Six years ago, Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich wrote a comprehensive story divulging that the Houston Astros had stolen signs electronically during the 2017 season. The investigative piece, which included thorough sourcing and contextualization, featured on-the-record statements from former pitcher Mike Fiers, who conveyed that the practice was indicative of “not playing the game the right way” and that the organization was “willing to go above and beyond to win.” It turns out that obtaining these insights with his name attached was a difficult proposition, and it is a quest on which Rosenthal recently reflected during an appearance on Nothing Personal with David Samson.
Samson, who hosts the video podcast under a partnership with Meadowlark media and is the former president of the Miami Marlins, referenced how the show had been discussing Fiers in the first hour. From there, he recalled when the Marlins tried to trade for Fiers but honored the wishes of superstar outfielder Giancarlo Stanton to keep him out of the clubhouse. Fiers hit Stanton in the left jaw with an 88 mph fastball, and there were other incidents engendering acrimonious sentiments. Samson hypothesized that had the trade occurred, there was a chance the story surrounding the Astros may not have surfaced, a claim that Rosenthal refuted because The Athletic already had the details.
“Now when we had him on the record, then it became a much more effective story,” Rosenthal said. “As with all stories, if you have people on the record – and David, you know this because you were off the record all those years as Marlins president – but when people are on the record putting their name to something, it makes something that much stronger. So I believe – I am, I would say, 95% certain that story would have run without Fiers.”
Although Rosenthal did not place a deadline on calling players to try and receive on-the-record quotes, he did recall that Fiers was at the end of the list. Other players had not agreed to be attributed towards the story in such a matter, and while the task was difficult, it ultimately ended up working out.
“Once we had him, in this case, that was enough because we had all of the other information and we had it confirmed by multiple sources,” Rosenthal said. “We just didn’t have anyone on the record, so it wasn’t like we needed a second person on the record. If we had one, great, but if I recall correctly, we had pretty much exhausted the list.”
Upon Drellich telling Rosenthal that this piece would be the biggest story he would break in his career, he was somewhat in disbelief. Rosenthal informed Drellich that there would be a bigger story to come along next week, but reflecting on the instance, he recognized that he was unable to grasp the magnitude of the dispatch. The reporting has led to discussions surrounding sign-stealing and technology surrounding the game, and it could also presumably impact Hall of Fame voting in the future.
“There had been other hints of this scheme that the Astros were doing – nothing like along the lines of what we had had – but there were pieces of it kind of coming out, and I saw our story as the culmination, the one story that put the pieces together,” Rosenthal said. “But what I failed to realize was it really had this monumental impact on the sport because it led to rules changes and it led to hopefully a different culture. It definitely did, and at the time, in that moment, I did not realize it.”
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