Stick an asterisk next to the Houston Astros‘ 2017 World Series title and a fork in baseball’s integrity: Rob Manfred has a mushrooming scandal on his hands that needs a competent cleanup crew ASAP.
Here’s what happened under the MLB commissioner’s embarrassing watch in the past week:
- Braves outfielder Nick Markakis said “every single” scandal-scarred Astros player “needs a beating.”
- Yankees slugger Aaron Judge verbally scorched Astros second baseman Jose Altuve and his now-questionable 2017 American League MVP award.
- Judge’s teammate Giancarlo Stanton called for the “Asterisks’” 2017 World Series title to be thrown out. He said he’d hit 80 home runs if he knew the pitches that were coming, as the Astros did in 2017.
- And LeBron James, the greatest sports star on the planet, implored Manfred to “fix this for the sake of sports.”
This is not the first time an MLB commissioner has had to deal with his league’s reputation taking a hit. Former commissioner Bud Selig was in charge during the steroid fallout and woefully undersold the damage it did to the game’s integrity. What he did not do is call the World Series trophy “a piece of metal,” though, as Manfred did when talking about the possibility of stripping the “Asterisks” of their 2017 World Series title.
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By Jon Gold | Last updated 2/20/20
