Tony At 10: POLITICS AND BASEBALL; BLOG NUMBER 2225; FRI FEB 28, 2020

THE COMEBACK:

HOW MUCH DO YOU WANNA BET?

BUGGER OFF BLOOMBERG!

THE MESSAGE:

How can we spot a cheater? Cheating is defined as: A person who acts dishonestly in order to gain an advantage. Is it cheating to use money in the pursuit of political gain? Do political parties or labour unions ever cross the line of propriety. Are their actions always for the good of all people? Do rich people crave power? Does sign stealing speed up the baseball game? Is the coordination of field manager, pitcher and catcher on each pitch unfair?

BLOOM--BERG....IS THE BLOOM OFF THE ROSE? HAS IT MOVED ONTO A NORTHERN GLACIER?

THE BLURB:

A lifelong Democrat before seeking elective office, Bloomberg switched his party registration in 2001 to run for mayor of NYC as a Republican.

He was the mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013. In an effort to save money for the city or to establish more popularity among the mass Bloomberg declined to receive a city salary. He accepted a remuneration of $1 annually (A BUCK A YEAR) for his services. As mayor, Bloomberg greatly expanded the city's stop and frisk program, with a sixfold increase in documented stops.

ARE THOSE KEGS OF BEER BEHIND HIM?

During his mayoralty, Bloomberg approved and oversaw a domestic surveillance program that targeted Muslim communities on the basis of their religion, ethnicity, and language. The NYPD profiled and monitored schools, shops and nightclubs, as well as every mosque within 100 miles of New York City. Their efforts made use of undercover officers and informants; however, the program did not produce any leads on any terrorist plots.

In November 2016 Bloomberg told a crowd at London's Oxford University that he could, "teach anybody to be a farmer. It's a process. You dig a hole, put a seed in, put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn.” Critics replied that comments like that illustrate how some politicians discount the importance of farming. One critic said, "Get a little mud on your boots, sweat on your brow, and then tell me again how simple it is to feed the world".

In October 2018, Bloomberg officially launched his campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2020 presidential election. Many people are wondering how rich must one be in order to become the President of the USA. Bloomberg has expended over $300m on TV advertising alone. Is politics truly a swamp where ordinary people are not represented and where it is possible to buy influence?

MEANWHILE IN BASEBALL

Have the Houston Astros given the game a bad name. Taking advantage of their starry countenance in 2017, these lads conspired, using technology, to create a non-accepted advantage and win the World Series. Their hitters always knew what pitch was coming. The perps made use of cameras in centre field to steal the signs from the opponents’ catchers to their pitchers. They were then relayed to the Astro dugout and eventually to the Houston hitter.

Bob Manfred

A.J Hinch

Commissioner Manfred began an investigation into the Astros' sign stealing As a result of the scandal, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and field manager A. J. Hinch were fired for failing to prevent the rules violations. The Astros were fined the maximum allowable $5 million and forfeited their first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts. No players were punished because they had been given immunity by MLB in exchange for their cooperation.

MLB's investigation also determined that Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora helped mastermind the Astros' sign stealing while serving as Hinch's bench coach in 2017. Manfred deferred a decision on discipline for Cora until he reviewed a separate investigation into sign stealing during the Red Sox's 2018 championship run. The Red Sox and Cora agreed to part ways.

Carlos Beltrán was the only Astros player from 2017 who was specifically named in the report. He had been hired to manage the New York Mets in November 2019; however, with the scandal unravelling, that arrangement fell apart.

THE TUNE: