1-18-2020 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this show piggybacking off his last show talking about how the Astros cheating is just par for the course when it comes to the history of Major League Baseball. Since the inception of the sport, it has been run by deviousness and straight up criminal activity. Few tell the story of the origins of “America’s Past Time” but truth is, during the middle to the latter part of the 19th century, while most American men were working on the railroad, on construction sites, on farms, and other noble professions, baseball players were outcasts that were perceived as lazy. It was assumed that they chose not to work and because of that, most players were at the very least devious, at the worst they were criminals. Yet we look at baseball as always being a pure game. The game was controlled by gamblers for almost 50 years, blacks were forbidden to play on the same field as whites for 60 years- yet we worry about the “sanctity” of the game of baseball. From scuffing baseballs, spitballs, corked bats, baseball players have done anything to gain an advantage on their competition. Players have loaded their bodies up with alcohol, amphetamines, cocaine, and steroids- all with little regard to whether or not they had an unfair advantage over their competition. John then talks about how the players on the 2017 Houston Astros need to be held accountable for their actions during this breach of trust. Not that John asks for blood often, but it is not fair that only one player from that team had to suffer and consequences for the actions of the group. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis would not have let one player be scapegoated for an entire group. Carlos Beltran is just like A-Rod- one who did wrong, but one of many who did the same thing. It is just as criminal to allow for one player to take the hit for the rest. Only in Cris Carter’s world is that okay. John then talks about Beltran’s Hall of Fame candidacy and how it compares to three current Hall of Famers. He finishes off the show by giving props to Odell Beckham, Jr.
