The MLB season — and the subsequent shaming of the Astros — has largely been put on hold given the sports stoppage amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But no, the internet hasn’t forgotten about the Astros’ multi-year cheating tactics just yet, and MLB fans are still uncovering instances of the Astros’ suspected cheating — even months after the fact.
It really was right out there in the open.
On Tuesday, the Astros Shame Tour Twitter account shared a video from Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. It pointed to an interaction between Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer and catcher Yan Gomes as they conferred to change signs with Alex Bregman at the plate and second base still empty.
At that point, Nationals radio broadcaster Dave Jageler raised suspicions about possible “shenanigans” and the Astros trying to steal signs.
Wow.
During Game 7, radio guy @DaveJageler notices Scherzer and Gomes suddenly changing signs:
“The Nationals are worried about any sort of shenanigans… relative to the other side trying to steal signs.” pic.twitter.com/5pXIjRTAhc
— 2020 Astros Shame Tour (@AsteriskTour) March 25, 2020
Jageler said:
“And now Gomes is going to use a mound visit here, and Turner’s gonna come in. They’re gonna change their sequence of signs, make sure they’re on the same page. Even with nobody on or a runner at first, the Nationals are worried about any sort of shenanigans relative to the other side trying to steal signs. And that’s not the pitch-tipping that Stephen Strasburg talked about yesterday … the Nationals are worried about someone intercepting their signals. So, they may have switched it up, considering the lack of strikeouts, they may be on to something.”
In the days following MLB’s punishment of the Astros, the Washington Post reported about the “open secret” across baseball about the Astros somehow stealing signs.
The Nationals were told by other teams to look out for it, and that was clearly on Scherzer’s mind in that video. The Nationals went on to win the game (and the series), 6-2.
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