The Houston Astros Are Morally Corrupt

In the off-season it became known that the Astros used electronic equipment to steal signs from the opposition, and then used either an electronic buzzer system or banging on a trash can to relay the info to the hitters, telling them what pitch was coming. It is not yet clear how much of this cheating was going on in 2018 and 2019, but it definitely was in 2017, when they won the World Series.

This breaks my heart, since the Astros have been an amazing success story which is quite inspiring. It simply ruins my ability to admire them at all. Jose Altuve used to be my favorite player, as was David Eckstein before him; but now I cannot admire him at all. The video of him grabbing his jersey and pleading with his teammates to not rip it off shows without a doubt in my mind that he had the buzzer system installed underneath his shirt. His teammate's lame excuse that he had an unfinished tattoo which he didn't want exposed doesn't ring true at all. And when asked about this whole mess at the start of spring training, Altuve refused to answer legitimate questions, so much so that the writers backed off and largely left the subject alone.

A lot of the problem here is the inadequate apologies from the Astros management and players. They are looking like fools and cheaters, which is what they are.

Commissioner Rob Manfred also has major egg on his face, in giving the Astros players immunity from punishment. Manfred underestimated how upset opposing players would be about this. Many opposing players, most notably Mike Trout, the game's best player, have spoken out about how there should be punishment for the Astros players who participated in this illegal scheme.

In defending his decision not to take away the Astros' 2017 championship trophy, Manfred put his foot in his mouth by saying the trophy is "just a piece of metal". This has raised a big stink among the players. They point out that this "piece of metal" is what they are all playing for, and a championship means a lot to them. Manfred doesn't seem to understand this, else he would not make such a stupid statement.

The anger of the other teams is so palpable that it is assumed that Astros hitters will be thrown at this year. Manfred will then have to deal with this ongoing crisis, a crisis which he created by his own bungling.