Now even LeBron James has weighed in on the Astros scandal, with the King calling on commissioner Rob Manfred to listen to aggrieved, angry players like Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Justin Turner, and do something more than what he has done.

Manfred's options are limited by the immunity granted to players during the sign-stealing investigation, but more because of the inherent limitations of operating under a collective bargaining agreement. As some opposing players have noted, taking away the Astros' 2017 World Series title is impractical, maybe even a little silly; the games were played, they were won and lost, and you can't go back in a time machine and take away the Astros' competitive advantage. And it's possible that if Manfred tried to vacate the title, he would run afoul of the MLB Players Association, which could legally challenge the premise that he has the power to unilaterally take away a championship.

But there's another option through which the collective anger we have seen over the past three months could coalesce: Manfred could take the step of wielding a formal and final and unprecedented resolution of censure of the 2017 Houston Astros.

He could ask the owners for their backing and then forward the final resolution to the members of the players' association, giving the Astros' frustrated brethren an opportunity to vote their disapproval. A sportwide condemnation would be a permanent stain of ignominy.

Manfred could say: As I've had more time to process the fallout from what the Astros did in 2017, and as I've heard from fans and players throughout the sport, I believe more action is warranted, beyond the initial penalties handed down Jan. 13. For repeatedly cheating against its opponents throughout the regular season and postseason, as established in the Major League Baseball's investigation, the 2017 Houston Astros are hereby censured, a designation to be forever noted in baseball's official record book.

If Manfred took these steps, he would find support within the industry, given the apparent fury over the Astros' handling of the aftermath -- much of it lacking remorse or contrition, or even an acknowledgement that their sign-stealing system was potentially difference-making. "Our opinion is this didn't impact the game," Astros owner Jim Crane said last week, words that ricocheted around the game.

"This is really bad for baseball," a senior official said. "Jim has handled this atrociously. They have not accepted responsibility, and acted like, 'This is no big deal, everybody was doing it,' when it's apparent that they had an advantage. They just refuse to take responsibility, and now is the time for the other teams to act."

A censure might feel soft initially, without the teeth of a suspension or the revocation of riches. But the weight of history would prevail. Moving forward, references to the '17 Astros would inevitably contain the qualifier that the group was censured for cheating by peers.

Look, even if Manfred doesn't take any more action, the legacy of the players on that team is forever diminished. It's already apparent they will be remembered as cheaters to most in the court of public opinion, and in the eyes of many of their peers -- cheaters who wielded an illicit competitive advantage. But for all of the majesty implied in the title of commissioner, Manfred has almost no leeway to discipline the players, even after declaring in his findings that the Astros' scheme was player-driven. Judge, Trout, Cody Bellinger and others can confirm that for themselves with union chief Tony Clark, as the players' association begins its annual spring training get-togethers.

Had Manfred refused to grant immunity to the Houston players as Major League Baseball dove into its investigation, then the union would've interceded and protected players in legal peril -- and protecting members is exactly what any union should do. Many or all of the players would've refused to answer questions, and then Manfred would've run into the same types of problems that George Mitchell did in his laughable investigation of the steroid era. No subpoena power, no absolute proof that Player X benefited from the sign stealing. MLB investigators probably would've gotten a lot of, "I don't recall." Or, "I didn't hear the trash can banging." Manfred is right in this regard: At least the core of the truth is exposed.

But Manfred has the power to go one step further and distinguish that Houston championship from all others in baseball history.

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As Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle closed on Babe Ruth's single-season home run record in 1961, commissioner Ford Frick announced that unless a player reached at least 60 home runs in 154 games -- the parameters under which Ruth played in 1927 -- there should be some special designation in the record books, separating the accomplishments. Frick never formally issued an edict, and eventually that suggestion faded in history; Maris was recognized as the record holder until Mark McGwire passed that mark in 1998. But Frick's mere suggestion served to unfairly diminish Maris' accomplishment in the years that followed.

So do not underestimate the long-term impact of a formal censure, because no matter what Jim Crane or anyone else argues about the legitimacy of the '17 championship, a censure introduced by Manfred and seconded by the players would stand as the final word.

Recent record-breaking form has been a real confidence boost for the European under-18 champion

Tom Keen’s recent performances prove that the 17-year-old has taken some big changes to his life firmly in his powerful stride.

The Cambridge and Coleridge athlete moved north to study and train at the University of Birmingham, where he is on a foundation year studying bio sciences. The alteration in living arrangements and the athletes he trains with on a daily basis could have been unsettling, but Keen is instead charting new territory on the track.

