Was it worth it?

Nov. 11, 2017. The World Series between Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros is all tied up at three games to three. By the end of that night, the Astros would win and become World Series Champions. Today in 2020, they have earned the new title of World Series Cheaters.

The big news in the baseball world came on Monday night as the Houston Astros have officially been punished for sign-stealing during the 2017 season. It has been found that Astros were using cameras and TV monitors to watch the opposing the catcher give signs to his pitcher.

This practice of nodding and finger-wagging has been in baseball for most of the sport’s history. While it is perfectly okay to closely watch and attempt to figure out the signs with the naked eye, the use of electronics to do so is against the rules.

Sometime before the 2017 World Series, the Astros had some cameras and monitors installed in their stadium, Minute Maid Park. It has since been confirmed that they used this system in all three games of the 2017 World Series that took place there, as well as in regular-season games prior.

Many people are pointing to this to explain how the Astros hitters were able to shut down the stacked Dodgers pitchers. Yu Darvish, Clayton Kershaw and Brandon Marrow all had astounding seasons and it didn’t seem like they could be stopped. Then out of nowhere, on a night where Kershaw and Marrow where pitching, the Astros scored 10 runs.

At the time, most attested this to overuse of the pitching trio, but maybe there’s a new explanation for what happened. The details of the cheating plot explained that the Astros dugout would see the Dodgers signs on their TV monitor and then bang a trash can based on what the pitch would be.

This means that most Astro hitter knew what pitch was coming before the pitcher was able to wind up.

The MLB has now handed out punishments to the team and those specifically involved. Both the Astros general manager, Jeff Luhnow, and manager A.J. Hinch, have been suspended for one year. Shortly after they were suspended, they were both fired by Astro’s owner Jim Crane. The organization as a whole was fined $5 million dollars and has been deprived of first and second round draft picks for the next two seasons.

While this heavy punishment is seen as a good move by many, it still doesn’t help one group. The 2017 World Series runner up LA Dodgers. The Dodgers were robbed from a chance at a World Series title, a team that has not won it since 1988.

The Astro’s will not be stripped of their title. However, their title may have a permanent stain on it from now moving forward.

One other group hurting after this incident is the fans and people of Houston. The 2017 World Series win was more than just a game. 2017 was the same year as the destruction delivered by Hurricane Harvey. The Astros had dedicated themselves to bringing some hope to the city as many were looking through destroyed homes and neighborhoods.

This news will sadly have to bring an undeserving sour taste to the nation’s fourth-biggest city. So the question I am sure everyone has for the Astros…was it worth it?