straight games, taken down those Clemson Tigers.
They are forty two to twenty five. National championship belongs
in New Orleans. It belongs at L s You they
covered easily at four and a half points, and two
thirds of the public betters they love themselves, some L
(09:31):
s U Tigers. It was the It was the professional betters,
the some of the big money guys which took it
on the chin last night, as did many of the
books who were had heavy liability on the very public
favorite there being the L s U Tigers UH Clemson
(09:52):
a lot of smart money late they're pushing that line.
If you had noticed that it was hovering around five
and a half six all week long, and then about
an hour or two just before kickoff there we saw
that drop down to four four and a half in
some places, UM and I can see it even closed
at four in UH in a few books here around
(10:13):
the country. So none of it mattered because ultimately L.
S U went on to cover easily there forty two
to twenty five. But it is interesting that that money
came in came in fast. There was a lot of
it too. So usually when you have because the limits
(10:34):
on how much you can bet are usually lifted and
they're the highest they're going to be right before kickoff,
that's when you can really tell, all right, So which
way of the pros, the syndicates, the guys with the
you know, guys with the big bucks, where are they leaning?
And it was very easy to see that they were
leaning Clemson there a lot of that money came in. Also,
(10:55):
interesting enough, the total, which opened at around sixty six
and a half, I saw it reached seventy seventy and
a half over the last two weeks, but it closed
at sixty six and a half. It kept getting pushed down,
the total kept getting beat down and beat down, and
of course it landed at sixty seven, which is that's
(11:17):
a win. That is an absolute win for over betters. However, UH,
most of that money, certainly most of the professional money
pushing that line down there had under sixty seven and
a half UH and won their under bets because obviously,
if you got in late at sixty seven you were
(11:38):
a push. But if you hopped in the last second
and grab sixty six and a half, that wasn't any
good for the under. But it was the professional betters
that took that line from about sixty nine and a
half very inflated line, and kept betting it and betting
it and betting it and pushing it down. The public
was all over the over, but the pros were the
(11:59):
ones that pushing that down, and they were rewarded with
an under last night. So the sports books they won
with most of the public money being on the over
in that game, but they lost whatever gains they might
have had on the total. UH, they lost on the
side because it was three out of four tickets. Guys.
(12:23):
Mostly over the last two weeks, we're banging LSU there
and outside of that, late big money betters coming in
on Clemson, big payouts there to the public for the
sports books. So all in all, great game. We move on.
We got plenty of action going even tonight in fact,
where you got six NBA games, eleven NHL games, college
(12:47):
hoops games in action, and of course we'll all be
getting ready for one final weekend here to decide who
will be traveling to Miami to be crowned the NFL champ.
That's right, super Bowl champions. We've got two games left
here on Sunday. We'll start diving into the marketplace there
(13:07):
here in just a few let you know exactly what
the early line movements are telling us, indicating where does
the public seem to be going, where do the pros
seem to be going. We'll lay that out for you
coming up. But yesterday another bombshell story was kind of
dropped in our lap. And I'm shocked that they announced
(13:28):
this on a Monday, and they didn't bury this on
a Friday. But Major League Baseball and Rob Manfred announced
their punishments and their findings regarding the Houston Astros cheating
scandal about that was unearthed and uncovered a couple of
(13:50):
months back after a former Astros picture named Mike fires
Uh did an interview and kind of blew the lid
off of what was one of the worst kept secrets
in all of baseball about the Houston Astros back in
two thousand seventeen during their World Series run might have
(14:11):
been using electronics, Uh and other means to be able
to try to steal signals and to try and gain
an edge, certainly at home, to the point where they
were even setting up surveillance equipment inside the right inside
the tunnel there in your locker room, trying to figure
out who, what, where and how, banging on trash cans,
(14:34):
doing all of this stuff. So again, one of the
worst kept secrets, because most everybody that you talked to
in baseball, they've known for a long time how the
Astros are stealing signs. It's been one of the biggest complaints.
