Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred apologized Tuesday (February 18th) for calling the World Series trophy a "piece of metal," remarks that had angered some players. He said during spring training media day, "I referred to the World Series trophy in a disrespectful way, and I want to apologize for it. There's no excuse for it. . . . It was a mistake to say what I said." He'd made the comments to ESPN Sunday in response to calls from some, including players, to strip the 2017 World Series title from the Houston Astros over their sign-stealing scandal, saying, "The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act." Many players have also criticized Manfred for not punishing any Astros players over the scandal, who were given immunity in exchange for cooperating with MLB's probe.
- Meanwhile, NBA superstar LeBron Jamesweighed in with his opinion yesterday, tweeting, "I know if someone cheated me out of winning the title and I found out about it I would be F*^king irate! I mean like uncontrollable about what I would/could do!" He also advised Manfred: "[L]isten to your..... players speaking today about how disgusted, mad, hurt, broken, etc etc about this. . . . you need to fix this for the sake of Sports!"