Fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers will not soon forget the name Josh Reddick. He was not particularly beloved by Dodger fans as a Dodger, and has certainly made himself into a Dodger villain ever since. This goes for any member of the 2017 Houston Astros. Dodger fans will never let them forget.
It's difficult to blame Dodger fans for their continued anger. Due to the nature of how the scandal was discovered, and how the players were granted immunity, there is no real closure for Dodger fans. The report's truths are all based on how truthful the players who admitted to it were willing to be. When you catch someone in a lie or a conspiracy, it is unrealistic to believe only what they're willing to admit to. This is especially upsetting when it is apparent that those players are unrepentant.
Josh Reddick was a member of that 2017 Houston Astros *World Series Championship. On Tuesday, Reddick did a Q&A session on twitter. Somebody asked him if he had any regrets about the 2017 season.
"Zero." This was not his answer to "how many teams are currently interested in you?" It was his answer to whether he regretted his role in a cheating scandal that rocked MLB, and tainted his own career and the career of hundreds of other players in its wake.
This was an opportunity to say yes. Reddick could have easily made even the smallest of apologies or expressions of remorse, and it likely would have paid dividends for himself and former teammates. That is not the direction that Reddick took.
This of course echoes most of his former teammates. Very few players have attempted to show any remorse for their role in this scandal. Jim Crane's disastrous press conference ended in the hilarious, "I don't think I should be held accountable," which was rather emblematic of the entire scandal.
This isn't Reddick's first time being unapologetic about his cheating role. Weeks after the scandal was made public, Josh Reddick offered even less remorse in a piece by the Washington Post.
"At some point, you have to move on and not give a s--t. We're going to go out there and win and shut everybody up."
Unfortunately for Reddick, the Astros were defeated in the 2020 NLCS by the Tampa Bay Rays. In the 2020 postseason, Reddick hit .196, and was not re-signed by the Houston Astros for the 2021 season. Reddick has since been released by both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Mets in 2021.
Perhaps Major League Baseball should consider that when a scandal rocks the sport, denying anyone culpability and refusing to hold anyone accountable may not be the best course of action.
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