Major League Baseball has done the right thing. Houston Astros owner Jim Crane has done the right thing.
Baseball suspended Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch for sign-stealing during the 2017 season, a season in which the Astros were crowned World Series champions. Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office also took away four draft picks in two years and fined the team $5 million.
Crane, who apparently knew little or nothing of it at the time, then fired his GM and manager when word broke on Monday.
I’m confused by fans and those in the media who want the 2017 World Series title stripped from the Astros. Corked bats, gambling, spitballs and steroids have plagued baseball for centuries, yet there has always been a champion.
Victories and championships come with asterisks for some fans, and I get that. However, if every offence by every team was investigated every year, there might only be a World Series awarded every three years or so.