A.J. Hinch is finally speaking out after he lost his job as the Houston Astros manager amid the MLB’s investigation into a sign-stealing scheme by the team during the 2017 season.
Hinch, who was suspended one year by Major League Baseball before being fired by owner Jim Crane, noted that he failed at being a leader.
“I will always feel responsible as the man out front,” Hinch said. “It happened on my watch. I’m not proud of it. I’ll never be proud of it. But I have to own it.
“I didn’t initiate or didn’t endorse [the scheme], but as a manager, you’re in a responsibility to end it.”
The mosty notable part of the interview is Hinch declining to answer whether the team used a buzzer system to alert batters of which pitches were coming.
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Hinch also noted that he didn’t think the scandal would ultimately cost him his job.
“I felt responsible from the beginning so I knew there was going to be punishment,” Hinch said. “I didn’t know to what extent. I knew I was going to be suspended to some extent. No one really knew what was going to happen. When I got the news it was a full year, that was a tough blow. That’s taking me away from the sport that I love that I’ve been around for over two decades. After that, when I met with Jim [Crane] and subsequently lost my job, that created a whole other part of the day that I didn’t anticipate.”
Although he still wants to manage a team, Hich stated he plans to serve his suspension quietly during the 2020 season.
The 45-year-old is eligible to return to baseball immediately following the conclusion of the 2020 World Series.
“I want people to know that I care,” Hinch said. “That I’m not just blowing it off and shrugging my shoulders and that I’m upset we got caught. It’s much bigger than that.”
