Baseball has been surrounded by numerous scandals throughout its history. Unfortunately, the scandals continue to accumulate and are making the sport difficult to appreciate.
The Astros cheating scandal is not only discouraging, but it is also disappointing. For the majority of my life, the Astros have been a team that has seen little to no success. However, they finally attained deep runs in the playoffs the past few years and had many baseball fans supporting them.
Hurricane Harvey was a major reason for the massive support from the baseball community, and it felt like a fairy tale ending when the Astros found a way to win the championship in 2017. Although, the fairy tale turned into a nightmare eight months ago when it was reported that they had been cheating during the 2017 season.
Furthermore, there has been speculation that they have also been cheating throughout the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Thankfully, the Washington Nationals were able to defeat the Astros during the 2019 World Series and acquired their first Championship in franchise history.
This situation has deservedly turned the Houston Astros into the most hated organization of the MLB. One of the major issues is that the past three MLB seasons have been stolen from other teams in the league.
If the Astros did not cheat, would they have still made it to the World Series? The answer to that question will never be answered, but I would argue that they might not have even passed the Divisional Round without cheating.
Not only did they steal another team’s chance at a World Series, but they also stole awards from other players in the league. One of their star players, Jose Altuve, won the 2017 American League MVP award over Aaron Judge. Judge was having an incredible rookie season with 52 home runs, 114 RBI, and an impressive .422 on-base percentage.
Ultimately, the Astros were fined $5 million and had their first and second-round picks over the next two seasons taken away. However, they were able to retain their 2017 World Series win. By allowing the Astros to keep their World Series, it is sending the message to the rest of the league that cheating is worthwhile.
Baseball is in an awful position from this scandal, and I do not know if the Astros will ever be able to regain their credibility. However, since sports have been gone for so long, this next season is the sport’s best chance to bounce back from the controversy.