Journal Review Essay 2

Geronimo Narizzano
University of Rhode Island

COM 383: Rhetorical Theory
Dr. Kevin Mcclure
December 11, 2023
In the article 'How Scansis Works: Lessons from the Houston Astros Sign-Stealing Crisis,'
published in Relevant Rhetoric in the spring of 2021, the authors Karen L. Hartman and LeAnne
W. Woods explore how the Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Organization Houston Astros used
rhetoric and communication to answer to the scandal and crisis (scansis) presented once they
were found guilty of cheating during their World Series winning season of 2017. During this
essay I will relate the different points made in the article to the Work of Kenneth Burke. While
the authors of the article do not mention Burke explicitly their work could easily be analyzed
according to his theory.
Burke describes Humans as “Man is the symbol-using (symbol-making, symbol-misusing)
animal, inventor of the negative (or moralized by the negative), separated from his natural
condition by instruments of his own making, goaded by the spirit of hierarchy (or moved by the
sense of order), and rotten with perfection." (Motive I) This definition can establish multiple
relations with the Astros actions mentioned in the article. The cheating itself show us how the
teams stole the other teams' signs (man-made symbols) to achieve a higher hierarchy (being the
better team) while being corrupted by the perfection thought to be needed to win the highest
competition of the sport. But what I think is most important is how the team was “moralized” by
the human invention of the negative while elaborating the response to their penalization. This is
mostly what Hartman and Woods do.
To relate to the Authors work it is important to dig more deeply into Burke’s theory, it is
necessary to mention and describe more of his work. Work that is categorized between the
dramatic and narrative dimensions. These two are separated but complementary. As explained
by James A. Herrick in The History and Theory of Rhetoric “Burke drew an important
distinction between simple “motion” and purposeful "action," the principal difference being the
presence of a human motive in the latter. A motive lies behind an action such as voting for
president or leaving a job. Motives make human life and interaction strategic and intentional, that
is, rhetorical. Thus, to understand human acts, one must understand human motives; Burke's
pentad is an aid to such understanding. Burke proposed the pentad as his "grammar of motives,"
that is, a means of understanding and evaluating human motivation.” (Herrick 236) Burke’s
pentad consist in five elements: the Act, which is the action perform; the Scene, which is the
place where the act took place; The Agent, which is the person or organization that performs the
act; the Agency, which is the method used carry out the act; and finally the Purpose which is the
reason behind it. This is also known as the Dramatistic Pentad. Which can be used as a
framework to understand the narrative presented by the Houston Astros.
In terms of Burke’s work "guilt only exists when we do things we should NOT do or Not do
things we should do” but in no situation did the organization admit to this guilt for violating
order, guilt of doing something wrong while being corrupted by perfectionism. “No official
releases were posted on their official MLB website (mlb.com/astros) either. Current Astro
players kept quiet, except a few former members of the club who spoke and claimed to know
nothing about the sign stealing. ”(Hartman and Woods, 6) However, the organization jumped to
the purification act of their dramatic narrative by using scapegoats “he accepted the findings of
MLB’s investigation but stated that he would do more corrective action than what MLB did in
their sanctions and fire two managers, A.J. Hinch and Jeff Luhnow” (Hartman and Woods, 7)
Which led to the no completion of the three acts due the fact that there was no redemption found
by the sport team. Burke institutes seven steps in redemptive rhetoric in his Iron Law of history
“involves movement through seven interlocked moments or stages: from order, guilt and the
negative, through victimage and mortification, to catharsis and redemption” The Authors of the
article mention “It’s clear that the Astros did devote time and personnel to attempt to rectify the
fallout from the scansis. They provided quotes to journalists, identified times they’d be available
to address the situation, set up press conferences, and used messaging to try to apologize and
show remorse. However, their efforts fell flat and had a limited impact.” (Hartman and Woods,
11) Making it clear that a rhetorical effort was made by part of the organization with the motive
of mending the hurt they caused. However, what the stakeholders in this situation, such as fans
of the team, the sport and other teams wanted out of the organization was another type of answer.
So, the Organization was not renewed under a new identity, mainly because all the steps were
not fulfilled. There was not explicit catharsis from the baseball team
In conclusion, the symbolic action that derived from a breach in the order established by the
rules of the MLB by the Houston Astros is analyzed by Hartman and Woods in a way that can be
related to Burke’s work. They put the organization’s reply to its actions under a process almost
identical to the Pentad. Identifying all its elements and determining the motives. However, while
the motives are clear we can understand that there is still disgust with the way the organization
went about it. This disgust can also be understood under Burke’s theory since the team did not
complete all seven of the steps of the redemptive rhetoric, since they never claimed to be in the
wrong.
Work Cited
Herrick, J. A. (2021). The history and theory of rhetoric: An introduction. Routledge.

Hartman, K. L., & Woods, L. W. (2021). How Scansis Work: Lessons from the Houston Astros
Sign-Stealing Crisis. How Scansis Function:Lessons from the Houston Astros Sign-
Stealing Crisis. elevantrhetoric.com/HoustonAstrosScansis.pdf

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Geronimo Narizzano

University of Rhode Island

according to his theory.

Burke describes Humans as “Man is the symbol-using (symbol-making, symbol-misusing)

mostly what Hartman and Woods do.

framework to understand the narrative presented by the Houston Astros.

Herrick, J. A. (2021). The history and theory of rhetoric: An introduction. Routledge.

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