Cameras and Trash Cans: The 2017 Astros Cheating Scandal
Image courtesy of CBS sports
By MIRIAM ZUO ‘20
Baseball’s back, baby! Well, almost. Since February 22nd, teams have been playing against each other in Spring Training games, which are scrimmages that don’t affect the regular season record. Spring Training is usually an exciting build up to the season; teams debut their newly acquired players while fans and coaches alike assess rosters and predict post-season match-ups. This year, however, a dark stain sullies the month leading up to Opening Day.
The off-season has been severely unpleasant for fans of the Houston Astros, but more broadly, it’s knocked the wind out of the baseball world. The cheating scandal broke when Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich, writers for The Athletic, published a widely-read article describing how the Astros stole signs electronically in their World Series-winning 2017 season (and in 2018). These claims were backed up by whistle-blower Mike Fiers, an Oakland A's pitcher who played for Houston in 2017. Over the following weeks, more details on the nature of the cheating trickled out partly due to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s investigation,.
Before every pitch in baseball, the catcher signals to the pitcher what pitch to throw next through a series of hand gestures (“signs”). The purpose of the signs is to prepare the catcher for where the ball might go, reducing the likelihood of a wild pitch that enables runners on base to advance. It follows that if the opposing team’s batter knows what pitch is coming next, he would also have a better idea of where to move his bat. As such, teams have an incentive to figure out other teams’ signs in real time. Even though other teams, including the Red Sox, have tried to decode signs, the 2017 Astros’ elaborate sign-stealing operation went too far for the baseball community. Upon decoding a catcher’s sign in the replay review room, someone would bang on a trash can. According to SBNation, “one bang represented an off-speed pitch, while two indicated a fast ball.”
Baseball fans and other baseball teams were furious. They clamored for consequences such as life-long bans for players and managers and the rescission of the Astros’ 2017 World Series trophy. The main punishments, as detailed by a CBS Sports article, are the 2020 suspensions of General Manager (GM) Jeff Luhnow, Manager AJ Hinch, and former assistant GM Brandon Taubman; the forfeit of first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021; and the maximum possible fine of $5 million. Luhnow and Hinch, as well as Boston Red Sox Manager Alex Cora and New York Mets Manager Carlos Beltran, both of whom were involved in the cheating scandal, have since been fired from their positions. However, none of the 2017 Astros players, all of whom were presumably aware of the significance of the trash-can banging, will be punished, and the team will keep its World Series title; this conspicuous lack of punishment has led to further anger from many people in the baseball community.
As a baseball fan and a Houston native, I am troubled by the fallout this off-season. How do I reconcile my image of the team -- the good guys who brought hope to millions by winning the World Series shortly after Hurricane Harvey devastated the city -- with the sordid revelations of the past few months? How does hometown loyalty stack up against integrity? I’m still figuring out my answers, even as the Astros walk out on the field every day to crowds of booing spectators.