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Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw Breaks Silence on Astros Cheating Scandal

The Houston Astros organization has yet to demonstrate adequate remorse for their actions. Anyone who believes they have has not been paying any attention to the lack of emotion and empathy that Astros third baseman Alex Bregman has shown. Jose Altuve did not apologize. Dallas Keuchel, who no longer pitches for the Astros, gave an apology, but it was visibly lacking real remorse.

Clayton Kershaw is as clean of a competitor as they come and you have to know that he is upset that he had his legacy tarnished by this scandal. Kershaw spoke at the Justin Turner Foundation’s annual golf tournament event and broke his silence on the matter:



“It is a little bit interesting that the Astros players haven’t said sorry or meant it or anything like that. Not a whole lot of remorse.”

Kershaw is exactly right. The Astros are at fault and do not seem to be interested in apologizing for their actions. When Astros owner Jim Crane was questioned about the situation, he basically pleaded the fifth and consulted his PR people instead of apologizing from the heart.

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It is clear that the Astros do not believe that they should be as heavily punished and frowned upon as they are. Many of the players who were on the roster in 2017, when they defeated the Dodgers in seven games in the World Series, are still on the club in 2020. They have either been silent or have shown the lack of remorse that I mentioned and Kershaw discussed, as well.

Dodgers president of baseball operation Andrew Friedman shared his thoughts on the lack of apologies out of Houston players over the weekend at FanFest — did he think they have shown enough remorse?

In my personal opinion, they have not.

This is one that will not get lived down for quite some time.

NEXT: Stan Kasten Talks Frustration in Astros Saga

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.

21 Comments

  1. The Asterisks will have to live with their actions for the rest of their lives. But, it’s time for Dodgers to forget about 2017 & 18’ and focus on 2020. When they hit Camelback in a couple of weeks thinking about the past isn’t going to help anything! Move on!

    1. Nothing heals past wounds better than winning. Should I still wait for that big move that will make the Dodgers better? They’ve lost Ryu, Hill, and Freese, and have not adequately replaced them. Pollack and Kelly still deserve to be replaced. Only two spots in the starting rotation are occupied by proven starters (Buehler and Kershaw). The Wood aquisition was good cheap insurance, but he’s not going to be confused with Gerrit Cole, Clevenger, or about 40 other guys. The Dodgers have probably already given up at least 10 wins vs last season. I’m not trying to be a pessimist, but if it’s time to move forward, it would be nice to know that we really are moving forward personnelwise.

      1. That’s excelente.. Dodgers need to focus in 2020.
        But the cheaters needs to pay for they horrible actions.

  2. and with all the bleeding heart media saying they were punished enough ,it would be ridiculous to strip them,and that the fans especially Dodger Fans are making way too much of this;I remind everybody :IT IS OWNER CRANE who imposed the HARSHER PUNISHMENTS!!!!!!
    If he does not FIRE the GM and MGR. there would be NO DOMINO EFFECT on Cora and Beltran and we would have 1 YEAR SUSPENSIONS and a Miniscule FINE and some Draft Picks!!!!

    THE AROD PRINCIPLE: CHEATING PAYS!!!!!!!!!

  3. Yep, kind of a light sentence. The Black Sox Scandal should be front and center. Maybe, since no ban from baseball is happening, the commissioner should suspend every player from that team. Not all at once, but 2 at at a time would be a wake up call. Say 14 games? Can’t see banning all the players. Too much fallout. But a significant suspension would be a good thing.

    1. Ban from postseason for 2-3yrs. That is a penalty. Penalties for STEALING & COLLUSION (this is both) in sport with full anti-trust exemption needs to be punitive and of the variety to remove any possible benefit..see previous commenter reference to BlackSox.

      Titles vacated as well. Loss of all draft choices for two season as well. Someone might say this is a death sentence for the guilty franchise, tough! Then don’t steal & collude to defraud the businesses.

      Were it not protected by the anti-trust exemption there would probably be multiple civil suits against the franchises as well as players/managers/coaches & even potential jail time from criminal charges against management, etc…

      This really is not a trivial issue…what’s worse, parents accused of trying to buy their kids way to a high end education or millionaire professions defrauding the other franchises & millions of fans? That’s where the anti-trust protects MLB…for now.

  4. I don’t think they care over there. It’s been proven to be worth the so called punishments to cheat. I think teams will continue

  5. People are surprised a group of thieves weren’t’ remorseful for keeping the loot the stole? Surely, you can’t be shocked by that. They think like thieves because they are thieves. Remorseful thieves are poor thieves.

  6. I have been pushing for a much different understanding of Kershaw’s postseason history for years based on a team analysis. But all of this cheating business keeps bringing me back to that final game against STL in 2013. I watched that game with friends and along side a ton of disappointment, the group of us felt like STL had an amazing game plan against Kershaw, “it’s like they know what is coming.” Probably the power of suggestion here. But I actually said that. I have long understood that game based on material factors. Exposure, STL had already seen CK 3 times that year. Regular season innings, 236. Very high career innings at age 25, 1180. The rigor of the Atlanta series and pitching on short rest. It made sense that CK might just be gassed and STL had a better game plan than we did against Wacha, an unknown rookie pitching to our not so great offense. In game 5 2017 I believed Kershaw would be as solid in Houston as he was in LA. He looked good in the 1st 3 innings. We were out of the gate with 3 runs. 4-0 lead by the 4th. But I remember the top of the 4th inning was long, including a pitching change. Kershaw was pitching following serious back injuries in 2016-2017. After this long 4th inning on the bench I was concerned that it would impact him…in whatever way that can happen. But mostly because of the injury factor. It made some sense that he lost his groove, got stiff…whatever. But it looked the same as that STL game. Like they knew what was coming. Not getting swings at good pitches, walks, soft contact for hits. Not suggesting here that STL cheated. There are lots of reasonable factors for why the 2013 game went south. But the feeling I had is the same as game 5. Like they knew what was coming. So is it crazy to think that between 2013-2016 some teams believed that they needed an extra edge against a guy of his caliber? 2016 game 6 in Chicago following a dominant 1-0 win in Chicago felt like no matter what he put up there, contact was made. A bloop ground rule double to start the game. A dropped fly ball by Toles doesn’t help. But it felt like the “game plan” was working. Like they knew what was coming. I am scratching my head right now. Just a thought made from a bitter feeling I have about game 5 and the “pile on” Kershaw has endured all these years. The narrative started in 2013 long before game 5 vs Astros. This game could not erase the “narrative”. It was already 4 years old by then. And each year Kershaw faces the same questions. One guy carrying the load. But this cheating scandal moment provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the team as a whole over the last 7 years. The 2013-2016 Dodgers were not anywhere near as good as the 2017 team. We were really good that year. Flawed, but I think better than the Astros. If we can give as much thought as we have to the circumstances of Kershaw as victim in game 5, can’t we look more critically at the body of work that is his postseason overall? I’ll say it again. The Dodgers are 10-1 in playoff games when CK gives up 2 or fewer runs but only 1-3 when he has given up 3 runs. That is 3 runs or less in 15 of his 25 PS starts. How we breakdown the remaining 10 starts is a matter of baseball smarts and critical thinking.

  7. What Houston accomplished on this the lowest form of cheating!! They all should be pleading forgiveness, but this is an issue that will be buoyant for a long time! Every time the Astros name come up, everyone will remember their weaseling act! It’s too bad that they would do this, and now are one of the most hated teams in the MLB, and that is in the history books! No apologies, they scammed the MLB, so I ask myself, what type of punishment should they receive, it needs to be geared to every cheater that wears a HA jersey? I am dumbfounded by this organization, and saddened by it as well!

