Category: Red Sox

The 300s Red Sox vs Dodgers World Series Preview

By on • ( Leave a comment )

It’s been a grueling five year drought, but the Red Sox are finally back in the World Series and they’re taking on the Brooklyn LA Dodgers. The last time the Red Sox won the World Series was 2013 in one of the most unlikely championship runs I’ve ever seen. With the rallying cry of Boston Strong as their mantra, a group of journeymen having career years led the way. This year was just a little bit different as the Sox set a franchise record with 108 wins in the regular season and won the division running away. Now they’re just four wins away from their 4th championship in the past 15 years.

You can also listen to Big Z and I preview the World Series on The 300s Podcast here.

Game Times:

  • Game 1 (at BOS): Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 8:09 p.m. ET on Fox
  • Game 2 (at BOS): Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 8:09 p.m. ET on Fox
  • Game 3 (at LAD): Friday, Oct. 26 at 8:09 p.m. ET on Fox
  • Game 4 (at LAD): Saturday, Oct. 27 at 8:09 p.m. ET on Fox
  • *Game 5 (at LAD): Sunday, Oct. 28 at 8:15 p.m. ET on Fox
  • *Game 6 (at BOS): Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 8:09 p.m. ET on Fox
  • *Game 7 (at BOS): Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 8:09 p.m. ET on Fox

*If necessary

Betting Lines:

  • Opening odds from the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook
    • Red Sox at -135 and the Dodgers at +115.
  • Gambling.com World Series MVP prop bets
    • Mookie Betts +550
    • Chris Sale +600
    • JD Martinez +650

Top Storylines:

ESPN noted in its preview that if the Red Sox win the World Series it may be one of the most impressive runs of all time. After winning 108 games to set a franchise record, they went through TWO other 100 win teams to reach the World Series.

Only five teams since 1961 have won at least 108 games and won the World Series:

1998 New York Yankees: 114-48
1961 New York Yankees: 109-53
1970 Baltimore Orioles: 108-54
1975 Cincinnati Reds: 108-54
1986 New York Mets: 108-54

The Red Sox, arguably, will have had the toughest trek through the postseason of any of these teams. Only the ’98 Yankees had to go through three rounds, but the Red Sox had to knock off the 100-win Yankees and 103-win Astros just to reach the World Series — and did so by winning seven of nine games.

Mookie at Second Base?

He’s actually played there more than I thought in his career with 15 games played at 2B, but only about half of one game since 2014. So besides the almost non-existant experience at the major league level, this is moronic for one reason; he is an ELITE outfielder. As Big Z said on The 300s Podcast, you literally hit the instant replay jackpot and stole an out with this play in Houston.

Mookie is such a great outfielder that Cowboy Joe West ruled, from 50 yards away, that he was definitively going to make one of the greatest catches in postseason history were it not for fan interference. Not to mention his canon of an arm that led to him hosing down Jose Altuve at second base, his other leaping catch to rob a HR etc. etc. Yea, lets not get cute boys.

Who Plays and Who Sits in Los Angeles?

With the NL stripping us of the DH, who are you sitting? JD Martinez and Mookie obviously aren’t sitting so are you benching the .185 hitter in Jackie Bradley Jr. and putting Andrew Benintendi in center or are you riding JBJ’s hot streak? I mean when that guy gets hot he gets HOT, he’ll hit .150 for 4 months then hit .500 for a month straight so maybe he’s in the middle of one of those heaters? Lets play it by ear and see how JBJ and Benintendi play at Fenway in Games 1 and 2, but I’m leaning towards benching Bradley in LA and using him as a defensive replacement late in games. 

Chris Sale’s Health

He already was dealing with the shoulder issue and now he was out with this bizarre stomach issue. The beat guys were saying that he was walking around with a bottle of pedialyte and that he even lost weight somehow. I don’t know how you can’t be concerned. We saw in his first start off the DL against the Orioles were he struck out 13 guys…before relapsing and only throwing about 15 innings the rest of the season, and then again in his first postseason start where he started off lights out against the Yankees before faltering. I think with the extended time off Chris Sale will look pretty good in Game 1, but to expect much more than that afterwards is asking a lot considering all the ailments he’s been dealing with. 

Has David Price Actually Exorcised His Playoff Demons?

