The Houston Astros were caught stealing signs during games in 2017-2018, during the World Series and are now facing consequences for their actions. The Astros used technology to see the signs the pitcher was sending to the catcher. This allowed the Houston team’s batters to know what pitch was coming based on how many bangs were heard on a trash can. They did this during their regular season and in the 2017 World Series play-offs, but the investigation and its results weren’t announced until early 2020.
This situation has led to the harshest penalties in recent baseball history. The Astros lost their 2017 World Series title along with draft picks for 2020 and 2021 along with a $5 million dollar fine. As an added punishment, anyone playing with the Astros during that time will have this following their career until the end of time.
Stealing signs is not something new to baseball, but with no way to tell batters in the span of seconds what pitch will be thrown, there is little coaches and players can do if signs are figured out. The Astros were able to set up a TV in the dugout with a direct line to a TV camera focused on the catcher who was calling pitches. From there the dugout would bang on trash cans to transmit the information to the batters already at the plate.

This shocking turn of events has changed the game of baseball forever. Baseball is known as the Great American sport and finding out that teams in the MLB can cheat has broken the hearts of fans across the nation. The fans most greatly impacted are the Los Angeles Dodgers. Dodgers fans have been waiting since 1988 for a World Series Championship, and in 2017, it was looking like that was the year. The Dodgers had previously beat the Astros in the normal season with 104 wins to 101 wins, and with the strongest pitching lineup of the MLB it seemed like the Dodgers were on the path to breaking the drought. History proved otherwise. Now that it is known that the Dodgers lost due to cheating, their fans are in turmoil.
This scandal will have a lasting effect on Major League baseball. It’s opening people’s eyes to other possible cheating scandals, such as with the Boston Red Sox.