The Houston Astros are in uncharted territory. They are making waves in baseball… again. All of this was true in 2017 when the ‘Stros won the World Series and made it to the series in 2019. This time it’s a little different. The 2017 Astros World Series title will forever be tainted, but why? 

The Astros were found to be electronically stealing signs from an opposing team’s catcher to find what pitch was going to be thrown, and then relaying the information via banging a trash can to their batters so they’d be able to anticipate what pitch was coming. But what about when the stadium would get loud and they couldn’t hear? Don’t worry, the Astros figured out how to get out of that pickle. Just use your bullpen to signal the pitches to your batters.

The amazing thing is, most of this evidence was compiled by fans looking through old footage of Astros games. The most prolific one, made by Jomboy Media, was shown to the commissioner of baseball and helped ignite the official investigation from the MLB. The MLB investigated, and was expected to hand the Astros “the harshest penalties in the sport’s history.” Houston had a problem. Then the MLB released their punishment. For the Astros cheating their way to the World Series, and even winning it, it would cost them… 1 year bans for management, 4 draft picks, and just 5 million dollars. So, basically pocket change. However, the Astros themselves took some action and fired their managers, but it seems like their players have no regrets or even an apology.

There has been an outcry from baseball fans near and far, and even some of the players themselves. Players like CC Sabathia, a pitcher on the New York Yankees, posted this on Instagram. Pitchers have been hurt the most, with many of them being cut because of the Astros 2017 run. There has been an increasing call to action by the owners of other teams too, saying that Astros players should be punished too. Other fans and organizations have gotten creative showing their distaste for the Astros, with the A’s celebrating a group of fans, known for banging drums when the ‘Stros are in Oakland. A Yankees Minor League affiliate will also be giving away trash cans when they play the Astros affiliate at home. With all this uproar, the Astros franchise took quite the bang.