I hope so. I hope whatever mechanical adjustment he figured out before his Game 5 start gives him the confidence and the momentum he needs to repeat the success of his last start. However, he is currently sporting a 5.11 ERA this postseason, which is actually even worse than his career 5.04 ERA in the postseason. Soo I think its a shaky bridge that I am cautiously optimistic about, but far from confident.

YUCK Stickers are now available just in case.

Manny Machado, Still a Dirtbag

Matt Barnes still wants Machado dead for possibly ending Dustin Pedroia’s career last year with a dirty slide.

“You’re talking about a play in which Pedey still hasn’t played since then, really,” Barnes said per The Eagle-Tribune. “When you take out a captain, a leader of a team, that’s not going to sit well with anybody. It kind of is what it is. You move on. I don’t see anything happening, I really don’t, but it doesn’t mean that we’ve forgotten about it.”

Big Z and I wondered aloud if the Sox get up big in a clinching game, do they send out Joe Kelly to just bean Machado in the ass to take care of some family business? Whether Pedroia wants it or not, justice will be served (again).

Yasiel Puig is GOOD for Baseball

In a sport full of late starts, long games, and older fans, Yasiel Puig is exactly what baseball needs. He is the anti-Mike Trout. He is fun as all hell to watch. While Peter Gammons might not exactly enjoy Puig rounding the bases after a HR telling everyone to suck it like he’s a member of DX, I sure as shit do.

Will We See Regular Season Kershaw or Postseason Kershaw?

Kershaw is essentially the west coast version of David Price. While he’s been pretty good in the playoffs this year with a 2-1 record and a 2.37 ERA , overall for his career he is 9-8 with 4.09 ERA in 141 postseason IP. His career postseason stats are about a full seasons worth with 28 starts, which is a good sample size. While a 4.09 ERA is far from disastrous, it’s definitely not the quote unquote best pitcher of our generation. Kershaw seems to be on a roll this year, but I would not be surprised if a guy from Texas who’s played his entire career in LA suddenly pitching in 30 degree weather in Fenway in October rattles him.

Lets All Just Appreciate Justin Turner

As a fellow redhead with a Wildling-esque beard, I am a huge Justin Turner guy. Really putting redheads on the map the past couple of years.

MVP

I’m going with Nathan Eovaldi because he has been an absolute saving grace for this Red Sox team and he is a guy that will pitch Game 3 and a potential Game 7, not to mention any random relief appearances Cora utilizes him for. I know only 3 pitchers have won the World Series MVP in the past 15 years, but if you win Game 3 and Game 7 it would be hard to not give that guy the award. It also doesn’t hurt that Gambling.com has Eovaldi at +2200 to win series MVP!

Unsung Hero

I’m going with Rafael Devers. Cora played the matchups with Devers in the ALCS, which had Devers on the bench to start the series before giving way to the young gun in Game 5 and he took Verlander deep. So I know Cora has been leaning on the analytics but Devers has looked great in his limited playing time. Granted he only has 20 AB’s, Devers is actually second on the team in Batting Avg at .350 so I think he’s a pretty good bet to make an impact in this series.

 

Official Prediction

I’m picking the Red Sox in 7 games. They just have the IT factor this year, they have the juice, whatever you want to call it. The bullpen is cobbled together with bubble gum and duct tape, they have a guy in Ryan Brasier who was pitching in JAPAN last year holding it down as the setup man. Whatever they’re doing, it’s working AND apparently Eric Gagne has fixed Craig Kimbrel. Not to mention every decision Alex Cora makes just seems to be the right one. So if the Red Sox can get decent starts from their rotation then I think the offense carries this team the rest of the way. 

Sox in 7.

The 300s Podcast: Red Sox vs Dodgers World Series Mega Preview

By on • ( 2 Comments )

It’s a very special episode of The 300s Podcast because after FIVE looong years the Boston Red Sox are back in the World Series.

-With 108 wins, and beating two other 100+ win teams along the way, this would be one of the most impressive World Series runs in MLB history.

-Mookie Betts at second base?

-Do Chris Sale’s on again, off again health concerns worry you?

-Has David Price exorcised his playoff demons?

-Manny Machado, still a dirtbag

-Puig, Kershaw and the rest of the LA Dodgers

-MVP Picks

-Red and Big Z make their official predictions

Did Eric Gagne Save the Red Sox Season?

