Aaron Boone Responds to Astros Owner Jim Crane's Bogus Claim That Sign-Stealing Didn't Have Impact on Games
By Michael Luciano
The New York Yankees, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, have a bone to pick with the Houston Astros after the depths to which they went in order to cheat and steal signs was revealed.
Boone, who led a Yankees teams that was knocked out of the postseason in 2019 by the Astros, shot down a claim made by Astros owner Jim Crane that claimed Houston stealing signs did not have an impact on the outcome of games.
Boone was asked about Crane saying that sign stealing didn’t have an impact on games. “That’s quite a stretch, I think,” Boone said. While Boone said we don’t know the extent of the impact, the cheating obviously had an impact.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) February 13, 2020
Hard to disagree with Boone here. It's much easier to hit a James Paxton curveball if you have multiple other illegal sources in your dugout confirming that a curveball is coming.
To be fair, even Crane himself seems to think that his team's cheating had an impact on the scoreboard, as he contradicted his own statement that claimed sign stealing didn't impact the game not even a full minute after he said it.
"Our opinion is that this didn't impact the game." - Jim Crane
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 13, 2020
"I didn't say it didn't impact the game." - Jim Crane 55 seconds later pic.twitter.com/MnpPeeTUPL
Crane and the Astros continue to make fools out of themselves as they keep finding ways to bungle apologies and shift blame to other people.
It's hard to argue against the fact that knowing what pitch is coming provides an obvious advantage, so Boone's gripe with the Astros is totally legitimate.