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Wild Card Game - St Louis Cardinals v Atlanta Braves

Source: Scott Cunningham / Getty

I guess being on top really does mean you’re the target of people’s jealous actions towards you. Yup, well, the Houston Astros are finding all this out right now.
Today the news hit in the media that the FBI and the Justice Department prosecutors are currently investigating the front-office of the St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball team for an illega HACK job into the Astros’ network.

It’s shocking to say that the Cardinals hacked the Astros’ anything considering that they have been considered a successful team for over two-decades.
The investigators have uncovered evidence that the Cards hacked into the Astros’ network to obtain stats and such on specific players. They looked into the players personnel records to see how the team is put together and scouting report info too.
We’re lucky that Houston’s FBI field office is leading this investigation and that they have already taken action in this by serving subpoenas on the Cards and Major League Baseball for any and all correspondence that was done “electronically.”
Major League Baseball “has been aware of and has fully cooperated with the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros’ baseball operations database,” a spokesman for baseball’s commissioner, Rob Manfred, said in a written statement.
There’s no shock that the Cards’ officials who are under investigation are still working. It’s possible that the league and team will wait for the conclusion of the investigation before deciding the fate of these people’s jobs.
“The St. Louis Cardinals are aware of the investigation into the security breach of the Houston Astros’ database,” the team said in a statement. “The team has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so. Given that this is an ongoing federal investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment further.”
In December 2011, the Astros hired their GM, Jeff Luhnow. It was a move that he made from St. Louis where he had help create a computer network called “Redbird” and when he came here, he developed a similar network for the Astros called “Ground Control.”
When Luhnow was in St. Louis, he was known for his scouting and player development. It was that “MoneyBall phenomenon” that he’s credited for… The players that helped the Cards win their 2011 World Series.
So now, Luhnow is doing that turnaround for the Astros team. Currently the Astros’ team is number one in the American League West division. That’s a big deal for them too.
The hack was believed to have taken place and discovered by the MLB. When that hack was detected, the FBI was contacted. It appears that the Astros’ network was logged into in St. Louis and at a home of one of the Cards’ officials.
“The F.B.I. aggressively investigates all potential threats to public and private sector systems,” an F.B.I. spokeswoman said. “Once our investigations are complete, we pursue all appropriate avenues to hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace.”