By on • ( 1 Comment )

WEEI – Eleven years after leaving town, Gagne finally got his save for the Sox. It was locked up while sitting in the living room of his Arizona home, but it was a save nonetheless. A big one.  The story started just about 18 years ago when the kid from Montreal befriended an infielder who came from Puerto Rico. Gagne was a relief pitcher. Alex Cora was a utility player. Both had plenty of time on their hands while living life as Dodgers. They started a hobby: Identifying pitchers who were tipping their pitches…

The pitcher he witnessed Tuesday night, Craig Kimbrel, wasn’t one of the more difficult ones. For Gagne, it was pretty clear what was going on. As far as the former pitcher was concerned, the Red Sox closer’s high-wire act against the Astros in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series was no accident.

It was enough evidence that Gagne felt obligated to reach out to his old friend, and the new manager of the Red Sox…“Nowadays you don’t even need to talk to people, it’s perfect,” he said. “I just sent him a message saying, ‘Hey Craig, I’m not sure if you care about these things but I’m friends with Alex and I’ve been seeing this or that. I think you should sit down to look at it. It’s an easy fix. It’s not that difficult. You might change your set-up, but that’s not that big of a deal.’ It was a pretty easy fix once he knew what he was doing.”

What a wild story from an unlikely source. Remember our old friend Eric Gagne? The guy who at one point in time was the most dominant closer in all of baseball. The guy who once converted 84 save opportunities straight. The guy who Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox traded for as a “luxury, not a necessity” on a stacked 2007 team. As we all know, Gagne was absolutely abysmal for the Sox, finishing with a 6.75 ERA in 20 games. He fell so far that the Sox big trade deadline acquisition only pitched 4.1 innings in the 07 playoffs. Well, THAT guy might have just saved the 2018 Red Sox season.

Gagne spoke with Rob Bradford and told him how, from his couch, he was able to pick up that Craig Kimbrel was apparently tipping his pitches. Does that explain Kimbrel’s complete inability to find the plate in the playoffs thus far? No, but it does explain how basically everyone he’s faced has had more plate discipline than a monk and was pretty much ready for whatever he did get over the plate.

This is why you never burn any bridges. Gagne and Cora were two guys that came up together in the Dodgers minor league system and bonded over watching film and figuring out who was tipping pitches. Pretty obscure hobby for a super utility player and a 30th Round Draft pick turned stud closer. Moral of the story, ya just never know who’s going to come out of left field and throw you a bone. If Gagne doesn’t reach out to his old friend with some advice on why his all-star closer is suddenly a disaster on the mound, then maybe they don’t fix anything and we’re looking at another disappointing Red Sox postseason performance.

Kudos to Cora for accepting and welcoming the constructive criticism from an old teammate. How many managers would have just scoffed at a player that is “out of baseball” offering up criticism of his All-Star closer while watching at home on TV?

Was Gagne a bum for the Sox? Absolutely. But any time a guy with 187 career saves wants to throw out some advice for a struggling Boston bullpen then I am all ears. If Kimbrel is back to his 1-2-3 ways in the 9th inning then I think we all owe Gagne a beer, preferably one brewed by his 2007 Red Sox teammate Kevin Youkilis.

Editorial: How Many Games Should Tom Brady Be Suspended For The Astros “Spy Phone” Scandal

By on • ( Leave a comment )

So in case you have not heard the biggest non-baseball story coming out of the ALCS, the Houston Astros basically planted a spy who had a camera in his phone (??!!!!) in the credentialed media area near the Sox dug out at Fenway and he was snapping pictures of signs or something for Houston’s use. (Editor’s note: Red gave his take on the allegations the other day.)

You can read about it here , courtesy of Sb Nation, if you like. It is truly a despicable, unethical, borderline treasonous case of a baseball team sullying the great game of baseball, our national past time. But that is not why we are here. We are here to ask the obvious question: what should Tom Brady’s penalty for this heinous atrocity be?

First there was Spy Gate. Which was a Belichick story but probably masterminded by Brady. Then there was Deflate-Gate, what we THOUGHT was Brady’s Magnum Opus, where he actually mutilated official game equipment to attain a competitive edge. But now this. Now the Astros have placed a spy next to their opponent’s, the home team no less, dugout in order to steal signs and warn their batter that a 1000mph fastball might be rocketed in their general direction. What a Godless man Tom Brady is.

