Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals front office under FBI investigation for hacking - Page 13

ReynardMuldrake · 06-16-2015, 09:19 AM

WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors are investigating front-office officials for the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the most successful teams in baseball over the past two decades, for hacking into the internal networks of a rival team to steal closely guarded information about player personnel.

Investigators have uncovered evidence that Cardinals officials broke into a network of the Houston Astros that housed special databases the team had built, according to law enforcement officials. Internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports were compromised, the officials said.

The officials did not say which employees were the focus of the investigation or whether the team’s highest-ranking officials were aware of the hacking or authorized it. The investigation is being led by the F.B.I.’s Houston field office and has progressed to the point that subpoenas have been served on the Cardinals and Major League Baseball for electronic correspondence.

The Houston Astros hired Luhnow as general manager in December 2011. Before then he had been a successful and polarizing executive with the Cardinals. Credit David J. Phillip/Associated Press
The attack represents the first known case of corporate espionage in which a professional sports team has hacked the network of another team. Illegal intrusions into companies’ networks have become commonplace, but it is generally conducted by hackers operating in foreign countries, like Russia and China, who steal large tranches of data or trade secrets for military equipment and electronics.

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.

The Cardinals officials under investigation have not been put on leave, suspended or fired. The commissioner’s office is likely to wait until the conclusion of the government’s investigation to determine whether to take disciplinary action against the officials or the team.

The case is a rare mark of ignominy for the Cardinals, one of the sport’s most revered and popular organizations. The team has the best record in baseball this season (42-21), regularly commands outsize television ratings and has reached the National League Championship Series nine times since 2000. The Cardinals, who last won the World Series in 2011, have 11 titles over all, second only to the Yankees.

Their owner, Bill DeWitt, is a highly regarded executive who last year was in charge of the search committee for a new commissioner to replace the retiring Bud Selig.

Law enforcement officials believe the hacking was executed by vengeful front-office employees for the Cardinals hoping to wreak havoc on the work of Jeff Luhnow, the Astros’ general manager who had been a successful and polarizing executive with the Cardinals until 2011.

From 1994 to 2012, the Astros and the Cardinals were division rivals, in the National League. For a part of that time, Mr. Luhnow was a Cardinals executive, primarily handling scouting and player development. One of many innovative thinkers drawn to the sport by the “Moneyball” phenomenon, he was credited with building baseball’s best minor league system, as well as drafting several players who would become linchpins of the Cardinals’ 2011 World Series-winning team.

The Astros hired Mr. Luhnow as general manager in December 2011, and he quickly began applying his unconventional approach to running a baseball team. In an exploration of the team’s radical transformation, Bloomberg Business called it “a project unlike anything baseball has seen before.”

Under Mr. Luhnow, the Astros have accomplished a striking turnaround; they are in first place in the American League West division. But in 2013, before their revival at the major league level, their internal deliberations about statistics and players were compromised, law enforcement officials said.

The intrusion did not appear to be sophisticated, the law enforcement officials said. When Mr. Luhnow was with the Cardinals, the organization built a computer network, called Redbird, to house all of their baseball operations information — including scouting reports and player personnel information. After leaving to join the Astros, and bringing some front-office personnel with him from the Cardinals, Houston created a similar program known as Ground Control.

Ground Control contained the Astros’ “collective baseball knowledge,” according to a Bloomberg Business article published last year. The program took a series of variables and “weights them according to the values determined by the team’s statisticians, physicist, doctors, scouts and coaches,” the article said.

Investigators believe Cardinals officials, concerned that Mr. Luhnow had taken their idea and proprietary baseball information to the Astros, examined a master list of passwords used by Mr. Luhnow and the other officials who had joined the Astros when they worked for the Cardinals. The Cardinals officials are believed to have used those passwords to gain access to the Astros’ network, law enforcement officials said.

Last year, some of the information was posted anonymously online, according to an article on Deadspin. Among the details that were exposed were trade discussions that the Astros had with other teams. Mr. Luhnow was asked at the time whether the breach would affect how he dealt with other teams. “Today I used a pencil and paper in all my conversations,” he said.

Believing that the Astros’ network had been compromised by a rogue hacker, Major League Baseball notified the F.B.I., and the authorities in Houston opened an investigation. Agents soon found that the Astros’ network had been entered from a computer at a home that some Cardinals officials had lived in. The agents then turned their attention to the team’s front office.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/sp...id=tw-bna&_r=0

**Anyong Bluth** · 06-17-2015, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Given that we've basically annexed Kauffman for 20 years, Putin would fit right in.

Crimea river...

George Liquor · 06-17-2015, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rtmike

World Champions St. Louis Cardinals*

too soon?

Why would that happen? Luhnow was a Cardinals employee in 2011

Amnorix · 06-17-2015, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anyong Bluth

Take it back to the Patriots thread. I don't want to rehash this shit here.
There is going to be plenty of juicy dirt making its way to the news cycle to keep this thread nice and fat on its own.

Not to mention, given the geographic proximity and members of CP that root for said club, the responses should be priceless or dead silence.

Merely for the record, I didn't bring it up. I only responded to statements others made.

DJ's left nut · 06-17-2015, 11:02 AM

I presume someone at some point here read Bill Plaschke's article? I only ask this because it's quite possibly the worst article written and published regarding any topic at any time. It is, simply stated, the biggest piece of journalistic shit I have ever read.

In steps Michael Hurley of CBS Sports and Craig Calcaterra of Hardball talk to kick the corpulent shithead in the ear...

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/06/1...hing/#comments

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...d-performance/

Folks - this is just silly. I understand the desire to get your shots in and openly acknowledge that I would do the same. But man, when you reach the level of idiocy that Plaschke reached here, you should probably just call it a day. I refuse to provide a link as I will not grace him with a pageview (nor should you), but Hurley's pieces has some of the key snippets and it really is remarkable what a bitchy little ****wit that guy has become.

Stewie · 06-17-2015, 11:27 AM

St. Louis Cardinals announce new jerseys that they totally came up with on their own. pic.twitter.com/hiQBIyWn2c
— Aaron Nemo (@aaronnemo) June 16, 2015

**wazu** · 06-17-2015, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I presume someone at some point here read Bill Plaschke's article? I only ask this because it's quite possibly the worst article written and published regarding any topic at any time. It is, simply stated, the biggest piece of journalistic shit I have ever read.

In steps Michael Hurley of CBS Sports and Craig Calcaterra of Hardball talk to kick the corpulent shithead in the ear...

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/06/1...hing/#comments

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...d-performance/

Folks - this is just silly. I understand the desire to get your shots in and openly acknowledge that I would do the same. But man, when you reach the level of idiocy that Plaschke reached here, you should probably just call it a day. I refuse to provide a link as I will not grace him with a pageview (nor should you), but Hurley's pieces has some of the key snippets and it really is remarkable what a bitchy little ****wit that guy has become.

I just read the article. He's probably off his rocker but who knows? Manfred should at least conduct an inquiry for due diligence purposes.

Swanman · 06-17-2015, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wazu

I just read the article. He's probably off his rocker but who knows? Manfred should at least conduct an inquiry for due diligence purposes.

George Liquor · 06-17-2015, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I presume someone at some point here read Bill Plaschke's article? I only ask this because it's quite possibly the worst article written and published regarding any topic at any time. It is, simply stated, the biggest piece of journalistic shit I have ever read.

In steps Michael Hurley of CBS Sports and Craig Calcaterra of Hardball talk to kick the corpulent shithead in the ear...

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/06/1...hing/#comments

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...d-performance/

Folks - this is just silly. I understand the desire to get your shots in and openly acknowledge that I would do the same. But man, when you reach the level of idiocy that Plaschke reached here, you should probably just call it a day. I refuse to provide a link as I will not grace him with a pageview (nor should you), but Hurley's pieces has some of the key snippets and it really is remarkable what a bitchy little ****wit that guy has become.

I read it. It was terrible. Like if Bambi were a journalist.

DJ's left nut · 06-17-2015, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wazu

I just read the article. He's probably off his rocker but who knows? Manfred should at least conduct an inquiry for due diligence purposes.

Wow.

You actually read that thing and thought to yourself "y'now, he might be onto something here'?

Welp...I guess that's how Plaschke maintains a reading audience...

**wazu** · 06-17-2015, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Wow.

You actually read that thing and thought to yourself "y'now, he might be onto something here'?

Welp...I guess that's how Plaschke maintains a reading audience...

Kidding. It's a joke of a column.

Hootie · 06-17-2015, 12:50 PM

already bored with this

DJ's left nut · 06-17-2015, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

already bored with this

You started bored with this.

But the general public seems inclined to follow you. Unless more information comes out here, there's not nearly as much meat on the bones as many had hoped.

ChiefsCountry · 06-17-2015, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

You started bored with this.

But the general public seems inclined to follow you. Unless more information comes out here, there's not nearly as much meat on the bones as many had hoped.

You are a lawyer, what's your opinion on the Slugger hot dog throwing case?
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local...e24659491.html

DJ's left nut · 06-17-2015, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

You are a lawyer, what's your opinion on the Slugger hot dog throwing case?
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local...e24659491.html

Purely technically, the Mo Supreme Court got that one right. Frankly, the appellate court's rationale in overturning it was strained at best. I think they were mostly trying to work backwards to get the outcome they wanted and perhaps avoid setting some uncomfortable precedent for sporting events.

If the injury showed up 2 days later it would seem to me that causation would be the most difficult element to prove there but that trial will probably devolve into a battle of experts. If the Plaintiff has an MD telling the jury that it's reasonable to expect an injury of that sort to not manifest itself for 48 hours then the jury would likely buy the causation element.

kcfanXIII · 06-17-2015, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

This culture of old school vs. new school stat guys bites us in the ass again.

I hope this was some low level tech ****ing with Ludlow and not directed by management. But, even it was just a low level 20 something doing it all, no one will believe it. Stupid ass decision by whoever thats for sure.

Whoever knew about this or participated in it needs to be fired by the cardinals at the minimum. Even if we lose a top 5 GM.

Ok, maybe card fans are capable of handling this with out sounding like they love the smell of their own farts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

This shit stains a long storied and proud franchise. Stan the man wore the Birds on Bat for crissakes. The current management are care takers of the high bar. Tremendous lack of respect for the fans. Shame on all involved.

nope.

