David Eckstein: Namesake of a now-notorious password?
David Eckstein: Namesake of a now-notorious password? (USATSI)

Earlier this month when former Cardinals front office employee Chris Correa pleaded guilty to hacking into the Astros' private database, the following nugget was revealed -- thanks to a report in the Houston Chronicle on Saturday:

The password of a high-ranking Astros executive that Chris Correa used to access Astros’ systems was based on the name of a player “who was scrawny and who would not have been thought of to succeed in the major leagues, but through effort and determination he succeeded anyway,” assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Chu said on Jan. 8 when Correa pleaded guilty to hacking the Astros in federal court.

“So this user of the password just liked that name, so he just kept on using that name over the years,” Chu said in response to questioning from U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes.

This is outstanding, because it seems rather obvious the player in question is David Eckstein (Hat-tip: Emma Span).

Take note that Eckstein joined the Cardinals in 2005 and was World Series MVP in 2006 despite a 5-foot-6, 170-poundish frame.

That timeline matches up nicely with Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, who was promoted to vice president of player procurement for the Cardinals in 2005 and vice president of scouting and player development in 2006. He remained with St. Louis until taking the Houston GM job in December of 2011.

While there is obviously much more to this case as far as Major League Baseball is concerned, the rest of us can get a nice hearty chuckle out of the password in question being something like "Eckstein22" (his number with the Cardinals). It has been suggested that "Eckstein123" could be it, too. One can only assume that every user of said password was also required to be a Gritty Grinder.

UPDATE: Eckstein weighs in with a Star Wars reference!