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  6. article_body => "<p>For the first time since he was suspended for a year and fired from his job as manager of the Houston Astros, AJ Hinch spoke publicly about the sign-stealing scandal that has rocked the baseball world to its core.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Houston executed an elaborate scheme using outfield cameras to steal opposing pitchers' signs and relay them to the batter in real-time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On Friday night, Hinch spoke to Tom Verducci on MLB Network&nbsp;and took responsibility for what happened under his watch.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt happened on my watch,\" Hinch said. \"I\u2019m not proud of that. I didn\u2019t like, but I have to own it.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"I didn\u2019t initiate or endorse it, but I was the manager,\" he said.&nbsp;\"I think there was a responsibility when you\u2019re in [my] position to end it.\"<\/p>\n<p>Hinch's attempt to end things, according to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred's report, was damaging the team's monitor with a bat. The manager did it twice during the 2017 campaign, but players didn't take that as their cue to stop.<\/p>\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/art19.com\/shows\/racing-presidents\/episodes\/17f0210c-920d-4cf0-a2cb-1ef8fb444a98\/embed?theme=light-custom\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px; border: 0 none;\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe> \n<p>In the report, several players said if Hinch explicitly told them to stop, they would have stopped. In the end, this was Hinch's greatest regret.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn hindsight, I should\u2019ve had a meeting and addressed it face forward and really ended it,\" he said.&nbsp;\"Leadership, to me, is often about what you preach, your pillars of what you believe in. Leadership\u2019s also about what you tolerate and I tolerated too much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then there's the matter of the buzzers. The MLB's report didn't include any evidence to suggest Houston used buzzers to alert their players on which pitch was coming, so when Verducci asked Hinch if that were true, Hinch deferred to the league's findings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\"The commissioner's office did as thorough of an investigation as anyone could imagine was possible, he said. \"I know you mentioned about the emails and the texts and the messages and I believe it.\"<\/p>\n<p>Hinch mentioned he'd like to manage again, pointing to how he's grown as a leader since his mistakes in 2017. Though there's nothing much more Hinch can do at this point. He's owned up to his wrongdoing and apologized, but that doesn't change the fact he's suspended from baseball for a year.<\/p>\n<p>For now, his last game as a major-league manager is Game 7 of the World Series, where the Nationals came into Houston and captured its first championship in franchise history.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/smart.link\/5bb65a2b6cedb?site_id=Dig_RSN_Wash&amp;creative_id=nbcswash1200&amp;cp_4=www.nbcsports.com&amp;cp_1=washington&amp;cp_2=myteams-nbc-sports&amp;cp_3=nbcswash1200\">Click here<\/a>&nbsp;to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports. Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream Capitals and Wizards games easily from your device.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MORE NATIONALS NEWS:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Tainted Title?:<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/nationals\/former-manager-aj-hinch-thinks-it-fair-ask-if-astros-title-tainted\">Hinch thinks it's fair to ask<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Betts traded:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/nationals\/acquiring-mookie-betts-david-price-dodgers-take-risk-nationals-would-not-and-wait-see-if\">Dodgers make move Nats wouldn't<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>All-Star aspirations:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/nationals\/juan-soto-says-playing-all-star-game-would-be-dream\">Soto says it'd be a \"dream\"<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n"
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Nationals

Nationals

For the first time since he was suspended for a year and fired from his job as manager of the Houston Astros, AJ Hinch spoke publicly about the sign-stealing scandal that has rocked the baseball world to its core. 

Houston executed an elaborate scheme using outfield cameras to steal opposing pitchers' signs and relay them to the batter in real-time. 

On Friday night, Hinch spoke to Tom Verducci on MLB Network and took responsibility for what happened under his watch. 

“It happened on my watch," Hinch said. "I’m not proud of that. I didn’t like, but I have to own it."

"I didn’t initiate or endorse it, but I was the manager," he said. "I think there was a responsibility when you’re in [my] position to end it."

Hinch's attempt to end things, according to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred's report, was damaging the team's monitor with a bat. The manager did it twice during the 2017 campaign, but players didn't take that as their cue to stop.

In the report, several players said if Hinch explicitly told them to stop, they would have stopped. In the end, this was Hinch's greatest regret.  

“In hindsight, I should’ve had a meeting and addressed it face forward and really ended it," he said. "Leadership, to me, is often about what you preach, your pillars of what you believe in. Leadership’s also about what you tolerate and I tolerated too much.”

 

Then there's the matter of the buzzers. The MLB's report didn't include any evidence to suggest Houston used buzzers to alert their players on which pitch was coming, so when Verducci asked Hinch if that were true, Hinch deferred to the league's findings. 

"The commissioner's office did as thorough of an investigation as anyone could imagine was possible, he said. "I know you mentioned about the emails and the texts and the messages and I believe it."

Hinch mentioned he'd like to manage again, pointing to how he's grown as a leader since his mistakes in 2017. Though there's nothing much more Hinch can do at this point. He's owned up to his wrongdoing and apologized, but that doesn't change the fact he's suspended from baseball for a year.

For now, his last game as a major-league manager is Game 7 of the World Series, where the Nationals came into Houston and captured its first championship in franchise history. 

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