But when when that interview came out and kind of
blew the lid off of it, Rob Manfred and company
(14:56):
really had no choice but to investigate, and what they
found not surprising. It should not be surprising. And I
can tell you this, it is more surprising to people
who are outside of the game covering the game, um,
than it is two people actually in the game, because
(15:16):
we've had a chance to talk to a lot of
Major League Baseball players since this story broke out, former
Major League Baseball players, the former managers, and the reality is,
as much as we all want to throw our hands
up in the air and say, oh, I can't believe it,
it's a part of the game. It's stealing signs has
always been a part of the game. Did they cross
the line, Sure, a little bit. But this is not
(15:39):
nearly as big a deal with players as it is
with everybody else outside of the game. And mostly because
when you ask players and when you talk to him, uh,
you still have to execute. You still, even if you
know a fastball and curveball is coming, you still have
to be able to hit the ball. And players will
(16:00):
never admit that even if you know it's coming, I
should have made a better pitch. It's just a mindset
of what baseball players go through. And was it was
an underheaded note? Did Were they the only team doing it?
Probably not? Probably not due to the fact that, well,
they're the only team that actually won anything by doing it,
(16:22):
but they are far from the only team pushing the envelope,
and Major League Baseball and Rob Manford and everybody else
in Major League Baseball knows it. They just had the
most success with it, and that of course puts a
bright light on the Houston Astros and the organization. And
Rob Manfred left with little choice but to come down
(16:44):
hard on the Astros organization, and they went ahead and
not only announced the five million dollar maximum fine allowed
under I guess what the Major League Baseball constitution reads,
and the five million dollar fine is pretty much the
max that you can get for an infraction. Uh So, ouch,
(17:08):
the poor Houston Astro ownership there and Mr Crane five million,
what is he gonna do with five five million dollars
is brutal? Yeah. To put it in context, guys, the
Houston Astros when they started the two thousand seventeen baseball
season were valued at just about one billion dollars UM.
(17:29):
When they won the World Series UM, that number came
a lot closer to two billion dollars after that World
Series win. So five million dollars to gain close to
I don't know. Eight hundred million inequity and in value
for your organization. Yeah, I think they'll go ahead and
(17:50):
trade that in any day. But having to fall on
the sword and taken out along the way. Manager A. J.
Hinch he was suspended for one year. The GM Jeff
Luff now low now also suspend it a year. The
list goes on draft picks, but it's the reactions of everybody,
(18:11):
including the former general manager. Now that's got everyone's screaming.
We'll go ahead and let you know what those reactions are.
We'll do that coming up here on the Grid. Sports
Grinding Daily Rhodo dot com learned from the game's best
(18:31):
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(19:23):
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(19:44):
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(20:04):
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you check out the website for details. And boy oh boy,
talk about cheating man. Higher standards for the city and
the franchise, and I'm going above and beyond MLB's penalty
today I have made the decision to dismiss A. J.
(21:10):
Hinch and Jeff lu Now. We need to move forward
with a clean slate and the Astros will become stronger,
a stronger organization because of this. Today you can be
confident that will will be We will always do the
right thing and will not have this happened again on
my watch. Yeah. That would be the Houston Astros owner
(21:33):
Jim Crane announcing that he in fact accepts the league's findings.
And right after it was announced that not only the
general manager Jeff lu Now, but of course the uh
the g M Jeff lu Now rather the manager A. J.
Hinch were suspended by Rob Manfred for their findings and
their roles in this UH, in this cheating scandal. UH.
(21:58):
They basically we're we're gonna be banned for baseball for
a year. And certainly after that came out, we found
that the team was not only going to be short
five million dollars, find five million dollars, they were also
gonna lose first and second round picks in and twenty one.
(22:18):
And that suspension lasted for about an hour before you
just heard Jim Crane there, the the owner, hold that
press conference and announced that not only where they suspended,
but now they are unemployed. And you heard him talk
about how we need to move forward with a clean slates,
which is ironic since somehow or another that's supposed to
(22:39):
just wash everything away is get rid of the GM
and the manager and somehow that's going to be a
clean slate. And again, this all started, guys, because former
Astros player Mike Fires, who threw that no hitter back
in two thousand fifteen for the Astros, along with three
other quote unidentified people affiliated with the Astros, all confirming
(23:03):
that that two thousand seventeen championship season that players along
with employees of the organization UH put together this UH
this scheme, this elaborate scheme there to monitor catchers signals
from cameras UH positioned inside the ballpark there that were
(23:24):
relayed to monitors that were set up in the tunnel
by the astros locker room, which guys were monitoring, and
then they relayed the signs of the guys at home
played either by banging on trash cans or some other
ridiculous way. And now, of course it's so funny that
you bang on trash cans to know what the pitch
(23:46):
is coming. And now the Astro's reputation is just that
trash and crane. I listen, He's in an impossible situation.
