美国国家公共电台 NPR--Evan Drellich's new book sheds light on the Houston Astros cheating scandal

Evan Drellich's new book sheds light on the Houston Astros cheating scandal

Transcript¹

NPR's A Martinez talks to Evan Drellich, a senior writer for The Athletic², who covered the Houston Astro's 2017 cheating scandal. His new book is called: Winning Fixes Everything.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

We now have new clarity on the biggest cheating scandal in baseball since the steroid era. In 2017, the Houston Astros won the World Series. They also cheated. Two years after their win, an investigation³ by The Athletic detailed⁴ how the Astros used live video feeds to steal pitching signs from opposing teams. One of the authors of the investigation was Evan Drellich. He's written a new book called "Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess." He says it starts with the 2011 hiring of general manager Jeff Luhnow, who arrived in baseball with no Major League Baseball experience. Before a short stint⁵ with the Saint Louis Cardinals⁶, he'd worked at a business consulting firm.

EVAN DRELLICH: Jeff Luhnow was a fantasy baseball player. He built rosters⁷ and competed with his friends. You know, when he arrives in baseball and in Houston, Luhnow really fell in love with the idea of being a disrupter. He wanted to revolutionize baseball in the same way that Billy Beane, who was the general manager of the A's, had done so 20 years ago. And it was Billy Beane who becomes the star of "Moneyball," the famous book by Michael Lewis. And so Luhnow arrives in Houston very much set to do things his way.

MART?NEZ: Now, with sports executives like Jeff Luhnow, typically it seems as if they have a great relationship with the numbers but not such a great relationship with people. Was Jeff Luhnow the type that kind of rubbed people the wrong way?

DRELLICH: Jeff Luhnow absolutely rubbed people the wrong way. And I think there's an important distinction. There's no question that analytics and advanced numbers and the arrival of big data inside of baseball produce benefits, created innovation, that they were positives attached to it. Luhnow, though - his management style, the way he would foster conflict in his organization - he withheld⁸ promotions⁹; he kept salaries very low - it became a cutthroat culture. And that's not unfamiliar¹⁰ to those who exist outside of baseball. It was very new inside of baseball. And players, agents, stakeholders were really unhappy with how they were being treated in a variety of ways.

MART?NEZ: All right. So eventually things start to turn around for the Astros. They get a lot better. And then the new commissioner¹¹ of baseball, Rob Manfred, starts putting an emphasis on more video replay to help cut down on umpires getting the calls wrong. Explain how that tech threatened the in-game communication between the pitcher¹² and the catcher.

DRELLICH: The commissioner, Rob Manfred, you know, rightly looked around and said, well, why can't our players and managers decide to challenge a call on the field? Everybody at home can see a video replay if somebody got it wrong. We should go to a challenge system. But what comes along with that challenge system is a video room - a dedicated¹³ video room - for every single team. And inside that video room are different feeds, including feeds directly fixed¹⁴ on the catchers' signs.

Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball apparently¹⁵ forgot that this is a hyper-competitive environment, that these are players and teams that always want to try to get an edge. So players and teams start using those video rooms to look at the catchers' signs. And they do this in game. And Major League Baseball had a long time on the books a rule prohibiting the use of electronic equipment to steal signs.

MART?NEZ: So how sanctioned organization wide was this with the Houston Astros? Was it just the players who noticed it and decided¹⁶ to do it, or did it reach all the way to the top where management knew this was something they could use and decided to tell everyone, hey, why don't you use it?

DRELLICH: Jeff Luhnow, the general manager, has denied knowledge of the cheating scheme. Major League Baseball found some evidence that that at least was not believable. There are emails from a lower-level staffer to Luhnow making direct references to what's called the system, and that is a reference to the cheating scheme. Luhnow said he did not read those emails. The culture inside of Houston was really strained. The relationship between Jeff Luhnow, the general manager, and manager A.J. Hinch was contentious¹⁷ and distrusting. The relationship between the players and the front office lacked a lot of trust.

Well, gee¹⁸, do you think in that kind of environment, the manager, A.J. Hinch, is going to run to Jeff Luhnow, the general manager, and say, hey, Jeff, we got a problem here; we got a cheating scheme, and I think we should stop it? And what you see over time in Houston is how these different culture and decision-making approaches add up to an environment that is really not one that is prepared to handle an ethical¹⁹ breach²⁰. The whole focus in Houston is on winning, making money, data efficacy. It is not on everything else, and everything else comes back to bite the Astros.

MART?NEZ: So in 2017, the Astros win the World Series. How much of that was due to the sign stealing, in the way they did it?

DRELLICH: I think this is both an impossible and unfortunate question. The manager, A.J. Hinch, has been asked this on the record. He said, we probably will never know, but we did it to ourselves. My book has an anecdote²¹ from the bench coach of the team in 2017, who's now the manager of the Boston Red Sox, where he tells people privately²² after the fact, we stole that bleeping World Series. Whether that's true or not, truly nobody can know. But the fact that the question exists, will continue to exist is really among the tragedies of the whole situation. Nobody knows.

MART?NEZ: In the end, general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch lost their jobs, but not a single player suffered any consequences from Major League Baseball. To many fans, it seems like the Astros kind of got away with it. Evan Drellich has a different view.

DRELLICH: This will follow everybody involved for the rest of their careers. It is possible that it will impact Hall of Fame voting. One of the leaders of the cheating scheme, Carlos Beltran, was newly eligible²³ for the Hall of Fame this past winter. He did not get in. It's an interesting question of, would he have at least received more support if he had not been one of the ringleaders of the cheating scheme?

Players continue to be booed. And what underlies²⁴ this is a lot of these players are incredibly talented. Jose Altuve, star second baseman of the Astros, is an incredibly talented player. But he will, as everybody on this Astros team, will be forever associated with one of the most famous cheating scandals in baseball, if not overall sports history.

MART?NEZ: That's Evan Drellich. His new book is called "Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess." Evan, thanks.

DRELLICH: Thanks, A.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 stint   

v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事

参考例句：

• He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
• We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。

6 cardinals   

红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数

参考例句：

• cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
• A conclave of cardinals was held to elect the new Pope. 红衣主教团举行了秘密会议来选举新教皇。

7 rosters   

n.花名册( roster的名词复数 )；候选名单v.将（姓名）列入值勤名单( roster的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Teams have until Monday, Oct. 29 to set their rosters. 球队可以在下周一之前，即10月29确定他们的15人常规赛名单。 来自互联网
• Rosters, R& R, FIFO or country-based lifestyle limiting your opportunities? 枯燥单调的生活方式限制了你的机会？ 来自互联网

8 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 promotions   

促进( promotion的名词复数 )； 提升； 推广； 宣传

参考例句：

• All services or promotions must have an appeal and wide application. 所有服务或促销工作都必须具有吸引力和广泛的适用性。
• He promptly directed the highest promotions and decorations for General MacArthur. 他授予麦克阿瑟将军以最高的官阶和勋奖。

10 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

11 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

12 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

13 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

14 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

15 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

18 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

19 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

20 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

21 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

22 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

23 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

24 underlies   

v.位于或存在于（某物）之下( underlie的第三人称单数 )；构成…的基础（或起因），引起

参考例句：

• I think a lack of confidence underlies his manner. 我认为他表现出的态度是因为他缺乏信心。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Try to figure out what feeling underlies your anger. 努力找出你的愤怒之下潜藏的情感。 来自辞典例句