  8. It is hard to swollen but unless the players move on, the team may lose focus. Everyone knows that do nothing Friedman is not going to do anything AGAIN this off season,so this group has to come hungary to win. AZ. Has improved and will challenge. Everyone who played Houston suffered. Again let it go. RIP Kobe and the rest. Laker for life!!!

  9. The Astros are theives and they still have never won a world series because cheaters are not winners. Could you imagine signing up your kid for little league baseball and find out he will be on the Astros. My son would not wear that uniform. Little leagues everywhere should burn all astro uniforms to spare all kids from being humiliated.

  10. I don’t want their false apologies. I want the gutless commissioner to strip those damn cheaters of their false title.

  11. Don’t you think the Astros should be awarded the 2018 World Series on the count the Red Sox cheated against them in the ALCS?

  12. Hire the former D Coach of the Saints….and put a bounty on Berg-girl and al-2-vay….Bring up someone from single A that throws a little wild….

  13. The Astros will not show remorse because they do not have any. They accomplished exactly what they set out to do….steal the World Series. So, we should all stop looking for any apology that has even a shred of sincerity or substance. Even if they mouth an apology, it won’t mean anything. They are sticking to “script.” I want an Asterix next to their “win.” I want these losers to pay back the money that they stole after their “win.” I want these losers to feel the depths of every single baseball fan’s disdain, regardless of team affiliation, when these losers take to the field or step up to bat. Moreover, I cannot wait to see how much their averages drop this season when they no longer know exactly what pitches are coming (or until which time they conjure up new ways to cheat, that is.) Absolutely disgusting.

  14. I watched the Dodgers in disbelief during the 2017 and 2018 MLB World Series. Cheating is especially not tolerated in baseball! It’s one of the reasons we the people all love the game so much.

    Punishment for cheating on this scale should include a permanent loss of title for the Houston Astros; and the words “*cheated/title forfeited” on all of the MLB records! And, to Yu Darvish, who I now know I judged so wrongly, please accept my most humble apology. You are a really great relief pitcher!

  15. The office of the commissioner of baseball has failed the game of baseball, and its legions of fans, almost as much as the Astros. The commissioner needs to take actions that send a message: Ban the Astros from major league baseball for 3 years; vacate their unethically acquired “world championship” and “American league championship.'” Reach out to fans and ask for forgiveness. And lastly, put into effect a new rule: any team cheating as the Astros did will be banned from the game for three years. And if they cheat again after those three years, the team should be dismantled and any player or coach or manager involved in such cheating should be disqualified from major league baseball.

  16. Let me go ahead and sound like that broken record. It was sign stealing at MINUTE MAID. NOT AT DODGER STADIUM. Let’s rehash if we may. DODGERS LOSE GAMES 2 AND 7 AT DODGER STADIUM. KERSHAW BLOWS 4-0 & 7-4 lead in game 5. Just as he blew in relief the game against in Nationals AT DODGER STADIUM In 2019. Career 9-11 post season record over 4.50 ERA. What am I missing here. You blew 2 home games in the 2017 World Series. You blew a divisional round game at home in 2019. The cheating Astros batted.187 against the Yankees in the 2017 ALCS. The Yankees batted.205. If batting.187 is what you get from cheating. Probably shouldn’t cheat. Bottom line. The Yankees and Dodgers should have beaten the Astros. But cheating didn’t beat you. YOU BEAT YOU.

  17. (MLB) Manfred’s investigation confirmed that the Astros cheated in the 2017 regular and post season. At risk of redundancy let me state that another way. The Astros illegally used electronics to steal signs and relay information to hitters so Astros hitters knew what pitches were coming. The Astros did this throughout the regular season. This means that any game played at Minute Maid against any team was compromised during the 2017 season (and part of 2018.) So, this is not just about the Dodgers and Yankees losing to the Astros. But this is about the cumulative effect of the Astros cheating throughout the regular season to ultimately get to the World Series. Arguably, in the absence of cheating, the Astros do not even GET to the playoffs (let alone the World Series) to “beat” any team.

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