It didn’t seem possible for CC Sabathia to be angrier than he already is about the Astros’ cheating scandal. But Justin Verlander poured gasoline on the fire.
In his speech Saturday during the New York Baseball Writers’ dinner at the Sheraton New York Times Square hotel after being presented with his AL Cy Young Award, Verlander said of the Astros, “as everybody knows, they’re very technologically and analytically advanced,” drawing boos with a smattering of laughter and applause. It came across as more of a tone-deaf comment rather than a joke, though his intentions are unclear.
It just so happened that Sabathia was two seats away from the podium as Verlander spoke, and Dodgers star Cody Bellinger was between the podium and Sabathia, who did not seem pleased.