06-16-2015, 09:19 AM
ReynardMuldrake 2 Legit 2 Colquitt Join Date: Sep 2010 Casino cash: $2155754	St. Louis Cardinals front office under FBI investigation for hacking WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors are investigating front-office officials for the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the most successful teams in baseball over the past two decades, for hacking into the internal networks of a rival team to steal closely guarded information about player personnel. Investigators have uncovered evidence that Cardinals officials broke into a network of the Houston Astros that housed special databases the team had built, according to law enforcement officials. Internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports were compromised, the officials said. The officials did not say which employees were the focus of the investigation or whether the team’s highest-ranking officials were aware of the hacking or authorized it. The investigation is being led by the F.B.I.’s Houston field office and has progressed to the point that subpoenas have been served on the Cardinals and Major League Baseball for electronic correspondence. The Houston Astros hired Luhnow as general manager in December 2011. Before then he had been a successful and polarizing executive with the Cardinals. Credit David J. Phillip/Associated Press The attack represents the first known case of corporate espionage in which a professional sports team has hacked the network of another team. Illegal intrusions into companies’ networks have become commonplace, but it is generally conducted by hackers operating in foreign countries, like Russia and China, who steal large tranches of data or trade secrets for military equipment and electronics. 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. The Cardinals officials under investigation have not been put on leave, suspended or fired. The commissioner’s office is likely to wait until the conclusion of the government’s investigation to determine whether to take disciplinary action against the officials or the team. The case is a rare mark of ignominy for the Cardinals, one of the sport’s most revered and popular organizations. The team has the best record in baseball this season (42-21), regularly commands outsize television ratings and has reached the National League Championship Series nine times since 2000. The Cardinals, who last won the World Series in 2011, have 11 titles over all, second only to the Yankees. Their owner, Bill DeWitt, is a highly regarded executive who last year was in charge of the search committee for a new commissioner to replace the retiring Bud Selig. Law enforcement officials believe the hacking was executed by vengeful front-office employees for the Cardinals hoping to wreak havoc on the work of Jeff Luhnow, the Astros’ general manager who had been a successful and polarizing executive with the Cardinals until 2011. From 1994 to 2012, the Astros and the Cardinals were division rivals, in the National League. For a part of that time, Mr. Luhnow was a Cardinals executive, primarily handling scouting and player development. One of many innovative thinkers drawn to the sport by the “Moneyball” phenomenon, he was credited with building baseball’s best minor league system, as well as drafting several players who would become linchpins of the Cardinals’ 2011 World Series-winning team. The Astros hired Mr. Luhnow as general manager in December 2011, and he quickly began applying his unconventional approach to running a baseball team. In an exploration of the team’s radical transformation, Bloomberg Business called it “a project unlike anything baseball has seen before.” Under Mr. Luhnow, the Astros have accomplished a striking turnaround; they are in first place in the American League West division. But in 2013, before their revival at the major league level, their internal deliberations about statistics and players were compromised, law enforcement officials said. The intrusion did not appear to be sophisticated, the law enforcement officials said. When Mr. Luhnow was with the Cardinals, the organization built a computer network, called Redbird, to house all of their baseball operations information — including scouting reports and player personnel information. After leaving to join the Astros, and bringing some front-office personnel with him from the Cardinals, Houston created a similar program known as Ground Control. Ground Control contained the Astros’ “collective baseball knowledge,” according to a Bloomberg Business article published last year. The program took a series of variables and “weights them according to the values determined by the team’s statisticians, physicist, doctors, scouts and coaches,” the article said. Investigators believe Cardinals officials, concerned that Mr. Luhnow had taken their idea and proprietary baseball information to the Astros, examined a master list of passwords used by Mr. Luhnow and the other officials who had joined the Astros when they worked for the Cardinals. The Cardinals officials are believed to have used those passwords to gain access to the Astros’ network, law enforcement officials said. Last year, some of the information was posted anonymously online, according to an article on Deadspin. Among the details that were exposed were trade discussions that the Astros had with other teams. Mr. Luhnow was asked at the time whether the breach would affect how he dealt with other teams. “Today I used a pencil and paper in all my conversations,” he said. Believing that the Astros’ network had been compromised by a rogue hacker, Major League Baseball notified the F.B.I., and the authorities in Houston opened an investigation. Agents soon found that the Astros’ network had been entered from a computer at a home that some Cardinals officials had lived in. The agents then turned their attention to the team’s front office. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/sp...id=tw-bna&_r=0
Posts: 4,899

06-17-2015, 11:02 AM	#184
DJ's left nut Sauntering Vaguely Downwards Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Columbia, Mo Casino cash: $-880901	I presume someone at some point here read Bill Plaschke's article? I only ask this because it's quite possibly the worst article written and published regarding any topic at any time. It is, simply stated, the biggest piece of journalistic shit I have ever read. In steps Michael Hurley of CBS Sports and Craig Calcaterra of Hardball talk to kick the corpulent shithead in the ear... http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/06/1...hing/#comments http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...d-performance/ Folks - this is just silly. I understand the desire to get your shots in and openly acknowledge that I would do the same. But man, when you reach the level of idiocy that Plaschke reached here, you should probably just call it a day. I refuse to provide a link as I will not grace him with a pageview (nor should you), but Hurley's pieces has some of the key snippets and it really is remarkable what a bitchy little ****wit that guy has become. __________________ "If there's a god, he's laughing at us.....and our football team..." "When you look at something through rose colored glasses, all the red flags just look like flags."
Posts: 66,871

06-17-2015, 11:27 AM	#185
Stewie MVP Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: West of the Equator Casino cash: $-1870099	St. Louis Cardinals announce new jerseys that they totally came up with on their own. pic.twitter.com/hiQBIyWn2c — Aaron Nemo (@aaronnemo) June 16, 2015
Posts: 13,888

06-17-2015, 12:50 PM	#191
Hootie Banned Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Dallas, Texas Casino cash: $10004900	already bored with this
Posts: 56,356