Completely Conspicuous 529: Cheat to Win

I talk to Phil Stacey and Dave Olson about baseball's cheating scandal while we drive to a rock concert. Show notes: - Recorded on the way to see the Drive-By Truckers in Somerville, MA - Not the first cheating scandal in MLB, but this has a different feel - Houston Astros accused of stealing signs on the way to 2017 World Series - Every team cheats in some way or another - "If you're not cheating, you're not trying" - Corked bats, scuffed pitches - Baseballs were juiced last year to generate interest - The sport is fading in popularity - Too slow for short attention spans of today's society - Steroids in the late '90s were ignored in favor of home run records - Did the punishment fit the crime? - Astros were fined and lost draft picks, but could have been worse - MLB didn't expect this to blow up; former Astro revealed it in an interview - Public reaction has been loud - Two other teams have fired their managers who had connections to Astros that season - Did MLB and the teams coordinate these actions? - MLB wants this to go away and it's not - Other teams and players are upset about it - A pitcher sued because Astros lit him up and he was out of the majors - Astros are going to be booed mercilessly all season on the road - We don't know how much the sign stealing helped them - Houston will get some big TV ratings this season - Brought to you by Google Maps - Altuve was a heroic figure, now tarnished - MMA and pro wrestling are resonating with a younger generation - A lot of baseball teams struggle to fill the seats - Young kids would rather watch eSports, where other people play video games - Easier to cheat in baseball or basketball - Astros intern figured out how to steal signs and convinced management to adopt it - Astros players should expect to get hit by a lot of pitches this season Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.