In 2017, the Houston Astros became world champions, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in game 7 5-1. The Astros displayed great skill and ability in the series as they brought home a historic and important championship. Just last year the Astros found themselves back in the World Series, this time facing the Washington Nationals. The Series, once again, went to 7 games, this time with the Astros coming up short. But the Astros had an appeal about them. They seemed like the team that you wanted to root for. A team led by Jose Altuve, one of the shortest players in Major League Baseball at 5’6. However, recent developments may put this Astros team on the wrong side of history.
Sign stealing, it’s a common practice in baseball. Teams have done it for a very long time, but it takes a keen observer who is paying extremely close attention to the signs being sent from the catcher to the pitcher. It takes wits and a smart mind to figure out what all of these signs mean. Or it takes a tv monitor in the dugout. If a team is able to observe and decode signs simply with their eyes and their wit then that is not against the rules. In fact, managers and players who can do this are often commended and valued for it. However, when you involve technology and outside resources, sign stealing goes from a commendable skill to a fireable offense.
According to a CNN interview with Bob Costas, the Astros had a very different system to steal and communicate the opposing teams signs. In every MLB dugout there is a tv monitor. The Astros watch the view from the camera in the outfield, the standard MLB shot of the pitcher in the foreground and the batter in the background. The Astros would watch the catcher make the sign, then decode the sign, then use a bat and a trashcan to communicate the sign to their batter. A bang on the trashcan meant that some sort of off-speed pitch was coming. No bang meant there was a fastball on the way.
So, why is this important? Knowing the signs can severely effect the outcome of an at bat. The strategy by the Astros potentially had a massive effect on statistics for pitchers. The fact that a player knows a curveball is coming gives the batter a huge advantage. If the Astros had not known the signs Yu Darvish, a Dodgers pitcher who started game 3 of the World Series, may have lasted past the second inning. The Astros cheating may have cost the Dodgers a championship and many other teams a shot at becoming World Champions.
So, what are the consequences for the Astros? The Astros received a maximum fine of $5 million and were stripped of their first and second round draft picks for the next two years. The worst of the punishments were given to Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and Manager A.J. Hinch. According to a USA Today article by Kent Somers, both Luhnow and Hinch were suspended for the 2020 season and soon after were fired by Astros Owner Jim Crane. While neither Hinch nor Luhnow were seen aiding in the stealing of opponents signs, they were aware of the cheating and did nothing to stop it. Hinch attempted to damage monitors in the dugout and voiced his disapproval, but never made a serious attempt to stop the cheating.
While Luhnow and Hinch may have only known about the cheating, Boston Red Sox Manager and former Astros bench coach Alex Cora was directly involved in the scandal. On January 14, 2020 Cora was let go as Red Sox Manager. Cora is also involved in a second cheating scandal involving the Red Sox 2018 World Series win. As of now, Cora has yet to be punished by the League for his actions.
However, the players escaped without any penalty. This is odd due to the fact that in the MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s report he called the act of cheating “player driven”. However, the commissioner did not pass down any punishment to the players because it would be very difficult to determine which players were actually involved. This seems very unfair due to the fact that the GM and Manager were suspended for a year and eventually fired due to the scandal when they had no direct involvement. Many in the MLB community are calling for the MLB to strip the Houston Astros of their World Series title. As of now, it seems that suspensions, a fine, and loss of draft picks is all the punishment the Astros will receive. However, one player on that 2017 championship Astros team has been punished. Carlos Beltran was let go as the New York Mets manager due to his involvement as a player on that Astros team.
According to the record books the Houston Astros are still the 2017 World Series Champions. But this scandal will always stain the Astros legacy as well as the legacy of every player on that team. This team that once stood tall as a symbol of hope to a city that had just been devastated by Hurricane Harvey, now sits in the dirt in the minds of baseball fans around the world.
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