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Former Dodgers Pitcher Alex Wood Discusses Astros Cheating Allegations

We have heard just about everyone inside of the Dodgers’ organization give their opinions on the cheating allegations against the Houston Astros. A large chunk of these cheating escapades came during the 2017 season per reports and as well all know, the Dodgers played Houston in the 2017 World Series and lost in seven games. Whether or not the World Series was compromised has yet to be confirmed.

Now a free agent, left-handed starting pitcher Alex Wood weighed in on the Astros cheating scandal. Wood was a member of the World Series roster for Los Angeles in 2017 and even tossed a no-hitter for five innings during the series. In a recent column by Andy McCullough of The Athletic, Wood discussed:



‘Nervous as Sh–‘

Alex Wood told McCullough about the biggest stage of his career, coming into Game 4 of the World Series with the Dodgers down 2-1 in the series. He said that he was pretty scared:

“I was nervous as sh–. I can admit that, three years later.”

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The reason, though, was not solely from natural nerves and anxiety. He had heard whispers that something else was at play:

“We’d heard whispers of some of the shady stuff they’d been doing. Obviously, we had no idea it was to the extent that came out, in terms of setting up cameras in the tunnel and banging on trash cans. That’s pretty wild.”

It is still pretty wild to acknowledge this large-scale cheating scandal. The most bad-ass part of the game for Wood, though, was that he beat a cheating Astros team by allowing just one solo home run across 5 2/3 innings of work. They cheated and he still conquered the day. Sure, the Astros took the series, but that was a small yet unbeknownst victory at the time.

Related: Clayton Kershaw Shocked with Astros Scandal

Overall

Alex Wood provided a good standard for the way fans and the Dodgers themselves should view the situation going forward. He said:

“I’m not going to waste my time feeling that way. It sucks. And it’s bullsh–. But it is what it is. Nothing is going to change. I don’t want to be the person looking back my whole life, saying ‘The Astros stole a World Series from me.’ You know what I mean?”

This one will sting, but it can no longer be changed.

NEXT: The 2020 Starting Rotation Without Hyun-Jin Ryu

Daniel Preciado

My name is Daniel Preciado and I am 19 years old. I am a sophomore Sport Analytics major and Cognitive Science and Economics dual minor at Syracuse University. When I am not in New York, I live in Whittier, California --- not too far from Chavez Ravine. I am pretty old-school for being an analytics guy and I will always embrace debate. Also, Chase Utley did absolutely nothing wrong.

13 Comments

  1. The Nats wanted it enough to do it every game with every pitcher. The Dodgers are pathetic how does only One pitcher do this

    1. I find that curious too. Dodgers never seem to be on the same page like a true team unless it’s about some nerd metrics. Reminds me of Honeycutt never having a clue about pitch tipping yet everyone else’s coaches and players knew

      1. Why didn’t Wood star game 7 instead of Darvish? In either case, Kershaw was going to releive early. In his first start of the series Darvish was lame, while Wood was solid. Put the cheating issue aside. The hotter pitcher should have started game 7. That was the biggest reason the Dodgers lost that series.

  2. The biggest reason that the Dodgers haven’t won a world series in the last three years is simply subpar postseason play compared to the regular season, for which Kershaw is the poster child, but many others could mentioned. Here is my short list of Dodger players who actually step up their game in the postseason:

    Walker Buehler (big time)
    Joc Pedersen
    Justin Turner
    Rich Hill (prior to last year)

    A handful of others have been steady, like Max Muncy. But most fall off dramatically. I don’t think this is the result of opposing teams cheating. But I honestly don’t know what the problem is. Maybe they all need a dose of Rich Hill combativeness.

    1. They need to just go. They are too beta for the big market pressure. We need alphas that want to be in this position not just guys that say it but don’t know how to get after it

  3. Every team cheats in some way, even our Dodgers. Some managers said cheating permeates throughout baseball.

      1. From what I have read, about 1/3 of MLB teams were doing what the Astros were accused of. The rest of MLB wasn’t far behind. Cheating is rampant.

        1. You read fake news. There would be investigations into all of those teams if that was true and known

      2. Nor has cheating or any “extent” of cheating been proved. Statistically and W/L’s point to no cheating. The Astros have lost more playoff games at home over the past three seasons than they have won and their batting averages are worse at Minute Maid than on the road. Sometimes the facts just don’t line up with what people want the story to be. Sorry, not sorry.

  4. Why are there non-Dodgers fans commenting on this?!? People love to hate LA when their teams suck. Astros cheated, why are people commenting about how the Dodgers unfold during the post season when most teams don’t make it to the World Series? Honestly as a Dodger fan sure at times I believe analytics needs to be pushed aside for heart and the hot hand, but Dave Roberts has done a phenomenal job and deserves recognition for his historic postseason runs.

    As baseball fans can we put aside the hate and appreciate greatness for what it is? When all is said and done each player and coach has done what most of us only dream of, make it to the majors let alone a World Series!

    1. The Astros didn’t cheat. The Dodgers lost two home games during that Series. This truth may keep you up at night, but they got whipped by a better baseball team. Build a bridge and get over it. The only team proved to have cheated is the Red Sox, and they spanked the Dodgers too. Reality can be troublesome.

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