It is no secret the New York Yankees were involved in some sort of cheating several years ago during the infamous sign-stealing scandal. However, the Houston Astros lead the charge, utilizing a unique strategy that included banging on trash cans to relay deciphered pitches to batters in the box.
Houston set the standard for what not to do in baseball as the image of the game took a significant hit. The Yankees, however, believe they were cheated out of a World Series because of Houston’s wrongdoing. The fact they were able to retain the World Series title might go down as one of the worst decisions in history. That essentially confirms that cheating is OK, and you can walk away with minimal consequences and a championship trophy.
Houston owner Jim Crane took offense to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman’s comments, indicating that the Astros executed illegal and horrific strategies to steal signs.
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“I found his comments to be extremely strange,” Crane said, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. “There’s the letter, and you were doing it, too. You were there, dude. What are you talking about?”
“If I was one of the teams, and I knew our team was doing it [cheating], I’d keep my mouth shut and just go about our business,” Crane added. “But listen, I can only control what’s going on here. I can’t control what the other guys do.”
At this point, Crane should just walk into the sunset instead of bringing unnecessary attention to his club. Judging Cashman for his comments is completely out of line, even if the Yankees GM is in the wrong.
In the commissioner’s letter that revealed what the Yankees were doing, they had utilized YES Network television cameras to decipher catches and relay them to runners on second base, who then sent signals to batters. This was far different than what the Astros were doing, utilizing their technique when there were no runners on base and in high-leverage situations.
Despite Houston being fined $5 million and stripped of its first and second-round picks for 2020 and 2021, retaining the championship will remain a stain on the league’s legacy.