FOTO: Vic Cherubini – Pixabay
Til vore værdsatte sæsonkort-ejere – UNDSKYLD!
Dette var budskabet, da ejer af baseballholdet Houston Astros Jim Crane forleden bad om tilgivelse efter ”sign-stealing” skandalen, der blev afsløret i januar i år.
Crane har over vinterpausen skilt sig af med både manager og general manager, der begge er blevet fyret, men ejeren selv mener ikke, at der påhviler ham noget ansvar for skandalen.
https://kinghooper.dk/kaempe-mlb-skandale-kommer-til-at-fylde-hele-saesonen/
I en personlig besked til ejerne af sæsonkort skrev i ugen følgende:
To our Valued Season Ticket Holders,
As we get ready to play our first Spring Training game, I want to reach out to all of you and say thank you for your support through an extremely difficult offseason.
I know this has been hard on each of you, the City of Houston, and all baseball fans throughout the country. People in our organization broke the rules. We were wrong, and we let you down. I want to reiterate what I said to you on January 13th — I am very sorry.
Since I found out about the sign stealing issues, I have been focused on making changes within our organization to ensure that this type of thing never happens again. We will regain your trust, we will continue to give back to our community, and we will make Houston proud again.
I know how difficult it is for each of you to see so much negativity directed at our beloved Astros. Unfortunately, we deserve that criticism. Our actions have left an indelible mark on baseball. I want to assure you that I recognize the impact to our fans and to the game of baseball. I promise you that, as hard as I worked to rebuild the Astros into a championship caliber team, I will work even harder to repair our reputation.
As we begin this season, I am encouraged by the outpouring of support that we have received from our fans, the sponsors, and the entire Houston community. I am optimistic about our future. Dusty Baker and James Click are men of exceptional character who are committed to bringing another championship to Houston. They will be leading a great group of players who will be taking the field in search of redemption.
We ask that you forgive us and that you continue to support our players and this organization.
We greatly appreciate each of you. We look forward to seeing you in Houston for Opening Day.
Jim Crane benytter sin goodwill fra Astros fansene til at puste liv i håbet om, at netop han – som han gjorde det, da han byggede holdet op til mesterskaber – kan føre holdet ud af den moralske krise, man befinder sig i.
Hvorvidt Houston bliver mødt med modstand eller tilgivelse på de amerikanske baseball stadions vides fortsat ikke. Mestrene fra 2017 og finalisterne fra sidste år skulle have spillet mod World Series-vinderne Washington Nationals lørdag nat, men ret symbolsk druknede kampen i regn og blev aflyst.
