Nobody likes a cheater and those who cheat should have to pay the price.
So when somebody asks me if I could ever root for the Astros again or hold them in a good light, my answer is simply: Which Astros team?
In team sports, every year brings a new team. What the 2017 Astros team did by stealing signs via a center field camera and banging on trash cans was wrong and I believe they should be stripped of their World Series title.
It’s the same reason I believe Barry Bonds is not the regular season home run king. He cheated. I believe Aaron Judge is the true single season home run champ.
I do, however, think we should separate teams that have cheated from teams who haven’t.
Your team cheated one time? Are we saying they’re fraudulent forever?
Listen, if you grew up hating the Houston Astros, I get it. If you’re a division rival like the Rangers or if you just lost to them in the playoffs like the Yankees, go ahead and hate them for that. But not because they once cheated.
So I am not going to blame the 2022 Astros for something the 2017 Astros did.
If we decided every team or organization that cheated was fraudulent for all time, we wouldn’t have anyone to root for.
This team may even still have some of the same players from the scandal team, like Altuve and Verlander. But there hasn’t been a whiff of a problem since and the game has moved on, and so should we.
They got rid of the coaches and pretty much everyone involved. It even had a ripple effect on Carlos Beltran being let go after getting his first manager gig with the Mets.
In fact, it really is amazing to look back and see what the Astros have accomplished over the last half decade even with those departures.
They’ve made it to the ALCS every year for the last six years straight and have appeared in the World Series three times.
It seems the only way they get stopped in the World Series is if a team from the NL East shows up to the yard to play. Their two World Series losses are to the Nationals and the Braves and guess who is coming down the pipeline this year? The Phillies, who also hail from the vaunted NL East.
It should be a hell of a series and the storylines are aplenty, with Bryce Harper trying to complete the prophecy and the Astros trying to cement themselves as true World Series champions without the asterisk.
If you have always hated the Astros, then hate ‘em.
But if you hate the Astros because of the cheating scandal, hate the 2017 team, because it is a new day, a new vibe, and a new roster in Houston.
Jake Crain is co-host of “Crain & Company.” the Daily Wire’s sports show hosted by former athletes and coaches Jake Crain, Blain Crain, and David Cone. Follow him at: @JakeCrain_
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
