“I’ve had enough, I think I am coming out with everything tomorrow… going to sleep on it.” That was what Ryan Spaeder, baseball analyst, tweeted last night around 1:50AM. While that post has the energy of a teenage girl that just got dumped, Spaeder was referencing something far more consequential than a teenage relationship: cheating in Major League Baseball.

WOW. Now, I’m not a baseball expert, but this thread reads pretty poorly for many of those mentioned.

Joe Girardi’s Yankees in 2017 were named, and those Aaron Judge numbers do seem a tad fishy. Personally, I don’t care that much because it ended with Joe getting shown the door at the end of that season. Plus, I’m pretty sure Phillies hitters have not been cheating since he got here. At least, I sure would hope not. The current Phillies’ hitting numbers would be even more embarrassing than they already are.

It’s definitely an unfavorable look for Girardi, but in actuality, it’s no big deal. At least the team got mentioned and not him specifically, and they had at least some numbers to back it up.

What I did not enjoy seeing was Chase Utley‘s name unceremoniously thrown into the thread. Just saying, “Chase Utley was the biggest cheater of all time,” with nothing to back it up, is ridiculous. There are 280 characters on Twitter – he had room for at least one quick example.

Sure, he said everything was corroborated by at least two players earlier in the thread, but what does that even mean? For single instances or concrete examples, one or two players are fine. When it comes to besmirching the legacy of legend – however, the word of a few is not an acceptable manner of verification by any means.

Look, I actually love what Spaeder is doing here. Cheating in any sport is a serious issue, and there’s a lot the public doesn’t know about the sign-stealing scandal that broke a couple of years ago. The Astros were the face of scandal as World Series champs*, but it was clear other teams were cheating, too. We just didn’t know who.

A thread is a start, but I’d like to see some more legitimate reporting. Hopefully, Ryan Spaeder is the man for the job. Just keep Chase’s name out your mouth, Ry guy.

Update:

Since this story broke, my good buddy Ryan Spaeder’s life appears to have pretty much fallen apart. Take a look at one of the fastest 180s of all time:

Damn, I almost feel bad for the guy. He really thought he was doing the right thing for the sport he loves. The only problem was he was in no way doing the right thing. Very rarely is any real change accomplished via a Twitter thread. I don’t know what he expected to happen, but immediate backlash and hateful comments should have been at the top of the list.

Either way, I’m sure Ryan will be a-okay. If not, I don’t care because he’s a stat nerd. We all know how I feel about those.

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Mandatory Credit: MLB.com