There is no doubt that other teams have done this and I bet as time goes on more teams will be implicated and 5 years from now people will shrug. https://bleacherreport.com/articles...teams-cheat-using-video-names-yankees-dodgers Now remember, Mike Fiers started this whole thing, not sure why other players coming out and saying basically the same thing isn't launching more investigations...but the MLB has told everyone to hush up about it...why? Because it is widespread.
For the life of me I just dont understand why they used fkin trash cans. How could the batters hear the trash cans in the postseason? The stadium is so loud in the postseason that you could hardly hear yourself.
SMU cheated and got the death penalty. McHale cheated with the Timberwolves and got punished. Brady and the Patriots allegedly cheated with deflated balls and got away. I'm sure we can think of more examples. People no longer connect these franchises with cheating anymore. Time will heal everything. But the Astros' WS championship will forever be tainted. And in the meantime, those of us who live in the LA area have become laughingstock and there's nothing we can do about it. (I don't want to use the "everybody cheats" excuse, because even if that was true, it still didn't wash away the taint of that championship.)
I don't think the title is as tainted for me bc its baseball and not basketball or football. The lack of a level playing field with salary "cap" makes the playing field uneven more so in baseball then any other sport. teams like yankees can go out and sign the best slugger (2 years ago) and then turn around and sign the best pitcher (this year) when middle market teams can only contend for a short period of time, the same window is even smaller for small market teams. Baseball by its rules makes the game unfair and because of this I think other actions (like cheating) are less egregious
I don't think it's tainted because the other team was likely doing the same thing, despite all the sanctimonious virtue-signaling and victim-crying they're doing. If anything is consistent in professional sport, it's cheating and hypocrisy.
For the teams the Astros played in the 2017 postseason, I would agree that those teams likely stole signs inappropriately in 2017.
I'm beginning to wonder if there is a sports team anywhere in the world that hasn't had players or coaching staff somehow involved in cheating, using performance enhancing drugs, bribing officials, getting paid to throw a game for big buck sports betting, or intentionally taking a player out with a dirty hit meant to injure him to win Maybe there never was really fair play in sports. Even so, it doesn't take away that sick feeling I got when I first heard the news that this team had been accused of cheating. It was so unexpected. Now with the real story, it does make that special year seem a lot less special. I hate that it made me feel that way.
Yeah, I think cheating is a big deal. If it's not important to have an equal chance of winning, and refs can be swayed, players and teams can cheat, then it really doesn't mean much to win. Now I just see it differently. It's like when the Rockets fans felt cheated by certain officials in the league against the Warriors. Why bother filing grievances against the NBA if it's just a sport, and it doesn't really matter? Were they just taking the sport too seriously?
don't get me wrong, when my team is "cheated" against i will go all out to **** on the league/refs/etc... corrupt and trash them hard. that's what a fan does. when my team does it, i look the other way. i have no shame because it's just sports, not life. another other factor, enough people hate the teams i love so why join them or pile on. instead i will support and defend no matter what.
The biggest problem for the Astros is they didn’t stop when MLB told teams to stop and they kept cheating into the playoffs. That is why title and legacy is tainted. After the Red Sox and Yankees got busted for electronic sign stealing I believe they stopped for 17 playoffs. I believe MLB covered up the extent of their cheating. Reports show Yankees started in 15, Red Sox started in 16. But after getting caught, I think that scared them. Jury is still out if the Dodgers cheated in 17. I also don’t think teams cheated in the playoffs in 18 because MLB had a guy in the media room. I think the report will show Red Sox cheated in the season of 18 but couldn’t find a way to pull it off in the playoffs. Red Sox did pick it back up in 19 on a limited bases. According to reports the guy in the media room allowed Red Sox to view media from time to time in 19... according to athletic. Sucks the Astros kept doing it into the playoffs. A team that is great enough on its own. They proved it in 19... almost won again. But.... they are forever tainted now. Players are gonna love media day and spring training. The truly sad part is the Astros players will never do anything that will outshine the WS cheating scandal spotlight. Altuve’s mvp:tainted, Springer’s 5 HRs in WS:tainted Verlander’s hall of fame character is tainted. His Cy Young award is small compared to how big the spotlight is on Verlander not trying to stop the scandal. I guarantee you this is how the media and other teams fans look at this. It would help if there was proof Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox cheated with video cameras/monitors in playoffs at anytime from 2014-2018 like the rumors suggest, but I think they aren’t gonna find it. Need a Fiers type player to come clean. After everyone saw how many heads rolled... players aren’t going to say anything anymore. Mum is the word.
Personally, two of the worst things about this whole situation are: 1. Having to tell my 10 year old son, who idolizes the Astros, that they cheated during their WS season. I wonder how, down the road, he's going to remember (what should have been a great memory) of staying up WAY past his bedtime to watch Game 7 2017 with me? 2. This year we were going to try to go to a road game every month and start the process of attempting to attend a game in every MLB stadium before he goes off to college. But now...man...I can take the abuse, but I don't know that I can subject my son to the vitriol that opposing fans will be spitting at anyone wearing any sort of Astros gear.
