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Still, Strom believes it will soon be time for him to leave the game to all of the younger, analytically inclined pitching coaches that have permeated the game the last few years. The avid Boston Celtics fan opts for a basketball analogy to describe this stage of his career, saying he's "in the fourth quarter." He's non-committal about how much longer he wants to coach, but it sounds possible that the clock could hit 0:00 at the end of this season.

"I initially thought I was going to do a couple years," Strom said. "This is going to be a very trying year. I'll see how I feel at the end of this year. I fully expect an onslaught from opposing teams, opposing fans and everything. And so I'll see how I feel physically at the end of this year and see what direction this organization wants to go in. Whether I want to continue to do it, I don't know yet."

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Strom will also forever be associated with the 2017 Astros, whose hitters cheated via their now-infamous trash can-banging system and severely damaged the integrity of the game. As the pitching coach, he stood right by Hinch in the dugout throughout that World Series championship season. Said Strom: "It was a very difficult winter for me. I find myself very sorry for what happened." He was a bystander to the wrongdoing, just like so many others who didn't speak up before Mike Fiers did in November.

"I knew it was wrong, but I kind of wrapped myself into the idea that I'm on the pitching side of the thing," Strom said. "I think I did that to myself to kind of alleviate some of the guilt that was in my mind about this stuff going on. I kind of stayed in my lane. I was as complicit as anybody."

Strom said he "very much" regrets his inaction and he wishes he would've "come out stronger" against the scheme, though he's not sure how exactly he would've done it. Citing the fact the 2017 Astros won the AL West by 21 games, he also pointed out what many others have: that "it probably wasn't necessary."

But amid the feelings of guilt, Strom has also found himself wanting to lash back in the wake of some of the commentary from the rest of the sport.

"When I think back, particularly to the 2017 ALCS with the Yankees, I realize that our pitching was pretty stellar and helped us win that thing. It had nothing to do with trash cans. Three runs in 36 innings (at Minute Maid Park) against a very potent offense, I think, spoke volumes about our pitching," he said. "I thought our pitching in 2018 was exceptional. And then I think what I'm bothered by most is the accusations about 2019 when I know nothing was going on and we won 107 games."

Strom acknowledges the fact that his pitchers benefitted from the scheme in 2017, as the greater the run support by the Astros hitters the less stress inflicted on the Astros pitchers. But he also maintains that he doesn't look at his World Series ring any differently. "I'll probably get lambasted for that," he said. "But I'll be damned if I'm going to genuflect and kowtow to everything I hear or read about this thing." He added he doesn't know what's required to appease the masses. He said at this point he's not so sure even self-immolation on the back fields of the Astros' spring training complex would suffice.

"I'm not going to dismiss what that team did that year and completely throw it away," Strom said. "Maybe it's easier for me because I'm in the fourth quarter of my career and it's easier for me to possibly say that than other people can. Were we wrong? Yes, we were wrong. But I'll put it this way: I don't wear my World Series ring, but when I do put it on I have pride in wearing that ring. I still feel that that team accomplished a great deal."

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The managerial transition from Hinch to Baker is still in its infancy. Strom and Baker's careers intersected previously they competed against each other in both the minors and the majors in the 1970s but this is their first time working together.

"He has great respect, and I think he has the respect of this team," Strom said of Baker. "When I heard he was the manager, I said that's the right guy at this given time. I am not going to lie: I miss A.J. I miss dealing with him, knowing how much he loves this game. I feel for A.J. right now and I just hope that he comes out on the other side and gets another opportunity because he's well respected in this game."

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Please take me off your distribution list for this bull***** You have clearly lost your ability to be rational and honest and you are giving baseball a bad name in the process

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It's a parody article. A joke. Not meant to insult anyone, much less a friend. I'm sorry and I will not send you anything else. Regards.

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An undisclosed source has just blown the whistle on a whole different plot by the 2017 Astros to cheat. According to the source, "Everybody knows that the Astros are a technology focused organization. But, not only did the Astros cheat by illegally using technology to steal signs in 2017, they also used special, advanced technology to cheat in a totally unorthodox and unexpected way. I feel a responsibility to come forward in order to save the game of baseball. If this does not come to light, the game of baseball will soon be forever ruined, and it may never recover."

The source claims to have definitive proof that the Astros actually knew what pitch the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers hitters were expecting on every pitch during the ALCS and World Series. Then, knowing what the hitter was expecting, the Astros would use that information to foil the hitter by signaling the pitcher to throw the opposite pitch.

Let's look at the compelling evidence. In the 2017 ALCS, the Yankee hitters had a strikeout rate of 32% and a .205 batting average compared to their 2017 season strikeout rate of 25% and a .262 batting average.

What else could possibly explain this drastic increase in strikeouts and equally drastic decrease in batting average? The Yankee and Dodger hitters actually had strong suspicions during the 2017 postseason, that somehow, the Astros pitchers seemed to know precisely what pitch they were expecting. They both voiced their suspicions to MLB, but MLB would not believe their seemingly wild and unfounded accusations.

Consider this. For the 2017 season, the Astros team salary was $120M. That ranked 19th out of the 30 MLB teams with the Dodgers having the highest team salary of $228M. Yet somehow, the Astros managed to defeat both the Dodgers and the Yankees during the Postseason.

According to the undisclosed source, instead of spending money on player salaries, the Astros opted to invest in a small, local, startup company specializing in mentalism.

The source went on to say, "We began testing this new technology towards the end of the 2017 season. At first, the results were sketchy. Out catcher would accidentally read the mind of the umpire It took us a while to figure out how to filter out the umpire's thoughts. We accomplished this by secretly inserting a thin layer of aluminum foil in the home plate umpire's helmet before each game. This effectively prevented the transmission of his thoughts. But during our testing, we learned that umpires don't actually think too much in the first place. Imagine that (he said with a chuckle).



Another problem that we encountered was that, periodically, the catcher would read 'curve' but the hitter was actually expecting a fastball. After some testing, using our own hitters, we came to realize that some hitters were thinking of their girlfriend (he said with another chuckle), and it threw us off a little bit. It didn't really get perfected until after the ALDS Series with the Red Sox. By the time we faced the Yankees in the ALCS, we had all the bugs worked out and the device was working perfectly."

This was a perfect plan. The drawback to the trash can, sign stealing plan, was that it could only be done at home games. But the beauty of the mentalist plan was that it could just as easily be implemented on the road as at home.

So, in the 2017 ALCS and World Series, as an opposing hitter stepped to the plate, whether at Minute Maid Park or at the road ballpark, the catcher, wearing the mentalist apparatus, would read the mind of the batter and determine which pitch they were looking for. The catcher would then call for an off-speed pitch if the hitter was thinking fastball and likewise, he would call for a fastball when the hitter was looking for an off-speed pitch. The result? Strikeout after strikeout after strikeout

The rest is history. Statistics don't lie. Not only did the Astros hitters know which pitch was coming, the Astros pitchers, via the catcher, knew exactly which pitch to throw to opposing hitters in the ALCS and World Series. It was a brilliant plan. This writer feels that if these plans had not been brought to light, the Astros would have surely been World Champions for many years to come.

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Texaggie7nine said:

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I feel like my ADS comment isnt getting the love it deserves.

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j_davis01 said:

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Just boarding flight to West Palm Beach! Time to get this season started and get this offseason over with!

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bearkatag15 said:

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Lineup today... baseball is back

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Marvin said:

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j_davis01 said:

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Just boarding flight to West Palm Beach! Time to get this season started and get this offseason over with!

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Be there in the morning! Hopefully we can meet up at the ballpark.

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