If I know Roger Goodell? At least a season suspension. Possibly two. If he wants to timidly limp back onto the football field after that, disgraced and old, then fine. But there is no way Tom Brady cannot pay for what the Houston Astros have done. There’s just no way.

If only there were an attorney good enough to get Brady out of this, but alas. Our QB is doomed by his own behavior. Maybe next time he will think before the ”Stros put a man with a spy phone camera thing in the credentialed media area.

I weep for the next generation.

Yours truly,
-Joey B.

 

 

2018 World Series vs 2013, An Excerpt from “Washed: Memoirs of a Millennial”

By on • ( Leave a comment )

When the Red Sox last made the World Series in 2013, Papa Giorgio and I were liquored up every night and hungover every morning. Our third roommate, god bless his heart, was a bartender right outside of Fenway so we would show up, throw down a $20 and just drink until the cows came home.

Now? I’m on the doorstep of 30 and guzzling coffees at night just to stay awake for the game. And I’m pretty jazzed to head up north for a little wine tasting at a vineyard tomorrow afternoon  I don’t know how and I don’t know when, but I have become Will Ferrell in Old School.

#WellActuallyPrettyNiceLittleSaturday

#BaseballGuy: Joey B Reviews the Red Sox Postseason Thus Far

By on • ( Leave a comment )

New York Times – In arguably the best game of his life, Price led the Red Sox to a 4-1 victory over the Houston Astros in Game 5 of the A.L.C.S., to clinch the series, four games to one, and capture the team’s 14th American League pennant.

As a renowned #baseball fan (I usually start watching in August), I can tell you this is one of the most exciting postseasons in recent memory. We played the Yankees, who still suck I should add, for the 1st time in over a decade and sent 30,000 guidos home crying while Ol’ Blue Eyes sang to us while we celebrated. Next, we went up against the vaunted and absolutely CRUISING Houston Astros. Two fantastic staffs of pitchers and two line ups filled with dangerous bats and what did we do? Put them away in a gentlemanly five games. JBJ got hot, the whole outfield was flying around the field like ferrari, and when it mattered most and we had to put them away J.D Martinez got on base three times as part of an excellent offensive effort that also included the kid Raffy Devers going yard on Justin Verlander.

It was David Price’s night, however. According to a Friend of the Blog, the legendary and prolific Patty B, this was David Price’s first post season victory. That doesn’t sound quiiiiite right (Editor’s note: It was his first postseason win as a starter.) but he certainly cannot be described as “clutch”. I can’t lie, I hated signing Price from day one. He never seemed to be as good as billed and I never like to join forces with the enemy, as he was to us while in Tampa, I want to beat them. He has pitched well this year however, and yesterday he went deep into the game, pitching six scoreless and striking out NINE, leaving Houston’s offense absolutely befuddled.

I know our bullpen is a cause for concern; just saying that is a bit of a paradox as currently our bullpen rotation is mostly made up of our starters that didn’t start on a given day (sup Frederick Porcello?). You know what though? They’ve been good enough. They’ve gotten us this far into the post-season. Kimbrel, and Barnes, and Kelly, and the guy whose name whose name Red’s phone auto-corrected to “Brazzers” in a group chat have been nothing short of effective so far and have been a huge part in earning us a chance to win another championship. So hat fucking tip to those guys.

Seriously though, this has been some truly exciting and memorable #baseball. It reminds me of the absolute dogfights the Garnett/Pierce/Allen Celtics got in for what seemed like 10 years. So let’s buckle up and get ready for what should be a gem of a World Series.

-Joey B

P.S – I hate to rag on the guy because I am nothing if not a champion of the working man, but how excruciating was the camera man last night? There were two or three times the Astros got a solid piece and sent one to the warning track but the cameraman panned from the outfield to the upper deck, giving me and the aforementioned Mr. Blackouts a fucking heart attack. Like hey man, can we not overreact this badly. Geesh.

Red Sox Look to Close Out Astros in Game 5 of the ALCS Tonight

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Everything has gone the Red Sox way this postseason. Everything. From Nathan Eovaldi looking like Curt Schilling, to Brock Holt hitting for the cycle, to hitting the instant replay jackpot last night and Andrew Benintendi making that catch, I mean everything. Alex Cora has been good, but he has to have a horseshoe in his back pocket. It’s better to be lucky than good, the old expression goes, but so far this month Alex Cora has been both.

