Several MLB players have spoken out and voiced their anger at the Houston Astros over the sign-stealing scheme the team used during their World Series run in 2017. However, not many have voiced their anger as bluntly as Nick Markakis.
Markakis, an outfielder for the Braves, told reporters that every Astro “needs a beating” for cheating the game.
“It’s anger,” Markakis said. “I feel like every single guy over there needs a beating. It’s wrong. They’re messing with people’s careers.”
According to ESPN:
Markakis did not elaborate on what would constitute a ‘beating.’ At least two pitchers have indicated that they would at least consider throwing at Astros batters, and William Hill sportsbook set an over/under of 83.5 for Houston hit-by-pitches in 2020, a number that would rank as one of the 10 highest in the previous five seasons.
Markakis also took a shot at MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, for not punishing Astros players for cheating.
“The way he handled the situation, he should be embarrassed of himself,” Markakis said.
Though, Markakis seems most distressed by the damage that the Astros cheating scandal has done to baseball.
“There’s right ways to do it and wrong ways to do it,” Markakis explained. “I 100% disagree with way they did it. There’s a lot of people that were hurt by it, and it was wrong.”
The Astros employed a camera in center-field to help steal signs. When the batter was at the plate, a trash can would be banged to let the hitter know that an off-speed pitch would be on the way.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn