In one of the biggest Major League Baseball scandals of all time, the Houston Astros were recently found guilty of stealing signs electronically during their 2017 World Series run.
While MLB did not vacate their championship, they did levy a $5 million fine as well as the loss of draft picks and suspensions for general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch. The Astros then went on to fire both Luhnow and Hinch, and the same can be said for Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora and New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran, due to their roles in the scandal.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were affected most by the Astros cheating as they were defeated by Houston in the 2017 World Series. The Red Sox are also currently being investigated for a similar matter during the 2018 season, which means L.A. could have potentially faced an uneven playing field in back-to-back trips to the Fall Classic.
Players on the Dodgers and throughout the league are understandably upset about Astros players not being penalized despite it being described as a player-driven scheme. Cody Bellinger and Alex Wood recently took to social media to voice their frustrations.
Former Dodgers star Adrian Gonzalez, whose last year with the team was that 2017 season, is also not happy about being robbed of his only potential World Series ring. In an interview with David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports, he explained what type of action he would support pitchers taking against Astros batters:
“I think for the most part you bring in your reliever that has control but he can get it up in the mid-90s and hit whoever it is right at the waist or hipline. You definitely don’t want to go too high up top. You don’t want to accidentally hit somebody in the head. You keep it right around the hip, the butt area. Nice and easy, make sure you let them know that’s not allowed.”
While it is never ideal to throw at opposing players, Gonzalez is not the first player to suggest this form of retaliation as it is obviously a sentiment felt throughout the league.
Astros players spoke on the matter for the first time at their annual FanFest and did not express any remorse whatsoever. Their lack of accountability is only going to further aggravate opposing players, so it will be interesting to see how the 2020 season plays out and how much control umpires will have to take on the matter during the Astros’ games.
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