Major League Baseball dropped the proverbial hammer on the Houston Astros, dishing out some of the harshest penalties the sport has ever seen for the organization’s sign-stealing scandal that transpired during the 2017 season.
Many players have spoken out on the severity of the situation, ranging from Cleveland Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger to a pair of Los Angeles Dodgers All-Stars in Cody Bellinger and Alex Wood.
Amid newfound speculation Astros players wore buzzers to further be alerted of which pitch was coming, Bellinger deemed that additional punishments should be on the table if the rumors prove to be true.
As for Wood, he opined that the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal is an even bigger stain on the game than the steroid era. Wood recently clarified his tweets, standing by his statement while also pointing out that the Astros illegally stealing signs hasn’t upset him, via David Vassegh of AM 570 L.A. Sports:
“None of it really (upsets me). I haven’t really gotten to emotional about it. My tweet was not in an emotional state. All I’ll say about what I tweeted is, I think the casual fan doesn’t understand the gravity and severity of what has taken place. I know that pretty much 99% of baseball fans understand the gravity of the steroids era and how much of an impact it had on the game with the level of cheating that it is.
“I was essentially just likening the two situations, because they are very, very similar in terms of the level of cheating they are at. In my personal opinion, I think what’s currently going on, to the extent that it has, is even more serious. Knowing what’s coming, that’s the whole game. That’s the chess match. Literally if you ask any pitcher on the planet, ‘What’s your job?’ Some guys that can always throw 100 might answer differently, but the game is to mess hitter’s timing up. It’s impossible to do that if they know what’s coming every pitch. It’s pretty wild.”
Wood hasn’t shied away from voicing his opinions about the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. Last month, he revealed that he was long suspicious of the organization’s methods to steal signs and took that into consideration during his start in Game 4 of the 2017 World Series at Minute Maid Park.
Wood was dominant during the outing, allowing just one hit in 5.2 innings of work. He credited his success to consistently changing his signs with Austin Barnes, which kept the Astros’ hitters guessing all game.
MLB issued a statement to note their investigation did not uncover evidence of the Astros using wearable devices.
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