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The 2017 Houston Astros might have had one of the best rosters top to bottom this decade has ever seen. When they were crowned World Champions, it seemed almost fitting due to their level of talent. Yet, two years later, reports have come out claiming the dominant team might have evaded the real competition and found their own deceptive way of winning. 

Claims have been made accusing the Astros of using a video camera near center field to steal the opposing team’s pitching signs and that they used this tactic all the way through the playoffs. The belief is that it boosted them to the championship. While no punishment has been given out yet, this speculation goes deeper with evidence to back it up. 

The claims stem from the American League Championship Series between the Astros and the New York Yankees. The stacked Astros had home field advantage throughout the playoffs and the filming was clearly used to their advantage. The claims have come from the fact that they won every game they played at home but the games were all close. Every game away in New York was a blowout win for the Yankees, where they were unable to use their tactic of cheating. 

The punishments vary but with a claim like this, it could follow the organization for years like “Deflategate” with the Patriots. 

CBSsports.com says  the Astros staff would watch a feed in the hallway between the clubhouse and dugout and hit a garbage can to let the team know what pitch was coming next. This is a clear violation of the league’s policy. 

There has been no confirmation from the club on if these claims are true but clear evidence is starting to come out and investigations are opening up. Suspensions and or firings could potentially affect the organization. 

NHS teacher Danny Kambur talked about the scandal and what punishments should be given out.

 “Cheating is as old as baseball, and in fact honestly is one of the only sports where cheating is not necessarily permitted but kind of tolerated,” said Kambur. “If it’s during the World Series, on the biggest stage, then they probably deserve some kind of punishment but only because they got caught. They will probably be punished with loss of a low draft pick and maybe a fine.”

Baseball has been a classic timeless game throughout generations and has the rightful name of “America’s pastime”. However, a tech advantage for one team ruins the camaraderie and sportsmanship. Stealing signs can be extremely beneficial to another team’s chance of winning and lets the batter know what pitch the other team is going to throw at them. It’s almost insulting to the game and fans that a team can take such a coveted championship and have it given to them by the hand of cheating. 

Punishments for this act have not been given out to the organization but firings could be the result as it is unlikely that their whole championship could be stripped away from them. Many people linked to this 2017 team are being interviewed in hopes of finding out more information linking to this scandal.