Deflect – verb – gerund or present participle: deflecting.
- cause (something) to change direction by interposing something; turn aside from a straight course
Here is an excellent example of deflecting posted by our Boston Red Sox contributor Luke.
First things first, we’ll address the letter, then we will come back to the delusional Boston response to that letter. Andy Martino, an SNY (that means NY Mets) reporter first broke the letter.
The letter has a few interesting takeaways.
- The first paragraph states that the Boston Red Sox committed the same violation. The letter actually acknowledges the Red Sox violations before addressing the Yankees
“Based on the information we received, I have concluded that the Red Sox violated On-Field Regulation 1-2.A by using electronic equipment for the purpose of stealing signs or conveying information designed to give a Club an advantage.” I will address this violation of the On-Field Regulations directly with the Red Sox.”
- It is acknowledged that there are many letters to many teams
“The league later presented its findings to the clubs in writing, as Manfred typically does after any investigation. In addition to the “Yankee Letter,” there is a “Red Sox Letter,” and many more letters as teams asked MLB to investigate one another regarding sign stealing.”
- Most importantly, the letter clears the Yankees of committing any violations following Rob Manfred’s decree that MLB was taking a hard stance against using the video room to relay signs
“The letter does not accuse the Yankees of sign-stealing after the crucial date of Sept. 15, 2017, when Manfred announced that from that day forward electronic sign stealing would be subject to more severe punishments. In fact, the letter does not accuse the team of stealing signs at any point during the 2017 season.”
So that’s that. There’s no need to defend anything since multiple teams were doing the same thing. There were no violations from the Yankees once the Yankees and other teams were told to stop. MLB acknowledges that it was a minor violation, committed by multiple teams, none of which had their letter leaked because none of those teams are as polarizing and relevant as the Yankees.
To quote the national MLB reporter Jeff Passan “It’s a big old nothing burger”.
The real story here is the response to the letter by Boston fans.
To be completely fair, I actually understand why Boston fans were so desperately hoping this letter would be more than it was. I understand why they are still fabricating allegations and ignoring sourced facts from the article. The reality is that Boston teams have been nailed for cheating so many times, the fans are desperate for the Yankees to sink to their level.
The Patriots rarely go more than a few seasons without a cheating scandal.
The Red Sox not only got nailed for using video equipment after the date of September 15, 2017 but they also hired the most disgraced MLB manager of all time twice.
Alex Cora is the biggest cheater in MLB history. He masterminded the most intricate sign stealing system in MLB history. The Astros made it to two World Series between 2017 – 2019, beating the Yankees in the ALCS both times, using Cora’s system.
In between those two Astros World Series appearances, Alex Cora left Houston to become the manager of the Red Sox. He immediately won 108 games, a World Series, and we saw nearly every player in his lineup post one of the best years of his career to that point. Something that no rookie manager has ever done before.
The guy that masterminded the most egregious cheating scandal in MLB history goes to another team and he is not going to use that same method?
I’ll post this question to every fan base except the Yankees, Red Sox, and Astros.
Does that sound suspicious to you? A rookie manager, who masterminded the most elaborate cheating scandal in MLB history immediately wins 108 games, a World Series, and has most of the hitters in his line up turn in career years? Do you think he was cheating?
The facts are all there. The Yankees committed minor violations and Red Sox fans are trying to blow it all out of proportion because deep down they know that Alex Cora should be banned from MLB for life. Red Sox fans know it even though they’ll never admit it.
Until Boston teams stop cheating, Boston fans will always be hoping the Yankees are doing what they are doing. They’ll make baseless accusations. They’ll concoct fabricated stories to ease their guilt. They’ll do whatever it takes to keep them from having to take a true look at themselves and their teams.