I get it. There is no way I think you
could remain to keep these guys employed. For that, you've
got to wipe the stink off. But the real question
is going to be what happens now to the Boston
(24:10):
Red Sox manager Mr. Cora there, Joe Carr, because Uh,
one of the things to pull away Alex cor rather,
one of the things to pull away from rod Manford's
findings yesterday was that this entire thing apparently mastermind by
(24:31):
the Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was heavily,
and I mean heavily, guys implicated in what mon Rob
Manford released yesterday and in their reports. So Major League
Baseball says that they have not concluded or figured out
what the punishment for Alex core is going to be
just yet, but they are still investigating the Boston Red
(24:54):
Sox because, let's face it, pretty good chance that if
he had, if he was orchestrating that in Houston, what
was gonna stop him from doing it in Boston. So
he was the bench coach for the Astros during that
World Series run there in two thousand seventeen, and I
mean it spells it out. Guys out care was the
(25:16):
guy behind it, orchestrated it, put it together, rand it
ran it apparently, and he was a guy that I
guess would call the Astros video replay room early in
the season to obtain information regarding the signals that opponents
were using. He streamlined the process. I mean, it's it
(25:36):
is damning for Alex Cora, who is really at this
point a dead man walking. It is just a matter
of if not when, just a matter of when not
if he is going to be removed from the Boston
Red Sox organization. Although ironically enough, you wouldn't notice it
if you actually tuned into any local media outlets in Boston.
(26:01):
They're acting like this is nothing, nothing to see here,
They have no idea, acting as if somehow or another,
the Red Sox aren't implicated that Alex Cara somehow is
this is all just all just flaff. It's just you
hate us because you don't want to be Yeah, that's
it's amazing. You won't be You'll be hard pressed to
(26:23):
find one news outlet or one certainly sports media outlet
in Boston that is honing in on Alex Cara right
now and talking about this not happening guys. But the
truth is they haven't concluded what this is going to
be or how it's going to be. I can tell
you this, if the Red Sox, no matter what it is,
(26:44):
at this point, the cat is out of the bag.
Once Rob Manfred implicated him in that report yesterday, I
don't know how he remains a manager in any capacity
or an employee of the Boston Red Sox, especially since
his suspension is reportedly going to be far longer than
what A J. Hinch is the manager was to receive.
(27:08):
So it's quite obvious. They have the person that is
really going to take the fall here, and that is
Alex Chorus. So the question remains when, not if, and
how fast will it be before the Boston Red Sox
organization gets out in front of this they know it's coming.
I would be absolutely shocked if if the announcement of
(27:31):
Alex Cors stepping down or or walking away something along
those lines, we don't hear it sooner rather than later,
because otherwise, Boston, you are just you are sitting there
implicating yourself, unless, of course, they find something to complicate
the Boston Red Sox that he implemented there. And why
(27:54):
wouldn't he You know, when you read the what was
going on here? Guys, it's it's a lay. He really was.
Rob Manford spells it out. He really was the guy
that apparently A J. Hinch during a couple of times
during the season, apparently broke the monitors that they were
using uh to relay those signals back into the into
(28:16):
the tunnel there in the replay room. Uh. He was
apparently so bent about it, thought it was ridiculous, and
it spells it out. Manford talks about how a J.
Hinch really he was kind of vindicated with this because
car Manford wrote that listen, he he absolutely showed his displeasure.
He wasn't happy about it, but unfortunately he did not
(28:40):
stop it. He did not go out of his way
to end the practice, although he did do a number
of different things voicing his displeasure about it, but never
did anything to actually stop the process from happening. And
that was why he was suspended. Uh. The other situation
of us was Jeff lu Now, who is just alienated
(29:02):
about everybody because lu Now was the guy that releases
a statement yesterday, and the opening statement is I just
want to you know, I take full responsibility there for
for what what happened under my watch. However, I'm not
(29:23):
a cheater, and he goes on in his he flat
out says it, I'm not a cheat. To anybody who
worked closely with me during my thirty two year career
inside and outside of baseball can attest to my integrity,
I do not know. I do not know rules were
being broken, which is hilarious because you were just suspended
and then fired for cheating. And he opens the statement
(29:46):
with I am not a cheater. He then goes on
to act as if He had absolutely no idea what
was going on there. He points the finger at Alex Cora.
