Atlanta Braves “Learning From Leo” Mazzone Series Finale: Scandals

Mazzone Mulls Over Deception Eras

Mazzone’s stance on the now infamous Houston Astros cheating scandal is eye-opening, but provides an intimate glimpse into the mind of someone who has first-hand experience in how the game operates.

“Were there rules in place for technology?” Mazzone said. “No.  Now there’s rules in place… I think they’ve addressed it, and you’re not going to see it anymore.”

Mazzone was also quite candid about Barry Bonds and baseball’s infamous steroid era. The longtime coach wholeheartedly believes Bonds is the greatest hitter he’s ever seen and is worthy of Hall of Fame consideration, which was further indicated by the Braves strategy in pitching to Bonds.

“(I told the staff) We’re going to get the first two guys out that hit in front of him, so that we don’t have to worry about him,” Mazzone said. “And with nobody on, we pitched to him. Any time after the sixth, if he was the tying or winning runs, we didn’t (pitch to him). That’s how good he was. That’s the only hitter that we ever did that with.”

Much like the Astros sign-stealing scandal, Mazzone is rather blasé about Bonds and Co. His posture is that there were no rules in place at the time to combat the use.

Still, the Atlanta Braves success during that era is all-telling.

“That’s how great our pitching was,” Mazzone said. “When rules are in place, then you don’t break the rules. Were there rules in place for steroids when all that stuff started? No. Now there’s rules.”