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A.J. Hinch Hired by Tigers After Suspension for Astros Cheating

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Thirty minutes after Hinch’s season-long punishment officially ended on Tuesday, Detroit contacted him. Three days later, he was officially introduced as manager.
When A.J. Hinch was suspended and fired in January for his role in the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, Detroit Tigers Chairman Chris Ilitch wondered from afar if, and how, Hinch would be welcomed back into baseball after serving his penalty. Ilitch did not wait long to find out. It may take years for the stigma of one of the most infamous cheating scandals in sports to fade from Hinch, the manager of the 2017 Astros team that was found to have cheated on its way to a championship. But less than 30 minutes after Hinch’s season-long suspension from Major League Baseball officially expired with the end of the World Series on Tuesday night, he had been contacted by Detroit. And less than 72 hours after that, Ilitch introduced Hinch as the Tigers’ 39th manager during a news conference at Comerica Park on Friday. “This is a man who had learned and grown from the experience,” Ilitch said, “and that resonated with me.” Hinch, along with Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow, was fired by the Astros after an investigation by Major League Baseball determined that players on the team had illegally used a video feed to steal signs from opposing catchers. Soon after that, M.L.B. suspended Hinch and Luhnow. In only his second interview since the suspensions were handed down in January, Hinch,46, expressed contrition during the news conference on Friday, taking full responsibility for what happened. “That is our reality,” he said, “because wrong is wrong, and it was very wrong, and I’ll make sure that everyone knows that I feel responsible. Because I was the manager and it was on my watch, and I’ll never forget it.

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