That is absolutely yes. He blames Alex Cora and lower
level Astro's employees that orchestrated this whole thing. He had
(30:08):
no idea what was going on. And yet Rob Manford
a Major League Baseball who have quite detailed findings here
with the over sixty some odd people that they interviewed, uh, emails,
they got everything. It's uh, it's quite obvious that he
(30:29):
knew exactly what was going on because the owner, the
owner Jim Crane had actually on record approached him during
that season and said, major League Baseball sent us a
warning here, do you know if this is going on
in the clubhouse, make sure it stops. They have that
(30:50):
on record, and of course he didn't make it stop.
He just continued to watch it happens. More on the
cheating scandal. Major League Baseball will do that. Next to
on the grid work. I want to be the next
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(31:31):
dunc to learn more. I want to say one thing
to the American people. I want you to listen to me.
I'm gonna say this again, I did not have sexual
relations for that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. When very true, very
(32:03):
very true. Yes. The theme around the sports world cheating
the Houston Astros. Uh. Pretty much the hammer comes down
on the Astros there as they were found guilty of
cheating their way through the two thousand seventeen World Series
(32:23):
Championship and along the way they have managed to suspend
the manager, General manager A. J. Hinch and Jeff lu Now. Uh,
they also got fired by the ownership group there in Houston.
Mr Crane says you gotta go. Uh. Former assistant GM
Brandon Tobman he suspended for one year, although they had
(32:46):
removed him already a couple of months back. Uh. They
also are giving up a their first and second round
picks for the next two years, and they were also
fine five million dollars, which I think it's hilarious given
the fact that they made close to a billion dollars
in value by winning that championship since winning that championship
(33:06):
in two thousand and seventeen. But really, the big findings
here is that it points out, beyond a shadow of
a doubt, that Alex Carra, the Houston bench coach, the
now Boston Red Sox manager, was the mastermind behind all
of it, and he was the guy that fueled it.
He was the guy that streamlined the process. So one
(33:27):
has to wonder because they are now, in fact Major
League Baseball investigating the the Boston Red Sox, and you
have to wonder, would this be something he only did
in two thousand seventeen with the Astros. Would he have
not brought this knowledge? Isn't it Once a cheater, always
a cheater. Isn't that they would have figured out something
(33:47):
to do in Boston? So, uh, the hunt is on.
Rob Manford in Major League Baseball said they will not
release the punishment for ale Score until they finished the
investigation into Boston. But again, well, you know there is
if he's the mastermind and we already know what happened
to A J. Hinch and company. Then I have absolutely
(34:11):
no doubt that Alex Cora will be at least double
that to their the fines and everything else. Uh, he
very much well could be finished in Major League Baseball
just like that. And it's funny the way Manfred really
did kind of just everybody, not only Rob Manfred, but
(34:33):
of course Jeff lu Now in his released statement pushes
it all on Cora and pretends like he had nothing
to do with it, absolutely no idea what was going on.
This was all him. But yet there was about two
months into the two thousand seventeen season, there was absolutely
(34:54):
also current Mets manager by the way, Carlos Beltran, he
was mentioned by name as to somebody that was involved
with the whole banging on the drum and banging on
the garbage can system. There no word yet on what
that is. So far, no players have been implicated at all,
but this is definitely falling on the GM and the
(35:15):
manager in the organization. And there was a letter. Uh
and this had happened listen two thousand sixteen. Uh, they
had looked into the Astros. Two thousand seventeen, a letter
was sent to the ASTROS owner saying if this is
going on, stop it. And then of course, uh, that
(35:38):
is really where the ownership group went to lu Now
and said, listen, you are two two emails that were
uncovered sent to lu Now pointing out that if this
is going on, okay, if this is happening, make sure
it stops. And then of course it did not stop it.
It progressed right through. Obviously the word old series there
(36:01):
and lu Now was suspended by Rob Manford simply because
the scandal happened under his watch and failure by leaders
of the Baseball Operations Apartment and the field manager to
adequately manage the employees under their supervision. That is what
Rob Manford wrote in his findings, which is why he
(36:22):
justified suspending Hinch and lu Now. Manford left the discipline
of the lower level ASTROS employees. Um. He's saying that
this was completely under the discretion of lu Now, that
he knew what was going on, and he could have intervened.
The owner even went to him and said stop it
(36:42):
if this is what's going on, and he did not.
But that did not stop lu Now of course from
releasing that statement yesterday saying got nothing to do with me. Guys,
I am not a cheater, although I take full responsibility
under my watch. However, I'm not a cheater. But yeah,
he was just he was just caught cheating and overseeing
(37:05):
it and not doing anything about it. Now A J. Hinch.
On the other hand, he did release a statement as well,
only there could not be uh two statements that were
further apart from one another. Uh. A J. Hinch took
full responsibility UH for his actions and for his role
(37:25):
in this. He Uh. He said, listen, it was my responsibility.
I should have done more. I didn't, and this is
all on me. Uh. He didn't make any excuses, didn't
deny anything. He just basically said, I'm good to go.
And again, Manford's report kind of vindicated Hinch when he
wrote that, UH. He showed UH a number of different
(37:47):
times throughout the season his displeasure with it, mostly destroying
the monitors they were using UH in order to be
able to decode the signs, So he showed a number
of times he was not happy with it. However, he
just he never told anybody to stop. But that is
not the organ. That is not the way lu now
uh lu now went lu Now went just guns a blazing,
(38:12):
blaming everybody. Uh, it's just absolutely hysterical. I did not
personally direct oversea and engage in any misconduct. The the
sign stealing initiative was not planned or directed by baseball man.
He went over and over and over basically throwing Cora
(38:32):
under the bus, saying it was all him and that
this is ridiculous, and but I take full responsibility. And
I'm not a teachater. I do not know, uh if
this guy ever works again in major League baseball. Uh,
he is certainly not going down without swinging. But at
this particular point, I've got to believe that A. J.
(38:53):
Hinch one of the best managers in the game. I
do believe his contriteness there and his ability to be
able to say my bad guys. I take full responsibility.
I think that'll go a long way and helping him
return to major League baseball as far as Jeff lu now, yeah,
new don't see that happening anytime anytime soon. So uh,
(39:16):
congratulations to the Astros organization to do the right thing
here quickly, uh, because this story will die down eventually.
There are a whole lot of people, though, that feel
the Boston Red Sox should be proactive here and get
out in front and make sure that because obviously the
(39:38):
damage is done with Cora, he's already implicated. So if
he's implicated, what is there if A J. Hinch gets fired?
What is the Red Sox doing keeping a cheater who,
in all likelihood is going to be suspended way longer
than what Hinch got, which was a full year. Why
is he still employed? And why are the Red Sox
not saying anything? I doubt it will be very long
(40:01):
before why they remained silent? Although like we told you,
you'd be hard pressed to find any sort of talk
of this in the media in Boston, acting as if
there's nothing to see here, but there, in fact is
going to be plenty to see. The only question is
did he also bring down the Boston Red Sox, who
(40:21):
may or may not have had some success based upon
the knowledge his cheating ability. But I will, like I
said to start with, this is much bigger issue for
many of those outside of Major League Baseball than it
is for the players of Major League Baseball, because the
players will all tell you, listen to this the beginning
(40:42):
of time. We're all in our own way trying to
steal signs trying to gain an edge. Uh, it really
was one of the worst kept secrets in baseball. Everyone
kind of knew what was going on, and honestly, if
you are and this was another reaction from a lot
of people in the game, the reaction was, we gotta
(41:02):
be better at hiding signs. Then we we can't be.
We knew what was going on and we still warrant
better enough to be able to mask it. So players like, yeah,
it socks, it's terrible. But again, like Alex Cora, where
did the als core get You think he invented it
with Houston or did he get it along the line.
This is again the worst cap secret. It has been
(41:25):
happening for years. The Astros are far from the only
organization I'm sure that have done something along these lines
and used electronics and video. The problem is they were
the most successful. And of course now Rob Banford has
to step in and show that he is not messing around.
But the idea that somehow this should the World Series
(41:48):
should be taken away, that was the other hot take
we got throughout the day yesterday. The World Series should
be taking away taken away? Where like, what are you
supposed to do with the World Series. Now we're supposed
to vacate the World Series. There is nothing worse in
sports than when punishment includes pretending that victories did not happen.
(42:15):
That is, there is nothing to me in the world
of sports that is more stupid. That is just the
most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. We've seen this with
scandals in the past, with Penn stayed oh or vacate
the You're gonna pretend that there is nothing worse than
pretending that games did not happen number one and number two,
(42:36):
that there weren't actually winners and losers or outcomes of
those games. So taking away the World Series is not
going to take away the reality of what happened there.
