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Allegations of cheating were made of the Houston Astros baseball team Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. It appears that there was a fan with a megaphone somewhere outside of the stadium heckling the players.
Taking advantage of the quiet stadium, this guy called out individual players as cheaters. His yelling could be heard from the press box.
Astros and the Rays are playing in an empty stadium in San Diego. But imagine the fan signs and loud outbursts from thousands of fans could have been deafening to the players? Unfortunately, the team has one angry fan that was incredibly determined to communicate his disgust to the Houston players.
Source of Anger
This anger seems to be stemming from the team’s general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch being fired for illegally stealing signs from the opposing team during the 2017 World Series run.
They both were suspended for a year before the owner Jim Crane announcing their dismissal. The team will also be penalized for their top two picks in the next two drafts and a $5 million fine.
In November 2017, an investigation began with former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers telling the Oakland Athletic that Houston illegally stole catchers’ signs using live video feed and a television monitor. Coincidentally, the Astros won the World Series that same year.
Does this Really Happen in Today’s Baseball
To better understand this point, the public’s knowledge of sign stealing is a very grey area that rests mostly on privately received second-hand information and finger-pointing between teams. Players and staff strongly believe that sign stealing is an actual event in Major League Baseball.
It’s an issue that permeates through the whole league. The league has done a very poor job of policing or discouraging it.
Written by Omari Jahi
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
Sports Illustrated: Fan Outside Stadium Uses Megaphone to Shame Astros ‘Cheaters’, DAN GARTLAND
Yahoo Sports: Jose Altuve won’t comment on sign-stealing, but reassures Astros fans ‘we will be in the World Series again,’ Liz Roscher
The Athletic Ink: The Astros stole signs electronically in 2017 — part of a much broader issue for Major League Baseball, Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich
Feature Image Courtesy of Srini Sundarrajan’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of EricEnfermero’s Wikimedia Page – Creative Commons License
