Nearly three years ago, the Yankees and Astros were at each other’s throats. While it is nowhere near the rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, the Yankees took great offense to the Astros’ electronic sign-stealing scandal in 2017. Houston wasted no time responding to these claims, but it’s a discussion that is still revisited today.
The Yankees Haven’t Forgotten About the 2017 World Series
One year after the Chicago Cubs’ Cinderella World Series championship, the 2017 World Series will go down in history as a tarnished one. In recent memory, there hasn’t been any deal as big as the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal that ultimately led to their World Series victory. They still had to work to get it, going seven games with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
One of the most notable games in the series was game 5, a game that took place in Houston. With the Astros trailing 4-0, they were able to put up a four-spot in the fourth inning to tie things up. Los Angeles put up three more in the fifth, which was immediately answered by Houston. At this point, it was 7-7. Houston took a commanding lead in the seventh inning due to another four-spot, but the Dodgers answered with three runs in the ninth to force extra innings. The Astros escaped that game with a victory, 13-12. The game saw 28 combined hits and forced the series to head back to Los Angeles.
A single historic game doesn’t excuse the fact that the Houston Astros were exposed for their cheating ways in 2019. It took a little bit of time, but not too long before the MLB was made aware of the lengths Houston had gone to in order to capture their World Series victory. This is not the first time Houston has been in the light of cheating, as their 1919 World Series was tarnished in the iconic Black Sox scandal.
The Yankees took great offense to Houston’s cheating and continued to mention it year after year. Back in 2022, the Yankees GM stated, “The only thing that stopped us was something that was so illegal and horrific.”
Brian Cashman has been with the New York Yankees since 1986. The Yankees had a 3-2 series lead over Houston in the 2017 ALCS but were outscored 11-1 in the final two games, which were enough to send Houston to the World Series. After outscoring Houston 19-5 at Yankee Stadium in games three through five, Houston took full advantage when they returned to Minute Maid Park.
“The only thing that derailed us was a cheating circumstance that threw us off,” Cashman added. The Astros defended themselves as their owner, Jim Crane, brought light to a Yankees scandal that was kept hidden: “There’s the letter, and you were doing it, too. You were there, dude. What are you talking about?”
The letter Crane is talking about comes from Rob Manfred. Manfred warned Cashman about their actions in 2015-16 as the Yankees were relaying signs to coaches on the bench in certain road stadiums. Ultimately, New York was fined just $100,000 compared to the $5 million fine Houston endured.