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On more than one occassion in his Major League Baseball career, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander has complained loudly and in one case, profanely, about there not being a level playing field for himself, gave the most hypocritical interview on Thursday when asked about Houston’s cheating scnadal.
Following Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, Astros owner Jim Crane, and new manager Dusty Baker’s non-apology apologies Thursday morning the Houston clubhouse was open for business and, as would be expected, the media had a whole bunch of questions.
Some Astros players like Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel actually sacked up and admitted that they did it, they were sorry, and they are not proud of themselves.
Carlos Correa completely denies that the Astros wore buzzers during games:
"If I'm lying here I'll lose credibility, I want to speak the truth. It's straight up false" pic.twitter.com/o3LVPJMr2i
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) February 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/MarlyRiveraESPN/status/1227976498314870784
Others, like Astros owner Jim Crane and his pitcher Justin Verlander, who just last summer went on a profane rant claiming the league and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred were turning the league into a “fucking joke” by juicing the baseballs, decided to dig their holes a little deeper with their responses to the sign-stealing scandal.
“It’s been difficult,” said Verlander. “Showing up in 2017. Once I spent some time there and understood what was happening. I didn’t. I wish I had said more. Looking back, I can’t go back. I can’t reverse my decision. I wish I had said more, and I didn’t, and for that I’m sorry.”
Verlander refused to answer questions about what he did discuss with his teammates when he found out about the cheating, and claimed that he had no suspicions that the Astros were illegally stealing signs before he joined the team in 2017.
. @JustinVerlander speaks with the media. Our coverage on 790 presented by @karbachbrewing pic.twitter.com/xN0srCGmtW
— SportsTalk 790 (@SportsTalk790) February 13, 2020
Interesting response, because that same year while he was still on the Detroit Tigers, Verlander complained to the media about, wait for it… sign-stealing.
“It’s not about gamesmanship anymore,” Verlander complained in 2017. “It used to be, ‘Hey, if you can get my signs, good for you.’ In the past, if a guy on second (base) was able to decipher it on a few pitches, I guess that was kind of part of the game. I think it’s a different level now. It’s not good.”
When asked if the cheating changed his opinion of his teammates when he found out, Verlander replied, “Again, I think as a team we’ve expressed our remorse, myself included, and I’ll leave it at that.”
And when asked if he believes the Astros 2017 World Series title is now tainted, Verlander once again gave a very bad answer.
“Personally, I don’t. I think everyone can draw their own conclusions and have their own opinions, though,” he replied. “I think we had an extremely talented ball club. In my opinion we had the best team in baseball.”
As happened earlier on Thursday when the Astros held a press conference to address the sign-stealing scandal, all Verlander’s comments did was make fans even more angry.
.@JustinVerlander, the anti-electronic sign stealing crusader who always has something to say, will not be at the #Astros press conference to talk about electronic sign stealing.
The joke pretty much writes itself.
— Chris Dixon (@cdixon25) February 13, 2020
So, Verlander had plenty of shit to say about the baseballs being different at the all star press conference last year but he has said nothing about Bregman and Altuve cheating pic.twitter.com/DFY5VqsCeO
— LoveDoctor (@Hitch_Atl) February 13, 2020
2016 Verlander: "We're fighting and clawing for 162 games. You'd hate to see something happen where . . . you lose by a game. . .What if? Well, what if that guy hadn't been on the field?"
"I don't have a problem with steroids . . I have a problem with cheating."
Verlander now:
— The Thought Leader (@yagottagotomo) February 13, 2020
He always said plenty about other cheaters. I guess it was easier to shout things from his high horse.
— Guard The Corner (@GuardTheCorner) February 13, 2020
Verlander after being asked what did he say to his cheating teammates in 2017 “That’s between me and my teammates” 😏
You ******* Coward you run your mouth about everything that happens in baseball until you got that RING on false pretenses @JustinVerlander pic.twitter.com/EUTRuXCwHq
— IB THE GAMBLER 🔌 (@incarceratedbob) February 13, 2020
Here’s Verlander responding to Dee Gordon’s steroid suspension: "… I think it should be a ban from baseball. It's too easy for guys to serve a suspension and come back and still get paid."
— Chris Towers is the Riley Greene Preservation Soc (@CTowersCBS) February 13, 2020
Alex Bregman is a fraud and clown and cheating scumbag. Jose Altuve is a fraud and clown and cheating scumbag. Justin Verlander wants to open his mouth about everything under the sun but is nowhere to be found. This is a team of liars, cheaters and scumbags. Fuck them
— Nick Kostos (@TheKostos) February 13, 2020
Oh well, at least Dallas Kuechel who was a pitcher on the 2017 Astros team apologized. What’s that?
Dallas Keuchel on ‘17 Astros: ‘We’re always going to be World Series champs because we were talented.’ #whitesox #Astros pic.twitter.com/T5IXpxqjkH
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) February 13, 2020
Astros hitters might want to go up to the plate wearing armor this year.