How Did the Houston Astros Cheat in 2017? Everything to Know About a Dark Moment in MLB History

A decade ago, the Houston Astros were struggling to stay afloat. Parting ways with the National League after 50 years of play, the team was looking forward to an American League move. Hoping that their fortunes would be reversed from regularly ranking near the bottom of divisional standings, the Stros applied every method they could think of to win. But they weren’t all above board.

Jim Crane had obtained club ownership on Nov. 17, 2011. That same year, he brought in Jeff Luhnow, former McKinsey & Company management consultant, as General Manager. In 2014, Crane brought in A.J. Hinch as the manager after the firing of Bo Porter. And there began the story of the rise and decline of one of baseball’s biggest controversies.

The Story Behind the Cheating Scandal That Rocked the 2017 MLB Season

Jeff Luhnow had always been more about the numbers than people. Wanting to take out the humanity factor from baseball, he was almost an outcast in the sport when Jim Crane hired him. But his radical approach had worked in St. Louis, giving them two championships in six years. Why not the Bayou City next?

The Houston Astros had not seen a World Series title yet and hadn’t even made the playoffs since 2005. Apparently desperate for any measures, they resorted to cheating. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that Luhnow didn’t consider his methods to be dishonest.

As it turned out, the Astros had stolen signs throughout the 2017 season and the beginning of 2018. But the hornet’s nest wasn’t broken open until next year, when The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich reported on it. After that, all hell broke loose.

What Is Sign Stealing and How Did the Astros Manage to Do It?

Powers of observation are as strong a skill as pitching or hitting and they’re perfectly legal in baseball. A batter can sometimes figure out from a pitcher’s unconscious movements, or ‘tells’, what kind of ball is coming their way. At any given moment, non-verbal signs are flying around between a dugout and the field as a way for the players to communicate with a manager or coach. But as long as it’s done without extra help, this sign stealing is, in fact, allowed. What Houston did was not.

The Stros installed cameras in center field at Minute Maid Park to record the opposing team’s catcher and pitcher’s signs. Cameras in a ballpark are ideally for challenging calls, but what was one more purpose? The funny thing is, teams have tried to catch on to their rival team’s signs since competitive baseball became a thing. The communication between the catcher and the pitcher can be key to hitting. But the 21st century has an added advantage – technology.

Behind the scenes, players could see a live feed from the camera. Then-bench coach Alex Cora decided to get a screen installed in the dugout. Players or managers would watch the live feed on the television placed in the tunnel leading from the dugout to the clubhouse. The irony lay in the method they used to then really the information to whoever was up to bat on the plate.

Having tried out different methods of shouting and calling, the Astros landed on, of all things, a trash can. Players would bang on them, often using bats, with different rhythms signifying different pitches. Of course, they couldn’t do it at each home game, nor did they try. But whatever sorcery Houston had been practicing that year, it did the trick. It worked like a charm, and the Astros had their first World Series trophy in a long history.

How Did MLB React to It? What Punishment Did It Hand Down?

Not well. No one likes being taken for a fool and what the Astros had done undermined everything the league stood for. Fair play was the holy grail, yet the team had tread on it heartlessly. Fans were livid, although they didn’t get to let out their frustration until 2021.

MLB, for its part, tried to curb the situation as best as it could. In two months, the league investigated “68 people, including 23 Astros players, and collect more than 76,000 emails,” according to The Athletic. Luhnow’s phone showed signs of deleted information. Jan. 13, 2020, was when MLB suspended the disgraced GM and the skipper for the 2020 season. Only for Jim Crane to fire both a few hours later. But for many, the solution was severely lacking.

Why Were the Astros Allowed to Keep Their World Series Trophy?

In the words of MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred, “Once you go down that road of changing what happens on the field, I just don’t know how you decide where you stop.” While many thought taking away the World Series win, essentially nullifying 2017, was the best way to move forward, MLB thought otherwise. The Coomissioner’s Trophy was still legitimate in the eyes of, well, the Commissioner.

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By the time the controversy was uncovered, the Astros were well into establishing a streak of successful years. Manfred called the process of stripping the Fall Classic title “difficult and impractical.” Already unpopular among the masses, he made things worse for himself when he called the trophy a “piece of metal.” Although he apologized later, the team kept the championship victory.

Why Were the Players Not Penalized?

It was an arduous process, investigating an entire organization. While the players were undoubtedly the ones who had put the tactics into play, the Astros staff suffered the heaviest consequences. The ballplayers were instead granted full immunity in exchange for cooperating with the investigation. Indeed, who would refuse such an offer?

Of course, not everyone had been comfortable with what the Astros were doing behind the scenes, like Mike Fiers. Of that original team, four are still in Houston – Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Lance McCullers Jr., and Justin Verlander. What makes fans ponder their extreme methods is how genuinely skilled each is. Yet they participated, willingly or unwillingly, in the biggest baseball scandal in recent years.

Is the Inquiry Still On?

After the Jan. 13, 2020 declaration, not much came from Manfred. Other than suspending the front office, MLB fined the Astros $5 million, the maximum amount, and made them forfeit first and second-round draft picks. For better or for worse, the inquiry is over.

How Did the MLB World See This Entire Case?

Needless to say, cheating is never taken in a positive light. Players once accused of using PEDs face the consequences long after they have been retired. It’s only been six years since 2017, and the league is still angry. Back then, social media was a landmine that the Astros probably stayed away from. It was the trash cans that did them in – the irony was too brilliant, or hilarious if one looks at it another way, to ignore.

Boos and jabs at away games were the least of it. When the Astros went to play against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team they had defeated in the 2017 World Series, fans retaliated by throwing inflatable trash cans onto the field. Others brought tin trash can caps to bang on when the Astros played against their teams. The phrase “Take the trash out” took a life of its own.

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But it wasn’t just baseball fans who were furious, other sports also considered it a tragedy. Fair play is taken seriously; no one likes being cheated out of an award. Even NBA star LeBron James spoke out in criticism against Houston.

Has MLB Taken Any Action to Stop It From Happening Again?

Before the details of the scandal came out, MLB had handed out warnings here and there against sign stealing. After this fiasco, new restrictions in 2020 prevented the video replay from including the catcher’s signs. In 2022, PitchCom devices also debuted. They allow a pitcher to communicate with the catcher without signs and a few other players on the field can also wear it. But will these tactics help?

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2017 is still fresh in most fans’ minds. The Astros are now in their seventh straight postseason and may make a repeat trip to the Fall Classic. However, the stain of their past mistakes will likely always haunt them.