Dodgers: Andre Ethier Had the Most to Lose From Astros Cheating Scandal
It’s easy to forget just how many players lives were changed by the Astros’ cheating. The Dodgers, in particular, had several guys on their team that really took a hit. But perhaps none more so than Andre Ethier.
Now approaching two years into retirement, the long-time Dodgers outfielder interviewed with Jon Weisman to discuss how he felt about the Astros 2017 campaign, and what he thought about proper punishments. You can read the full story here.
My dinner-time chat with Andre … https://t.co/UoDOuLQibT
— Jon Weisman (@jonweisman) February 19, 2020
Above all else, the takeaway from the brief phone call seems to be the Ethier does not try to think about what could have been. He does not sit and reflect on what might have happened if the Astros did not cheat, and certainly does not think there’s a guarantee the Dodgers win it all.
Do you feel cheated? Yes. But screw that. I can still beat these guys whether they’re doing that or not. That’s the mentality I would take when I would go out there and play every day. Did it affect at bats? Yes. Did it affect games? Most likely. Do we know if that all added up to effect the entirety of a series. We will never know … We’ll never actually know until they actually come clean and say what the reason is.
Ethier played 12 magical seasons in Los Angeles, becoming a fan-favorite almost immediately. As it happened to work out, his very last at-bat in baseball came against the Astros in game 7 of the World Series. Ethier hit a base hit to right that knocked in the only run of the game for the Dodgers.
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[adace-ad id=”119991″]Did their cheating lead to his retirement? Probably not. After all, Ethier had played just one month of the season due to injuries.
It’s tough for any baseball player. You play professional baseball 16 years and one team for 12 years. … All of a sudden, not by your choice, it’s just over after one game.
Although that was his last game, Ethier did not actually announce his retirement until the Summer of 2018. He was not ready to give the game up, but was understanding that there was not a place for him on the Dodgers’ roster as well.
It’s definitely a tough transition, finding your footing, finding your place, but when you have solid people behind you — your family and friends — and you have solid support from the Dodgers’ front office guys and players, making you feel a part of it, that makes it so easy, I thank them so much for making me feel a part of it.
And now here we are. More than two years removed from his last game and caught in the scandal that is the Houston Astros. While Ethier is not a fan of how the team was punished, he also knows that this is on more than Major League Baseball to fix.
I know MLB’s hands are tied now…I think our union could do a great job of setting precedent and taking action. If MLB’s not (going to do it), why not stand up for the 400-500 other players around the league?
Ethier went on to say that players maybe should bot receive suspensions, but rather have them participate in more youth programs around the country. Not a bad idea.
NEXT: Clayton Kershaw Proud that People are Upset About Cheating in Baseball
I remember thinking a lot about Ethier and how that was his last chance to finally win one here. It’s sad because he spent his whole career here was on many teams that fell short battled injuries, finally came back to a great dodgers team only to be cheated out. Would’ve been a perfect ending to his era. Clutch hitter too and good guy
Hello Don. One thing is that Ethier also fell victim to the platooning because of his apparent struggles against LHP. But that doesn’t take away any of his clutch performances. But I can tell ya this too…this Astro cheating scandal is going to get more ugly than better for a while.. Stop and think about the upcoming ST games that don’t count. Opposing pitchers may take matters into their own hands because teams have an abundance of players in camp if a pitcher gets thrown out of game for hitting or coming close to an Astro hitter. And also if Manfred suspends any pitcher for an ‘alleged’ act of throwing at them, there will be appeals and grievances filed because why should they be punished when these Astro players got off basicaly free and got away with this?
Things will definitely get a lot worse when players get suspended when Astros players still have no punishment. It’s going to be a great season filled with drama and excitement. Manfred, Tony Clark, and the Astros will all be put in their place because the players and fans will demand it
Throwing at a Houston player will be the dumbest thing ever to do. Doing so and getting ejected or suspended only hurts your team because the Astro player keeps playing. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. That’s a lose-lose for us and a win-win for the Astros.
You can’t suspend the whole league as far as the pitchers go. The first of each team will get it hard but if every one keeps at it there’s nothing they can do. Most baseball fans are ok with this I’ve seen comments on many platforms and even the players have talked about it. Don and Paul aren’t alone here
To Andre, and all the Dodgers: It really is such an accomplishment to be a Dodger, that is almost enough. Good luck always!!
Ken Sehres (dodger fan since 1944)
It’s not a good thing …but game 7 was played at Dodger stadium ..they couldn’t have cheated there ..Dodgers just couldn’t
score..??
But if they weren’t cheating it might not have had to go 7 games. Think about it, they needed to cheat for it to go 7 games. We’ll never know but we might have won it all in 5 games.
What if future free agents refuse to sign with Houston and teams refuse to sign Astros cheaters like Altuve, Bergman and Correa etc. They’ll all have to coexist in Houston like a sick brood of vipers. The players and the organization will suffer. Good riddance!!
I concur, Daniel. Let’s take it a few steps further…..” but for” regular season cheating, the Astros may not have even made it to the post season (let alone the World Series) to continue cheating. I am tired of hearing how Chapman tipped his pitches or how poorly the Dodgers played Game 7 as justification for how the Astros “won” the ALCS and World Series. The Astros World Series “win” was the result of CUMULATIVE cheating throughout the regular and post season, period.
Commish says his hands are tied and there is not much he can do to alleviate the situation.
I call BS on that. Yes, he made a stupid pact with MLPA to not punish the players via suspensions. But, he can still void the WS win and require that the Astros* return the piece of worthless metal and the bonuses. That could make a difference in perception of the mess the Commish created and other players feelings toward the Astros*.
All fans of baseball, not only the Dodgers, should take action to get the WS title taken away. Boycott Astros games everywhere, boo their players everywhere, and put pressure – not sure how – on the gutless Manfred to do the right thing.
The Astros can win 110-120 games this season that won’t change the fact they were caught cheating, they can go and sweet the WS that won’t change the fact they are cheaters. Forever
I understand the rage, but every team has cheated in some way. Not to the extent the Astros did, but cheated nevertheless.Supposedly,8 other teams were doing similar cheating in 2017. In time more stuff will come out.