LeBron James has hit out at Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred. He says he’s “f****** irate” over the way the MLB handled the sign-stealing scandal involving the Houston Astros.
The Astros were found to have stolen the signs of opposition teams en route to winning the 2017 World Series, as well as for part of the 2018 campaign.
They used on-the-field technology to video the signs opposition catchers were giving to their pitchers. Then they signalled their batters at the plate, telling them what kind of pitch was coming.
Astros General manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were subsequently fired by the team in January after they were initially suspended for the entire 2020 season by the league. The Boston Red Sox meanwhile dismissed manager Alex Cora for a similar offence.
The fallout from the scandal continued on Tuesday after New York Yankees star Aaron Judge labelled the punishment “weak” and basketball’s iconic James followed with more criticism.
Manfred stated in January that the league did not plan to strip either team of their respective championships and it has left Judge “extremely frustrated”. He was part of a New York Yankees team that lost to the Astros in the American League Championship in 2017 and 2019.
Aaron Judge no fan of ‘weak’ punishment
“I wasn’t a fan of the punishment,” Judge told a news conference after the Astros players being given immunity in exchange for their testimonies. “I thought it was a little weak for a player-driven scheme.”
He added: “You lay it out there and to know another team had an advantage which you can’t guard against; I don’t feel that’s earned. It’s not earned.”
In the meantime James – a three-time NBA champion and four-time MVP – tweeted: “Listen I know I don’t play baseball but I am in Sports. I know if someone cheated me out of winning the title and I found out about it I would be f****** irate! I mean like uncontrollable about what I would/could do!
“Listen here baseball commissioner. Listen to your players speaking today about how disgusted, mad, hurt, broken, etc etc about this. Literally the ball is in your court [or should I say field] and you need to fix this for the sake of Sports!”
James’ comments came after he announced that his first children’s book will be released in August. The 35-year-old has teamed up with HarperCollins Publishers for a picture book titled ‘I Promise’.
He is also set to feature in the next ‘Space Jam’ movie.
About his new publication he said, “Books have the ability to teach, inspire, and bring people together. That’s why these books – and the opportunity to get children and parents reading together – mean so much to me.
“Most importantly, we wanted to make sure these stories are ones that every single kid can see themselves in.”
FOOTNOTE: Despite the controversy, the Astros remain a ‘top three’ favorite to win the next World Series. On Wednesday the New Jersey sports betting industry’s market leader, FanDuel, was quoting odds of +650 on them winning the series. Only the New York Yankees (+375) and LA Dodgers (+430) were more strongly favored to win the series.
Listen I know I don’t play baseball but I am in Sports and I know if someone cheated me out of winning the title and I found out about it I would be F*^king irate! I mean like uncontrollable about what I would/could do! Listen here baseball commissioner listen to your…..
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 18, 2020