Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network

Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by Kevin_S on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @12:58PM (#9727207)

This is shocking, I followed this closely last year as I am a die-hard Astros fan but never thought it would be another team. I definitely doubt the Cardinals endorsed this, it was just some dudes that had access. These guys will be fired (if they haven't already) and there will be fines. Nothing too crazy will happen.

Though if the FBI finds that the GM/high level execs knew about the activity... this will be unprecedented. The penalties would be staggering as MLB would want to crack down extremely hard to deter future bad behavior.

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by remarkEon on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @01:12PM (#9727310)

Really interested to see how Bud Selig responds to this. Looks like this is the same guy (Luhnow) who SI did a pretty good thing last year about, reference how the Astros were doing a Ctrl+Alt+Dlt[1].

The cynical side of me says that Selig and MLB will try to maybe milk this for some rating or something, considering the meme going around that baseball is dying.

(full disclosure, Twins fan here, so I'm gonna be cynical about anything that Selig does)

[1] http://www.si.com/longform/astros/

Edit: Guess I missed that Selig retired in January. Damn you, work!

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by gtCameron on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @01:18PM (#9727339)

Selig retired in January. Rob Manfred is the commissioner now.

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by remarkEon on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @01:20PM (#9727358)

Good to know. Guess I missed the press release and party.

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by Kevin_S on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @01:28PM (#9727402)

Yeah haha, no one really liked Selig. Manfred has been solid so far though. I personally am a fan.

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by wj on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @01:28PM (#9727396)

Just FYI, Selig is no longer the commissioner.

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by rrss1122 on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @03:35PM (#9728232)

Why is it so unbelievable that another team did it? The Patriots have been caught many times engaging in shady activities, including outright spying once. If a football team can do it to another football team, it's conceivable a baseball team can spy on another baseball team too.

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by mikehearn on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @04:06PM (#9728388)

> outright spying

The Patriots filmed the Jets' sideline during an actual NFL game that was happening in front of like 80,000 people. It isn't even illegal to film opposing coaches on their sideline, you just can't do it from your own sideline[1]. That's what Spygate was. Is that really spying? Is it outright spying?

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_New_England_Patriots_vide...

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by Spendar89 on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @06:46PM (#9729168)

Filming sidelines was all they were punished for. But they almost certainly were filming opponents' practices, including the St. Lous Rams' "walkthrough practice prior to Super Bowl XXXVI"[1].

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_New_England_Patriots_vide...

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by mikehearn on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @09:58AM (#9731767)

I'm a Bengals fan, so I don't know why I feel the need to constantly defend the Patriots, but let's do it.

> almost certainly

From the Wikipedia article you linked:

- "[The NFL] found no evidence to substantiate the Super Bowl XXXVI allegations or any other transgressions beside those the NFL had already penalized the Patriots for."

- "NFL investigators found practical limitations to the allegation; the Patriots' video equipment that was set up the day before the game had neither battery packs nor a nearby power supply in order to run." In other words, filming the walkthrough was not plausible on a technical level.

- "The Boston Herald [who initially published the story based on an anonymous source] published an apology to the Patriots and their fans for publishing the February 2, 2008, story ... alleging the Patriots had taped the Rams' walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. ... They wrote, they should not have published the story, which they deemed to be false."

I'll be honest, I didn't even know about this aspect of Spygate before reading the Wikipedia article, but it seems like the allegation was investigated, the NFL found nothing, and the Boston Herald apologized for a story that was seemingly without merit. Where are you getting "almost certainly"?

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by dsl on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @05:35PM (#9728851)

It's not illegal, but it was a violation of NFL rules. They sent out a memo to all coaches telling them to stop, but the Patriots continued. They were then fined for "use of equipment to videotape an opposing team’s offensive or defensive signals."

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by mikehearn on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @12:08AM (#9730019)

I mean, I agree. Spygate was a violation and they got fined. That seems pretty clear cut and I don't have a problem with it.

I'm just taking issue with the guy calling it "outright spying" which is a pretty exaggerated characterization when you're filming what a coach is doing in front of 50,000 people. If that's spying, then I spy on NFL games pretty regularly.

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by bdcravens on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @08:30PM (#9729476)

> These guys will be fired (if they haven't already) and there will be fines. Nothing too crazy will happen.

By the letter of the law, this is a crime. You may be correct, but something substantially more could happen.

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by mrchucklepants on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @02:53PM (#9727997)

Nice to meet another die-hard Astros fan on here. There aren't too many of us.

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Re:Cardinals Face F.B.I. Inquiry in Hacking of Astros’ Network by Kevin_S on Tuesday June 16, 2015 @05:05PM (#9728691)

No doubt, I'm in the Cleveland area so I am seeing them here in July. First time in a while.

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