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On February 13, the Astros finally issued a public apology, if you want to call it that. Owner Jim Crane, along with players Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve “apologized” for their roles in the cheating scandal.
Let’s be real. They didn’t mean anything they said. Both players spoke for about a minute, and Houston’s owner essentially denied everything. It didn’t go unnoticed by the fans, and it certainly didn’t go unnoticed by the players.
Across social media yesterday, multiple players spoke out, voicing their frustration with how the press conference was handled. Today, Cody Bellinger, the 2019 National League MVP, provided his thoughts on the whole situation.
Bellinger: "I thought Manfred's punishment was weak, giving them immunity. I mean these guys were cheating for three years. I think what people don't realize is Altuve stole an MVP from Judge in '17. Everyone knows they stole the ring from us."
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) February 14, 2020
He’s clearly upset, and deservingly so.
He also added this on the Altuve walk-off home run to send the Astros to the World Series this past season, per Jorge Castillo of the LA Times.
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This isn’t the first time Bellinger has voiced his opinion on the matter. Last month when the punishments were dished out, this is what he tweeted.
For the sake of the game I Hope this isn’t true.. if true, there needs to be major consequences to the players. That Completely ruins the integrity of the game!!!
— Cody Bellinger (@Cody_Bellinger) January 16, 2020
Here’s what else he had to say today.
"They're not saying that they're cheating. They never said 'No' to the buzzers. They always just said the commissioner's report. It's kind of bizarre what's been going on over there. We listened to that and the guy said it wasn't impacting the game -- are you kidding me?"
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 14, 2020
Teams around the league were wary of Astros Bellinger said. "Man, they've got something going on in Houston. It was, like, these guys are a different team at home. Then it came out that they were doing this so it was obvious."
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 14, 2020
Although there isn’t video of the full interview, here are snippets from ESPN. He’s clearly frustrated and angry.
You can see how visibly pissed Cody Bellinger is when talking about the Astros pic.twitter.com/QUXiNwzbxd
— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) February 14, 2020
In addition, Alex Wood spoke with the media today about the Astros, and was quite vocal about the issue.
#Dodgers Alex Wood on possibility opponents will take it out on Astros by throwing at their hitters: "You would be hard pressed to say no. I mean, they messed with a lot of guys lives. I don't condone that type of behavior. We certainly don't play them. ..." (cont)
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 14, 2020
"and they'll get suspended more games than any of those guys got for the biggest cheating scandal in 100 years. It'll be pretty ironic when that happens because I'm sure that's how it will end up playing out." 3/3
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 14, 2020
This isn’t the first time Wood has voiced his opinion on the Astros. Last month, he tweeted a few things, clearly showing how upset he was with the entire situation.
I would rather face a player that was taking steroids than face a player that knew every pitch that was coming.
— Alex Wood (@Awood45) January 16, 2020
AMEN!!! The fact that there hasn’t been any consequences to any players up to this point is wild. https://t.co/zjgsJuuQlK
— Alex Wood (@Awood45) January 16, 2020