After beginning 2020 on a winning note with a commanding under-20 victory at the British Athletics Cross Challenge in Stirling, he had a solid if reasonably unspectacular run out when coming fourth over 1500m in Sheffield.

His next race would set him apart, however. Keen (pictured above, fourth from left) may have finished third at the Vienna Indoor Classic but his time of 3:41.44 eclipsed the British junior record of 3:42.87 set by Matt McLaughlin in 2013.

“One of my goals was to break the record,” says Keen, who will compete in the British Championships 1500m in Glasgow this weekend.

“I did a race in Sheffield in January and I ran 3:46 but I felt like I had a lot left in me and I crossed the line thinking ‘I should have committed to the race a bit earlier’.

“I was really aware of that when I came into the race in Vienna and I had it in the back of my mind that it (breaking the record) was possible. It was really exciting for me.”

The resulting surge of confidence has been significant.

“With the move to Birmingham Uni, a new training environment and new training schedule – to know that’s all paying off and I’ve fitted in quite smoothly so it’s a real confidence booster,” says Keen, who is coached by long-term mentor Mark Vile whilst also working with Luke Gunn in Birmingham.

“Luke will set a session and I’ll speak with Mark and he’ll alter it slightly, making it more personal to my strengths and what I need to work on,” continues Keen.

“It didn’t take me long to get used to the way they trained, it was pretty similar, but I think the biggest difference is that we do tempo running, which is something I’ve never really experienced before.

“But everything else, the sessions, the strength and conditioning, I feel like I’m coping with it all and the change pretty well.”

Keen’s results certainly indicate that and the 2018 European under-18 3000m champion is now setting his sights on the 1500m at this summer’s World Athletics U20 Championships.

“I want to make the final – that’s aim number one,” he says. “I think top six would be a really good race and anywhere around there I’d be really happy with.”

He adds: “I feel that the indoors is always a good way of boosting your confidence going into the track season. The outdoors is where it’s at and where I want to be most successful – I really can’t wait for the summer to come along now.”

The British shot putter threw a national indoor under-20 record on his season opener and believes there’s much more to come

If his season opener and winter training is anything to go by, Lewis Byng looks set for a strong year and one which he hopes will include a global medal.

The 18-year-old added almost half a metre to the British under-20 indoor shot put record with a throw of 19.18m in Loughborough at the beginning of the month but admits a slight frustration that he didn’t throw even further, with his bigger opening attempt judged to be a foul.

With a previous best using the 6kg junior shot of 19.14m recorded outdoors last year, Byng added more than a metre to his old indoor PB as well as 49cm to the previous UK indoor record set by Jamie Williamson in 2006.

“Throwing a big opener was really nice. I am happy that I got the British record, my aim going into that competition was minimum to get that,” he says.

“I had a dodgy indoor season last year where I didn’t throw as well as I wanted to but I made it for outdoors. The fact that this indoors, my first comp, I’ve thrown a British record, there’s more to come.”

After making the finals at both the European under-18 and under-20 championships in 2018 and 2019 respectively, Byng’s next big aim is the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi in July. That journey to Kenya will take him via Singapore, where he has been offered a place on a 10-day training camp in April, and Byng undertook a novel fundraising challenge in December to help get himself there.

His coach Stuart Carlaw organised a sponsored weight lift of 6,764kg in a morning session, with that figure being the distance in miles from one of his training bases in Northampton to Singapore. Given Byng’s lifting experience he upped the challenge to lift the distance of a return journey – 13,528kg.

“I did 14,900kg or something like that in a session,” he says.

“I feel like if I can get to July and peak properly then I’ll have a really good chance of getting a (world U20) medal, which is the whole aim. After the Euros last year I spoke to coach and we decided that I’d made the final twice at Europeans, why not medal at the next one?”

Combining his athletics with college studies, Stratford-upon-Avon-based Byng – who won both under-20 and under-23 titles at the England Championships on consecutive days last summer – is also a student of his sport and says watching the world’s best gives him confidence that he might be able to achieve similar in the future.

The 6’5” teenager currently mainly uses the ‘step back’ technique in competition but has been using the rotational style in training at Loughborough University.

“I do my own thing but I really do like looking at the top throwers in the world, like Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs and Tom Walsh, because their technique is so similar in the fundamentals but different in their styles,” he explains.

“They all threw exactly the same at world champs, pretty much, within a centimetre. It just shows that even though they have different body types and body size they all can throw far. There is reason to believe that I can get there one day.

“This whole winter I’ve trained rotation and I did try rotations during my opener but they didn’t go so well, so at the moment we’re still training rotation but I’m using my old technique, the step back, to get the distances out for 2020,” he adds.

