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‘I Am Not a Cheater!’- Dishonored Astros GM’s Integrity Questioned After Shocking Report of Deleting Phone Data Amidst 2017 Cheating Scandal Emerges

Published 08/25/2022, 8:00 AM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

The Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal in the 2017 season has to be the worst scandal ever in Major League Baseball. Notably, with the help of sign-stealing, the Astros won the 2017 World Series. And to date, no Astros player has received any suspension.

Now, after many years of the scandal and the investigation, it is revealed that the then-Astros general manager, Jeff Luhnow, was aware of the cheating. And he did not disclose it during the earlier investigation. The former Astros GM claims that he did not delete any data regarding the sign-stealing scandal.

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However, MLB blamed him for allegedly deleting smartphone data, which included call logs and emails, during the MLB’s 2019 investigation of the sign-stealing scandal.

Why would the Houston Astros GM delete the data if he wasn’t aware of the scandal?

Per CBS Sports, ace MLB writer Evan Drellich has discussed the sign-stealing saga in his upcoming book ‘Winning Fixes Everything.’ Recently, Drellich shared an excerpt from his book that suggests the former Houston Astros GM deleted all data from his smartphone when MLB called upon him for the investigation.

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred blamed Luhnow for deleting the important data. However, the Astros GM never admitted his mistake. And he kept saying that he was not a part of the scandal. And the data he deleted were some sensitive personal photographs.

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“Your credibility is further impacted by the fact that you permanently deleted information from your phone. And its backups in anticipation that my investigators would seek to search your phone.”

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“You did not tell my investigators that you had done this until they confronted you about it in your second interview. While you explained that you were simply deleting sensitive personal photographs,” the CBS report said.

Meanwhile, the former Astros GM kept saying that he was not aware of the sign-stealing scandal. “I am not a cheater,” Luhnow said during the investigation. “Anybody who has worked closely with me during my 32-year career inside and outside baseball can attest to my integrity.”

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Do you think the former Astros GM knew lied to during the investigation?

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Written by:

Abhishek Kumar

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Abhishek Kumar is an MLB author at EssentiallySports. After completing his Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, Abhishek has been working in the media industry since two years. Before joining EssentiallySports, he previously worked at APN News as a sub-editor, where he has written articles on sports and politics.
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Edited by:

Simar Singh Wadhwa