CHAPTER 15 The Spreadsheet in the Garden: Analytics and the Sign- Stealing Scandal

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Acknowledgments vii
4. Introduction ix
5. The Houston Astros Timeline xvii
6. PART I HISTORIES OF CHEATING IN BASEBALL
7. CHAPTER 1 Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Cheating: Blame It on the Pitchers 1
8. CHAPTER 2 Cheating versus Gamesmanship: Ethical Relativism in Baseball? 14
9. CHAPTER 3 “This Is Not a Cultural Issue”: The Astros’ (and Baseball’s) Willingness to Overlook Domestic Violence 28
10. CHAPTER 4 Round Up the Usual Suspects: Cheating in Baseball 46
11. PART II THE SCANDAL UNFOLDS
12. CHAPTER 5 Finally, a Fun Baseball Scandal 55
13. CHAPTER 6 What Is the Sound of One Bat Slapping? Reading the Houston Astros’ Trash Can 60
14. CHAPTER 7 Blame Is a Tangled Mess in Astros Sign- Stealing Scandal 72
15. PART III FANS AND THE SCANDAL
16. CHAPTER 8 Interview with a Bang Counter: A Q&A with Tony Adams 77
17. CHAPTER 9 Reckoning with Tainted Love: What the Astros Scandal Reveals of Sports Fandom 93
18. CHAPTER 10 “To Learn Baseball”: A Transatlantic Dialogue on the Astros and the American Ways of Winning 101
19. PART IV THE SCANDAL AND ITS ETHICAL DILEMMAS
20. CHAPTER 11 Baseball Has No Love for Truth Tellers 119
21. CHAPTER 12 Bad Apples or Bad Astros? Collective Responsibility and the Perils of Team Loyalty 124
22. CHAPTER 13 From Protector to Whistleblower: Being a “Good” Teammate When Cheating Occurs 138
23. PART V TECHNOLOGY AND THE SCANDAL
24. CHAPTER 14 Stealing Signs: Technology, Surveillance, and Policing inside and outside the Game 151
25. CHAPTER 15 The Spreadsheet in the Garden: Analytics and the Sign- Stealing Scandal 174
26. APPENDIX “Defendant Houston Astros”: Michael Bolsinger vs. The Houston Astros 194
27. Contributors 203
28. Index 207