“We’re going to keep training it so when it comes to the end of the 2020 season or 2021, I’m prepared to throw far with the spin.”

‘If pros wore them, club players would follow’
By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor

Leading coach Phil Rushworth, British Nationals Over-35 runner-up and the man who drove Daryl Selby to hospital after his eye injury in Nottingham last week, is supporting the campaign to debate eye protection in the game.

Rushworth, Head Coach at Wimbledon Racquets and Fitness Club and South East Aspire coach for England Squash, knows all too well the impact caused by even the most minor impact of a squash ball on the eye.

He suffered a detached retina following a coaching incident – but it was so innocuous that he hardly felt a thing and was unaware of the damage for three months.

He said: “I was coaching an adult group and one of them bounced a ball towards me and it hit me on the cheekbone and the eye socket.

“I didn’t think anything of it until three months later when I went to the opticians for a general check-up.

“They spotted something and sent me to Kingston Eye Clinic, where they detected a tear. The specialist didn’t know I was a squash player but the first thing she asked me was ‘Have you been hit in the eye with a squash ball?’

“They in turn sent me to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, where they detected a detached retina in my right eye.

“I had not been aware of any problems in the previous three months and had forgotten all about it.

“It was in 2013 and our first child was about to be born and my priorities were obviously elsewhere. But they said to me ‘If you have the slightest knock on the eye you could lose your sight permanently’. So, two days later, I had an operation at Moorfields to sort out the damage.”

Ironically, Rushworth was in the opposite corner, coaching Ollie Pett, during the National Championships first round tie when Selby was injured.

He said: “Ollie was clearly concerned and it I think it may have brought back some memories of something that had happened to him during his junior days.

“I saw Daryl at courtside and his eye looked bloodshot. He held some ice to his face to take the swelling down from the bruise.

“He had as much time as he needed to recover and, because it was a complete accident, he guessed Ollie would go through if anything meant he was unable to play.

“It was suggested that he get it checked out and let Ollie know the outcome. He decided to go to hospital to get it checked out and that was the point when the Tournament Director told Daryl he would be given the walkover.

“The shot that Daryl played, down the middle of the court from the front left is a shot being used more often by players to wrongfoot the opponent. Quite often this leaves the opponent with no choice but to hit a shot from behind their back, and therefore leaves the player at the front of the court in a vulnerable position. It was like slow motion as the ball skewed off Ollie’s racket and hit Daryl in the eye.

“Naturally, Ollie was very upset afterwards but Daryl tried to reassure him and told him he would have done the same thing and reacted in the same way with a shot behind his back.”

Rushworth, who was runner-up in the over-35 final to RAF player Sam Miller in the Nationals, understands the reasons why nearly all professionals refuse to wear eye protection while playing, despite the obvious risks.

He continued: “Wearing goggles will give you a level of comfort and reassurance about your safety but it could also affect your concentration.

“At the top level we talk about small margins and if you are performing two to three per cent below your best you might lose because of issues with your peripheral vision or your goggles steaming up or getting covered by sweat.

“Between rallies you will be wiping your goggles instead of focusing on your game.

“That could be the difference between a 3-0 win or a 3-0 defeat. In professional squash, it therefore has to be a level playing field. It’s got to be a rule for everybody. All or nothing.

“If one player is wearing goggles and the other opts not to wear them, to make sure there are no distractions, that player has an obvious advantage.

“As for myself, I wore goggles for a week or so after my operation but pretty soon stopped because of the distractions.

“Maybe this issue will prove to be the catalyst for some serious debate on the subject. Importantly, this time it will involve professionals as well as club players.

“If both players have to wear goggles, both will have to accept it. That way you are not giving one player a bit of an advantage. You simply can’t do that in world-class sport so any rule change must be fair across the board.”

Looking at the bigger picture, Rushworth feels that it would be beneficial for the game to look at two key issues affecting the sport right now, eye protection and the use of the correct ball for recreational players.

He added: “The risk of eye injury might well put new people off playing the sport, so it’s an issue that needs a sensible plan of action.

“At the professional level, the game is faster than ever and players need to have their full powers of concentration switched on to maximum to cope at that level.

“However, to be honest, at club level I’m surprised we don’t see more eye injuries with so few adult players choosing to wear protection.

“As coaches, one of the mantras we drum into young players is ‘Never take your eye off the ball’.

“So if that is the case we really ought to be taking eye protection more seriously.

“If the pros wore goggles, club players would soon follow.

“And you might say the same with players using the double yellow dot when in some cases it may be more appropriate for them to use a single dot ball.”

Pictures by STEVE CUBBINS courtesy of  England Squash