I think it's absolutely ridiculous to people behind it paid
the price, although I do think the money aspect is
a joke with the five million since they made eight
(42:58):
hundred million, I am or the five million dollar price
tag associated with winning a World Series if it gets
you there and the windfall that comes after it, I
am not really sure five million dollars is going to
deter organizations from pushing the envelope further. And if you've
got to sacrifice the GM and a manager these days,
(43:21):
so be it's we'll find another one. We're good to go. Uh,
it's it's a very slippery slope. It'll be interesting to
see what happens moving forward, but for right now, we
all wait to see what is the punishment. What did
the Red Sox know, did they do anything? And exactly
how long is it gonna take them to realize Alex
(43:44):
Cora is a dead man walking and it is time
to remove him as the manager of the Boston Red
Sox and fire him in the wake of what is
about to be handed down by Rob Manford and Major
League Baseball. But let us not pretend like the Astros
still did not win the World Series. They are still
World Series champs. Nothing anybody does is going to be
(44:05):
able to take that away, including some sort of rule
that says you're not champions anymore now they are. They
wanted they got the trophy. Did they cheat? Absolutely? But
if I'm Pete Rose right now that I am Pete
Rose's people, and you just admit, admitted, admitted that we
(44:28):
had a cheating scandal in Major League Baseball. Uh, not
the Black Socks scandal where they threw a World Series,
but at the same time a cheating scandal nonetheless. Uh,
and you have a lifetime ban for Pete Rose because
he gambled on baseball? Another no, no, because of the
integrity of the game. Well, what does this say about
(44:50):
the integrity of the game. These guys got a one
year suspension? Uh? No, players were implicated even though they're
the ones that executed it. Um exactly, how do you
still justify keeping Pete Rose banned for life your all
time hits leader. I can't wait to see the argument
for this one way or the other coming up, because
(45:13):
it will be brought up time and time again, and
they've kind of shot themselves in the foot with this.
But while more on the cheating scandal, what it means
moving forward, what's the NFL coming up this weekend? Final
two games? We'll do that coming up as we look
to make it rain back tomorrow, breaking it all down
for you here on the Morning Line. I want to
(45:37):
be the next Daily Fantasy Millionaire. Dunk on your NBA
DFS competition with Daily Rodal dot com and dominate on
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(45:57):
DFS advice with promo code dunk. Visit Daily Royd dot
com backslash doc to learn more. Hiver slept Look, I
need your help here. Did you miss on the morning line?
What happens now to the Boston Red Sox manager Mr Cora? There,
(46:23):
Joe Carr? Because uh, one of the things to pull
away Alex cor rather, one of the things to pull
away from Rod Manford's findings yesterday was that this entire
thing apparently mastermind by the Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora,
who was heavily and I mean heavily guys implicated in
(46:44):
what mon Rob Manford released yesterday and in their reports.
So Major League Baseball says that they have not concluded
or figured out what the punishment for Alex core is
going to be just yet, but they are still investigating
the Boston Red Sox because, let's face it, pretty good
chance that if he had if he was orchestrating that
(47:04):
in Houston, what was gonna stop him from doing it
in Boston? So he was the bench coach for the
Astros during that World Series run there in two thousand seventeen,
and I mean it spells it out. Guys out care
was the guy behind it, orchestrated it, put it together,
rand it ran it apparently, and he was a guy
(47:25):
that I guess would call the Astros video replay room
early in the season to obtain information regarding the signals
that opponents were using. He streamlined the process. I mean,
it's it is damning for Alex Cora, who is really
at this point a dead man walking. It is just
a matter of if not when, just a matter of
when not if he is going to be removed from
(47:48):
the Boston Red Sox organization. Although ironically enough, you wouldn't
notice it if you actually tuned into any local media
outlets in Boston. They're acting like this is nothing, nothing
to see here. They have no idea, acting as if
somehow or another, the Red Sox aren't implicated that Alex
(48:09):
Cara somehow is this is all just all just flawf.
It's just you hate us because you don't want to
be it. Yeah, that's it's amazing. You won't be It'll
be hard pressed to find one news outlet or one
certainly sports media outlet in Boston that is honing in
on Alex Cara right now and talking about this not happening, guys.
(48:31):
But the truth is they haven't concluded what this is
going to be or how it's going to be. I
can tell you this, if the Red Sox, no matter
what it is, at this point, the cat is out
of the bag. Once Rob Manfred implicated him in that
report yesterday, I don't know how he remains a manager
in any capacity or an employee of the Boston Red Sox,
especially since his suspension is reportedly going to be far
(48:56):
longer than what A J. Hinch is the manager was
to receive. So it's quite obvious they have the person
that is really going to take the fall here, and
that is Alex Chorus
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