Astros Cheating Scandal

Brendan McGuire ‘23 STAFF REPORTER

The recent scandal in the baseball world- -one that may go down as one of the biggest scandals in sports history-- involves the Houston Astros, an MLB baseball team in the American League, being accused of stealing signs from other teams.

All of this was said to take place in the past five years during many Astros runs in which they went deep into the playoffs. The Astros were accused of using electronic systems to steal signs from catchers on the opposing team. These signals would then be given to the players batting, giving the Astros players a completely unfair advantage.

While sign stealing is not considered illegal in baseball, using electronic devices to do it undoubtedly is. To signal which pitch was coming, the Astros would bang on a trash can to signal off speed or breaking pitches. This is not the first time the sport of baseball has had to deal with cheaters. All time home run leader, Barry Bonds, among others, was caught using performance enhancing drugs to help him get stronger and, with that, hit the ball a lot farther than anyone else could.

Of course, the actions of some of the people in the Astros organization did not go unpunished. Some of the punishments included a 5 million dollar fine, a loss of both their first and second round draft picks in both the 2020 and 2021 season, and a year long suspension to both the Astros General Manager, Jeff Luhnow and their manager, A.J. Hinch. Both Luhnow and Hinch were fired on the same day that their punishments were released. No players ended up suffering any consequences although many wanted more punishment to be given out.

Many fans of baseball felt that Houston should be stripped of their title that they won back in 2017 and they had good reason too. The Astros practically won the title through cheating and during their World Series run that year the Astros played a total of eighteen playoff games and went 11-7. Of the nine games they played at home, the Astros lost just once, but during away games the Astros had a terrible 3-6 record. Certainly not a record that many people would think is worthy of a World Series but thanks to their outstanding home record, the Astros were able to prevail and finish on top.

As for baseball in general, there is no doubt that the sport itself could be impacted by this whole situation. How it will be affected, no one really knows for sure. Baseball is the second most watched sport in America on the professional level and many kids grow up playing it. Baseball however, has been criticized for being unbearably slow and boring to watch so maybe this could give people a reason to tune in and watch baseball more often.

After all, “there is no such thing as bad publicity.” Even though no one believes this scandal will have any effects on high school or little league baseball, there is no telling what the future may bring.

As for the Astros, they don’t seem to be all that excited for what the future holds for them and their organization. There is no doubt that the Astros will suffer greatly from this punishment and probably will take around five years until they are able to get back into contention for the World Series. This scandal has certainly shaken the baseball world and leaves many wondering what is in store for the future of the MLB.