Tampa Bay Rays: It’s OK to be angry about cheating
By Seth Carter
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Cheat-gate ’20 has revealed the Tampa Bay Rays have likely been extremely impacted by the cheating cheaters of the American League.
As more and more details of the ridiculous cheating schemes roll out, Tampa Bay Rays’ fans feel more and more cheated as we go. Let’s run through what we know and why it’s okay to be angry. Why it’s okay to believe ridiculous assertions you may hear. Why it’s okay to not listen to excuses anymore. More importantly, why everyone losing their jobs deserve it.
The Astros ran a high-tech cheating operation to relay catcher signs from a centerfield camera to a monitor near the dugout. A player would relay the sign by banging on the trash can to indicate the pitch-type to the batter.
This ploy was reportedly a player-driven scheme that the manager and general manager allowed to happen. Manager AJ Hinch and GM, Jeff Luhnow have since been suspended for one year and terminated by the Astros.
Bench Coach during the 2017 season (in which the Astros began cheating and also won a World Series…yayyy) Alex Cora, was named as the only coach to have been directly involved in the scheme.
He instructed technicians on setting the feed up to a monitor just outside the dugout. Cora was then hired by the Boston Red Sox to manage their team to a World Series in 2018. He also evidently helped them set up their own “high-tech” cheating system. He is no longer the manager of the Red Sox.