Astros are accused of stealing signs. Did they do it against the Royals? You decide.
The 2017 season is one the Houston Astros and their fans will long cherish because it ended with a World Series championship.
But the Astros are now facing scrutiny because former Houston pitcher Mike Fiers accused the team of stealing signs during that season. According to a story in the Athletic, Fiers and three unidentified people with the team say the Astros signaled to their batters after seeing the opposing catcher’s sign via a camera in center field.
That signal, which told the Astros’ hitter an off-speed pitch was coming, was in the form of someone banging a trash can in the Astros’ dugout, the Athletic reported.
In a statement, the Astros said would start an investigation, in cooperation with Major League Baseball, to determine if the claim is true.
A Twitter user named Jomboy used clips of Astros games to show how the system allegedly worked.
The Star viewed Royals’ games in Houston from the 2017 and 2018 seasons in which loud sounds could be heard before a pitch is delivered. Is this proof of the Astros cheating? A coincidence? Or a wild conspiracy theory? You decide.
This is from the 2018 season, via BaseballSavant.com (make sure the volume is turned up):
Better audio quality of that double can be heard here.
This is from 2017, via BaseballSavant.com:
After this story posted, the Athletic reported that Carlos Beltran (and Red Sox manager Alex Cora) are likely to be part of the MLB investigation.
Beltran, who is now the Mets manager, told the New York Post that the Astros did steal signs in 2017, but without the aid of a camera.
This next video is also from the 2017 season and is a YouTube video set to play just before banging sounds can be heard (if the video doesn’t play, this is the link):
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 1:59 PM.