The Red Sox now have a commanding 3-1 lead over the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series. In baseball history, teams with a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series have won the series 71 out of 84 times (84.5%). Here’s a quick look at what’s on tap for Game 5:

  • Location: Minute Maid Park (Houston, Texas)
  • First Pitch: Thursday, October 18, 8:09 PM EDT
  • TV: TBS
  • Odds (via Odds Shark): Astros -1.5 (runline) / Astros -200 (moneyline) / 8 (total)

Justin Verlander and the Astros have their backs against the wall, but are big favorites in Game 5. It’s not hard to see why, as the Astros ace pitched very well in Houston’s only win so far in this series. In two starts this postseason Verlander is 2-0, allowing four runs on just four hits in 11.1 innings of work. The Red Sox will counter with David Price.

awkward michael scott GIF

There are two ways to look at this if you are a Red Sox fan. On the one hand, Price’s playoff struggles are well documented and he’ll be going on short rest against one of the best pitchers of this era. On the other hand, the Red Sox are up 3-1 in the series and even if they get dusted in Game 5 they’ll still have two more chances to close out the Astros at home this weekend. Could that allow Price to pitch without the weight of the world on his left shoulder?

chris farley idk GIF

Your guess is as good as mine. But if Price does get shelled and the the Red Sox are down five or six runs early, he might just have to wear it. There’s no sense in emptying out the bullpen if the game’s not even close. That’s why last night’s win was so huge. It allows the Red Sox to punt on Game 5 if it goes sideways and focus on getting their house in order for Game 6.

The Astros would appear to be the easy bet tonight but at +170 the Red Sox may offer some good value, especially when you consider that everything has gone their way this postseason. So who knows. Maybe just bet the over and crack a Lone Star Beer? If these games are going too late for you, at least the over should hit before you call it a night.

Red Sox Are One Win Away from the World Series After an All-Time Classic ALCS Game

By on • ( Leave a comment )

This is why it’s impossible to beat the drama of playoff baseball. No other sport’s intensity kicks up as much as MLB in the postseason. I mean aside from the 9 pm start time and the 1:30 am finish, that game was incredible. Unforgettable. Classic. It wasn’t without it’s controversy though.

So with the 8:39 pm start time I already knew I was in trouble because I am old and #washed. I started fading in the 7th inning. Luckily I have a Cosmo Kramer-like internal alarm clock that woke me up in time for the 9th inning.

Boy am I glad I saw that shit show. I almost threw up in my bed watching Craig Kimbrel nearly give the game away. Seriously this guy has been the only member of the Boston bullpen fans have felt somewhat confident in all year. Ever since the playoffs hit he’s been a wild, erratic, mess of a closer. Kimbrel threw 35 pitches over 2 IP last night, with only 19 for strikes.

In case you missed this tightrope walk, let me give you a quick summary of how the bottom of the 9th went with the Sox up 2 and their $13 Million closer on the mound.

  • Yuli Gurriel pops out. 1 out.
  • 5 pitch walk to Josh Reddick.
  • 5 pitch walk to Carlos Correa. Winning run is now at the plate.
  • Brian McCann flies out. 2 outs.
  • Alex Cora mound visit. I legit thought he was going to bring David Price into the game here.
  • 6 pitch walk to Tony Kemp, the NUMBER NINE HITTER. Bases loaded.
  • Alex Bregman (.286/31 HR/103 RBI/51 Doubles) steps to the plate with the bases chucked. He’s also hitting .350 in the postseason this year.
  • Bregman hits a sinking liner to LF that had me standing up in my bed. Andrew Benintendi is sprinting in with the game on the line and LAYS OUT TO MAKE THE DIVING CATCH.

Holy shit, what a game. Even Sox radio play by play announcer Joe Castiglione nearly had a heart attack watching that final play.

But Kimbrel, what the hell man? Now I gotta worry about you imploding at every opportunity? You shall henceforth be referred to as Byung-hyun Kim-brel

Now lets get to the catch everyone is talking about. Mookie Betts made an all-time classic play that will be played at his Hall of Fame induction and Astros fans will be analyzing that play for years to come like it’s the Zapruder film.

