Astros’ Collin McHugh on Locker Room Talk

Collin McHugh: That’s Not Locker Room Talk in the Houston Astros Club House.

With the upcoming Presidential Elections, people around the nation are keeping up with the two candidates. This Astros’ writer is not very political, so I am not trying to steer you in any direction. Unless you have been wrapped up in your favorite team’s playoff run, you have heard about the tape that was released involving Presidential candidate Donald Trump.

With respect to the FanSided network, I will just say that the content of Mr. Trump’s recording was offensive to women. During the second Presidential Debate, Trump described what he said as typical “locker room talk.” He described it as that is what athletes discuss about in the locker room, it was harmless. While all America reacts to what Trump said ten years ago, how he responded Sunday has opened some eyes.

The Astros Locker Room

The Houston Astros have a locker room, do they talk like that? We know that they like to turn on the music and the fog during club Astros celebrations. Starting pitcher Collin McHugh became one of the many professional athletes to come out and address this. While locker rooms vary from team to team, do these guys really talk like this among the boys?

McHugh wrote on his Instagram account so that he wouldn’t be limited to the 140 characters on Twitter. He stated that while he has heard people say similar stuff to what Mr. Trump said, it is not a regular occurrence.

"“Have I heard comments like Trump’s (i.e. sexist, disrespectful, crude, sexually aggressive, egotistical, etc.) in a clubhouse? Yes. But I’ve also heard some of those same comments other places.-Collin McHugh.”"

McHugh acknowledges that people do talk like that everywhere you go, not just in the locker room. He feels like it unfair for someone to generalize that type of discussion as what happens on a regular basis. He shares the locker room with the same guys for eight months of the year, and this is not what they talk about there.

"“Men of conscience and integrity, who would never be caught dead talking about women in that way.”- Collin McHugh."

Instead, McHugh gives a list of topics that they do talk about in the locker room. They talk about the game the night before, mechanical things about their swing or delivery, and how much they miss their families. You can read more below.

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What do you talk about at work? You speak of the sports you follow, your job, and your family. From what McHugh says, the players goof around a little, but they are a team. There may be a few bad apples in the clubhouse, but the majority are respectful. Many other athletes have come out and said that is not how they talk in the locker room.

McHugh didn’t have the best overall season in 2016, but he was the ace down the stretch. The Astros may be young and streaky, but we have great guys like this on our team that makes us proud to be an Astros fan.

In conclusion, I will end with the final quote from McHugh concerning the situation. “But as for me and my Astros team, our ‘locker room talk’ sounds absolutely nothing like his. And I couldn’t be more proud of that.”

Next: Astros: Class in Session, What can They Learn from the Rangers

Good luck to both candidates for President, it should be an interesting election season. This is as political as we will get at CTH.

***Quotes from Collin McHugh’s Instagram post***