Stealing signs is nothing new to the world of baseball. Parents, coaches and players steal signs whenever they can. On the contrary, using technology to steal signs is illegal and a bad representation of the baseball community. 

The Houston Astros have been accused of using a camera in center field in Minute Maid Park during the 2017 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and early in the 2018 postseason against the New York Yankees. Major League Baseball(MLB) conducted an investigation in which the Astros were found guilty of this offense. 

On Jan. 13, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred released his findings. The Astros were fined $5 million under the MLB Constitution and lost their first and second-round draft picks for the years 2020 and 2021. Along with this punishment, Manager A.J. Hinch and General Manager Jeff Luhnow received one-year suspensions. Along with Hinch and Luhnow, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was also involved because he was the Astros’ bench coach in 2017. 

Immediately after the findings, both Hinch and Luhnow were fired. Shortly after that, the Red Sox announced that they were parting ways with Cora. The New York Mets then decided that  Carlos Beltran, a former Astros player who was hired in November 2019, would not be the manager for the 2020 season. 

The Dodgers feel cheated. The Astros may have won but they did not play the game of baseball we all know. The Dodgers worked to get to the World Series, they deserved the title. In 2017 they ended the season with a record of 104-58. 2017 was one of their best years. Compared to the Astros, they had a better team and a better chance of winning. When batting averages were compared, Astros’ players had a higher average when they played at home. 

As a Dodger fan, this impacted me as much as it may have impacted players and the whole baseball community. Knowing that the Dodgers lost because the Astros cheated changes the whole world of baseball. It feels as if the whole game has changed and it really has. This isn’t the first time a team has cheated but it’s been the one that has the most impact within the league. Not only was one team affected but so were three others. 

The Los Angeles City Council has asked the MLB to reward the Astros’ and the Red Sox’s titles to the Dodgers. This is not necessary by any means. As Dodger fans and as a community, we want to know that we won a title by playing the game we all love. We don’t want a “fake” title because another team decided to not respect the game we all love. We want a well-deserved title. A title we know our boys won with their talent and their respect and love for the game.