With everything that has gone on the last few months, it is easy for casual fans to forget that earlier this year the Houston Astros were found guilty by Major League Baseball of electronic sign-stealing during their 2017 World Series run when they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The lengths the Astros went to cheat were drastic, although many believe MLB let them off easy as they get to keep their championship. The only punishments were the loss of four draft picks, a $5 million fine and one-year suspensions for manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow, who were both then fired by owner Jim Crane.
The Dodgers and New York Yankees are the two teams that were affected the most by the Astros cheating. Both lost to Houston in seven games in respective postseason series when they had legitimate opportunities to win the World Series.
One other player that has a bit of a rivalry with the Astros is Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer dating back to his time with the Cleveland Indians. Bauer was the first person to accuse Houston of cheating and was mocked for it at the time only for him to end up being right all along.
To no surprise, Bauer has been vocal about his dislike for the Astros and their players since the league handed out its punishments. That continued this week when he showed up to Summer Camp wearing a hilarious shirt to troll the Astros.
Baseball is back everyone!! Intake testing done, lots of really high tech stuff goin on here but anything to help us win is in, right?! pic.twitter.com/9smfaui36r
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) July 3, 2020
Unfortunately, Bauer plays in the National League Central and the Astros are in the American League West, so he will not get to face them in this shortened 2020 season.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, will be playing Houston due to the revised scheduled that is designed to limit travel. Many Dodgers players are still understandably upset at the Astros as well so it will be interesting to see if there are any altercations when they meet, although with the restrictions in place due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, that is unlikely to happen this season.
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