The horrible coronavirus has taken the spotlight away from the Houston Astros and their cheating ways. But, the New York Yankees and fans have not forgotten. They will pay, and they will eventually feel the shame.
I remember as a young boy stealing a small bottle of maraschino cherries from my local A&P supermarket. I sat behind the store with a friend and ate the whole bottle. Later at home, I got sick and had to admit to what I had done. My mom marched me back to the store and made me apologize to Mr. Blue, the store manager. I didn’t mind so much as I felt ashamed for my misdeed. The disappointment in Mr. Blue’s face who I knew and that of my mom was more punishment to me than having to apologize.
The Houston Astros players are not young boys, they should know better. According to their bringing up, some will remain unrepentant, but some will feel the shame of their deeds as they visit baseball parks all over the country, once the baseball season begins. They will be most likely treated poorly by the New York Yankees fans when they eventually visit Yankee Stadium.
As most sports fans know, the Astros used electronic equipment at Minute Maid Park to steal their opponents’ pitching signs. Then Astros players would signal their teammates whether the next pitch would be a breaking ball or fastball by banging on trash cans in the dugout and possibly electronic signals beneath their jerseys.
MLB’s Commissioner Rob Manfred, after a lengthy investigation determined that the Astros had cheated during the regular and postseason of 2017. New York Yankee fans also know that that cheating could have cost them a World Championship. The Astros in the postseason went on to beat the Yankees in the ALCS and then on to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. You can be sure that the Dodgers feel cheated as well.
The effects of Astros cheating goes far beyond who won those games. It may have affected every single player that played against them during the 2017 season and beyond. If outcomes had been different, the stats of players around the country were compromised.  A good Yankee example is that the Houston Astros Jose Altuve won the MVP that year, and Yankee star Aaron Judge came in second. Judge felt cheated when he found out about the scheme. CC Sabathia was mad as hell that he may have been cheated of wins in his final year of play.
The Astros team was fined, the Astros manager A.J. Hinch was suspended and fired, and the Astros General Manager was also fired. Arising from the scheme for their involvement, new Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Mets manager Carlos Beltran also lost their jobs. Are the New York Yankees satisfied? No, they are not. They didn’t lose their World Series title, their rings, or their World Series shares. But most important to the Yankees is that no Astro player was punished.
Since the reveal, the Astros has been more or less repentant, most apologies seemed insincere and half-hearted, even smug. During the brief spring training this year, the Astros played their first spring training game in Florida; they were booed when introduced and booed when a video was shown celebrating the Astros’ 2019 American League pennant. And these boos came from Tiger fans that were hardly affected by the cheating scandal.
The players who seem to be unaffected by the boos will know that fans are, not were, still holding them responsible for their deeds. The coronavirus may have diverted attention away from them, but they will suffer throughout this season and possibly for seasons to come. The Astros had their chance to relinquish their title, their rings, and such, but they didn’t, and the New York Yankees and fans are not going to forget.