Editorials

2017 Dodgers Woes Return Amidst Astros Cheating Allegations

Leave it to the Houston Astros to pull me out of my 2019 baseball season slumber. It’s been over a month since my last editorial. Over a month since I watched ANY baseball. Over a month since the Dodgers were defeated by a Nationals team that I felt was very beatable. With that loss, came a paralyzing bout with writer’s block. No headline inspired anything in me to get past that block, until now anyway.

News broke yesterday of the Houston Astros using technology to steal and relay signs during their 2017 World Series winning postseason. A postseason that ended in the Dodgers falling one victory short of winning their first World Series in 29 years. I have no shame in saying, being that close and losing, caused me to shed a tear… or 20. The subsequent two seasons have ended in disappointment as well and perhaps this year stung even more than 2017 because this Dodgers team seemed even better than that team.

Following the Dodgers earlier-than-expected departure from the 2019 postseason, the Nationals went on to win the World Series against none other than the Houston Astros. Many Dodgers fans began rooting for the Nationals because of their disdain for the Astros. While I stopped watching all baseball after the Dodgers lost, I did not want the Nationals to win. I did not want them to do what the Dodgers could’ve and should’ve done. 

Well, the Nationals won and stopped the Astros from being able to “#TakeItBack”. This to me, was the Dodgers job this season and so it frustrates me that they were removed from contention in the NLDS. Regardless, in light of the news of the 2017 Astros cheating scandal it is likely the Astros were STILL cheating and the Nationals were able to overcome that. Yes, I’m angry all over again, but really, I digress.

The Houston Astros have come out to state they are opening an investigation… of themselves.

Yeah, ok. Those findings will be accurate.

Major League Baseball has made the following statement:

“Beginning in the 2017 season, numerous Clubs expressed general concerns that other Clubs were stealing their signs. As a result of those concerns, and after receiving extensive input from the General Managers, we issued a revised policy on sign stealing prior to the 2019 season. We also put in place detailed protocols and procedures to provide comfort to Clubs that other Clubs were not using video during the game to decode and steal signs. After we review this new information, we will determine any necessary next steps.”

So what does this really mean? Nothing. Major League Baseball has a track record of not really doing anything to dissuade cheating. Sure Ryan Braun served a suspension, but he kept his 2011 MVP award, Barry Bonds still holds many asterisk-free records and the Houston Astros will certainly keep their 2017 World Series title. 

As a Dodgers fan, I don’t want a hand-me-down trophy or two years late parade. As a fan of the game, I do want the Astros title removed or at the very least be given an asterisk. Players that benefitted from the cheating should have any awards given for their 2017 performance revoked. 

My point is, until MLB issues real punishments with long-term effects, teams and players will continue to push the envelope of cheating. Either make it all legal or apply REAL punishments on those caught. Look at Pete Rose’s lifetime ban from the Hall of Fame. Have you seen many others follow in his footsteps? No. 

Jason McClure

Technically a Dodgers bandwagon fan. At 5 years old, I decided they were my favorite team after hearing they won the World Series on my mom’s car radio in 1988. My father (technically my stepfather) watered that seed, teaching me the game and introducing me to the beauty of Dodger Stadium. We got to know each other and bonded over games. Even when we couldn’t get along during my teenage years, we could come together over Vin Scully’s voice and a game. Dodger baseball is, and will always be, so much more than just a game.

9 Comments

  1. Kaepernick took a knee, goodbye NFL.
    Le “Han” James kneed the freedom protesters in Hong Kong, goodbye NBA.
    Now, no penalty for cheaters.
    Perhaps I can get into soap operas?

  2. First Kemp gets F’d now we do by cheaters…..so why bother having rules….Braun kept his award and his new signed deal….Houston keeps our trophy…Suspend owner for 1 year with stipulation if it happens again they lose team…GM Suspend year…Mgr and Coaches also gone…fired…..ASS-tros lose top 3 draft choices next 5 years and all players on Payroll with over 3 years exp. Can opt to free agency….Now this should make clubs think twice about cheating…in this manner….

  3. We should boycott all pro sports for having no guts to do the right thing, no decency to stop cheating, for letting the assholes rule.

  4. Cora was on the Astros when the “won” and then managed the Sox. It would be mass suckage if the Dodgers got done wrong two years in a row by the same system. Don’t forget, Cora took the bullpen catcher who allegedly also helped with signs with him to Boston. Now, why do that? Why? The pessimist in me thinks it might have been to continue the cheating system in another park. If the Dodgers were, in fact, victimized twice in successive World Series then something needs to be done to make the Boys in Blue whole. I don’t know what that thing would be, but something has to happen to compensate the Dodgers for the farce of 2017, and if my suspicions are correct, the possible farce of 2018.

    1. At this point, you’re not a pessimist. You are a realist. Like many Dodgers fans, I was bordering on traumatized by the 2017 World Series (because I intuitively knew that we should have won.) So much so that I literally forgot the 2018 “World Series “Champions” Manager was on the Astros the year before. Now its all come back and it feels just as funky. The Astros are not getting what they deserve….they should have been stripped of the championship that they stole from our Dodgers plus more. Right now, I cannot stand the thought of any of those Astros players individually or as a collective. The only consolation I feel about the cheating Astros is that their World Series defeat of our team is now completely invalidated.

  5. If the Astros are proven that they stealing signs using technology, they should be penalized by losing 3 home games to teams in their division and 2 home game to everyone on their schedule. Since the Dodgers were the team victimized in the World Series they should be able to select any player in the Astro organization.

  6. It’s sad when you hear ballplayers say things like, “the game should be played the right way” or “you have to respect the game”…and then this happens.

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