Larry Bowa is an old school baseball guy. To say he's unhappy with the Houston Astros' cheating scandal would be an understatement.
Speaking on Wednesday's 94WIP Morning Show, the Phillies' senior advisor to the GM told Angelo Cataldi that if he were a pitcher today he would throw at the Astros players.
"Yes, unequivocally yes," Bowa said when asked if he would throw at the Astros.
"There wouldn't be any doubt in my mind. And I would be disappointed especially if it was against the Dodgers, teams they literally took the title away from. I don't like seeing anybody get hurt. From the neck up, that's a no no. But you've got the knees, you got the leg, you got the ribs. I'd probably get in trouble for this, but that's how passionate I am about the game of baseball. People don't realize the hard work you put in to get to that point. It may only come up once in your career and to have it taken away but something like that, to me is uncalled for.
"I do not believe in throwing at people's heads," Bowa continued. "You could kill someone, you can end their career, but there's a lot of room between your knee cap and your ribs. And to me, you have to send a message. These guys took guys' jobs a way. These minor league guys that come up and pitch and they get hammered when they go into Houston, some of them never came back to the big league."
What would Bowa's message be by throwing at players?
"The message would be, if you guys want to cheat then you gotta pay the price," he said. "If you want to cheat and try to get signs and take food off my table then you know what, there's going to be some payback—retribution. That's the bottom line.
The former five-time all-star shortstop, 1980 World Series Champion, and longtime manager says if he was the commissioner he would have striped the title away and suspended players incrementally.
"I'm appalled by it to be honest with you, Angelo. If I was the commissioner, I would have said you guys are not the World Series champions. I would have given it to the losing team.
"I know you can't suspend everybody on that team, but I thought there could of be increments where the second basement was suspended for 30 games. When he comes back, the third baseman your suspended for 30 games. When he comes back—you know so you don't take all seven, eight, nine whatever it was out there off the diamond at the same time. But the fact that there's not going to be any discipline against them. And then to come out and say if someone gets hit the suspension on the pitcher that hits the Houston player is going to be more severe than before? Well, if I'm going to rebut that Angelo, I'm gonna say, 'You're giving me nine games and they cheated for two years and they don't get suspended at all?' That bothers me."
On Tuesday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred described the World Series trophy as "a piece of metal" during an interview with ESPN.
"Obviously he didn't play or go through a season and know how tough it is to win a World Series, so it's not a piece of metal," Bowa responded. "It's something a lot of guys work hard at their entire life and if you're lucky you're able to get to a World Series. So when he said that, that was very disappointing."
Bowa was asked about the feelings of current Phillies players on the scandal, as well.
"I do know, just listening in our clubhouse, comments made—and I understand the players have to be careful because they're playing," Bowa said. "There's a lot of guys that aren't very happy here. Believe me, they're not happy at all. They're not happy at the punishment, they're not happy at the commissioners' statement. And again, they're not gonna come out and say—they have a long season, they gotta think about that. But I can hear comments and they haven't been very good."