Back. And to the Left.

Hey, Adult Jeffrey Maier, keep your hands to yourself. Mookie makes that catch 100 times out of 100 if unimpeded. Cowboy Joe West got it right.

Mookie’s absolute hose of a throw in the bottom of the 8th will be forgotten because of how much went on last night but that was another series altering play for Betts in a week full of them.

It also makes me laugh hysterically that this is the hill Evan Drellich will die on. He must have tweeted no less than a dozen times about the play and how awful of a call it was. Just a quick reminder that Drellich was the Astros beat writer for nearly three years.

But moving on to more important matters. Assuming the Red Sox don’t blow this whole series now do you realize something?

JACKIE BRADLEY JR IS YOUR ALCS MVP!

I feel bad for Adam Jones’ mentions on twitter, but holy hell when Jackie gets hot he gets HOT.

JBJ must feel like this right now:

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the disaster that nearly was. After YEARS of fans ripping David Price for his lack of big game performances, Cora had him ready to go with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th. You think Price actually wanted the ball there?

Game 5 is tonight and David Price gets the ball with a chance to get his first postseason win ever…oh and with a chance to send the Red Sox to the World Series! First pitch is at 8:09 pm so don’t sleep now!

Are the Astros Stealing the Red Sox Signs? Probably. Do I Care? Not Really.

By on • ( 1 Comment )

Yahoo – The Boston Red Sox were warned that a man credentialed by the Houston Astros might try to steal signs or information from their dugout after the Cleveland Indians caught him taking pictures of their dugout with a cellphone camera during Game 3 of the American League Division Series, sources with knowledge of the situation told Yahoo Sports.

A photograph obtained by Yahoo Sports showed a man named Kyle McLaughlin aiming a cell phone into Cleveland’s dugout during the Indians’ 11-3 loss that ended their season. McLaughlin was the same man caught taking pictures near the Red Sox’s dugout during Game 1 of the AL Championship Series, which was first reported by the Metro Times. McLaughlin was removed by security in Cleveland and Boston, sources said.

It would be the height of hypocrisy for a guy from Boston to fire up the outrage machine over alleged sign stealing from an opponent. It would go against the line I’ve *always* preached that it’s really not that big of a deal. I’m not going to go as far as the old trope that “if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying to win,” but particularly in baseball it is a part of the culture. If a guy on second base relays a stolen signal to his teammate at the plate then it’s generally accepted, if not applauded.

I suppose the influx of technology makes people more uncomfortable as it becomes a bit more sophisticated.

“Teams around the league are perhaps more wary of the Astros than any team, fearful that their employment of cameras – they use high-speed models made by Edgertronic to help evaluate players, according to sources – allows them to steal signs. MLB has not punished the Astros for any illegal behavior, sources told Yahoo Sports.”

If you happen to notice a catchers sign and relay that to a teammate you’re just competing, but if you have a whole system of deceit people regard it as more seedy.

I don’t really care and that may be because I am just entirely jaded by overblown cheating accusations (and stories about Apple Watches). If the Astros are indeed cheating then punish them, but I’m not going to sit here and tell you we need to take draft picks, and suspend players, and resurrect the ghost of Senator Arlen Specter to investigate the whole thing.

With that being said, at least PRETEND to be stealthy about it my dude.

But all this really does is raise the question I’ve always had as to why some of these stories blow up and others don’t? I mean anything the Patriots and Bill Belichick are accused of will always take on a life of its own because Bill is a glorious dickhead and people will take any chance they can get to try and bury the guy.

I guess the ‘Stros don’t play grabass with the media like some of the players/teams who have had similar stories swept under the rug.

Remember when Peyton Manning was (allegedly) taking PEDs? That shit was like a midnight news scroll on ESPN and was really never mentioned again. Ohhhh it was his wife taking the HGH guys, not Peyton the 40-year-old QB with a surgically fused spine, it was his wife!

Remember when the St. Louis Cardinals were caught hacking into the Astros entire scouting database? This got absolutely ZERO burn by the national media and this may have been the most outlandish scheme I’ve ever heard. The fall guy did end up going to prison and the team did get docked a couple of draft picks, but hey the Cardinals are the classiest team with the best fans in the world.