With pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training camps this week, much of the conversation will be about the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal that rocked baseball this offseason.
The Astros were accused — and subsequently punished — of stealing signs since 2017 with an outfield camera and having a team staffer relay signals to the hitters by beating up a trash can. The accusations started there, but as more information came out about the Astros’ sign-stealing tactics, MLB fans couldn’t look past how Astros star Jose Altuve behaved following his walk-off, pennant-clinching home run against the Yankees.
As Altuve approached home plate, he could be seen telling his teammates to not rip off his jersey and visibly protected the jersey for the ensuing celebration. Altuve actually returned to the clubhouse to change into the AL championship T-shirt. All this had fans and players suspicious about the Astros using wearable buzzers to relay signs instead of the trash-can whacking.
Here’s the clip of Altuve screaming at his teammates not to rip his jersey off including audio from the interview with @Ken_Rosenthal. pic.twitter.com/y7Lv76QFpX
— ً (@NYYDJ2) January 14, 2020
While MLB said that it found no evidence of wearable buzzers and Altuve explained the ordeal as being “shy,” Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez had his own commentary on the matter.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday through an interpreter, Sanchez joked that if he had hit a pennant-winning homer, his teammates could rip anything and everything off. Altuve’s concern over his jersey — in that moment — went beyond the realm of normal behavior.
Gary Sánchez on the video of Jose Altuve protecting his jersey after Game 6 of the ALCS: "If I hit a homer and get my team to the World Series, they can rip off my pants. They can rip everything off."
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) February 12, 2020
“They can rip everything off,” Sanchez said.
I mean, he makes a good point. Why would Altuve really be concerned about his jersey in such a high-emotion, exciting moment? It’s a question that fans and players will continue to ask.
But hey, now we know that it’s going to get pretty wild if Sanchez ever hits a pennant-winning home run.
[jwplayer Q7OZRF5I-q2aasYxh]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]