The New York Yankees will never forget the 2017 American League Championship Series and losing to the Houston Astros in seven ball games. The four losses at Minute Maid Park are a different kind of bitterness given the Astros’ sign stealing scandal that violated Major League Baseball’s rules and helped the ball club win their first World Series title. The Astros are back at Yankee Stadium for the first time since Commissioner Manfred’s January 2020 announcement outlining the findings and punishments from Major League Baseball’s investigation over three seasons. Time has not healed wounds for the Yankees and their angry fans since the Astros had disrespected the sanctity of sportsmanship and fair competition.

Since 2015, the Astros have defeated the Yankees three times in the postseason: once in the American League Wild Card (2015) and twice in the American League Championship Series (2017, 2019). Major League Baseball’s investigation discovered how the integrity of the 2017 American League Championship Series was compromised by the Astros thanks to a sophisticated scheme utilizing technology and a trash can to steal signs. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Astros were outscored 19-5 in their three losses at Yankee Stadium. However, the Astros had won four ball games at Minute Maid Park and outscored the Yankees 15-3. In Games One and Two, the Astros had defeated the Yankees by the slimmest of margins, a 2-1 score in both ball games.

The image of Astros’ second baseman Jose Altuve hitting a two-run home run off reliever Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tied ball game in Game Six to win the 2019 American League pennant still haunts the Yankees as well. Even though the investigation could not find any violations from the 2019 season, Altuve suspiciously grabbed his jersey as he ran towards home plate so his teammates would not tear it off. This sparked rumors of Altuve wearing a wire as a means of cheating and other conspiracy theories.

Hostility towards the Astros by the Yankees and their fans also exists regarding the 2017 American League Most Valuable Player Award. Altuve had easily won the award by receiving 27 out of a possible 30 first place votes (405 overall points) with rookie Aaron Judge finishing a distant second (279 overall points) according to the voting conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Judge led the American League in several offensive categories most notably home runs (52) and Wins Above Replacement (8.0) according to Baseball-Reference.com’s calculation. Altuve’s personal accolades from the 2017 season also include a fifth All-Star selection, fourth Silver Slugger, third American League batting title (.346), and the prestigious Hank Aaron Award.

According to the nine-page decision by Commissioner Manfred, Major League Baseball’s department of investigations interviewed 68 witnesses of which 23 were current and former ball players for the Astros. The investigation painted a very unflattering picture for most of the position ball players who knew what they were doing was wrong and were afraid of getting caught by other ball clubs. However, Commissioner Manfred decided not to punish the ball players even though concerns were raised regarding the ball club’s culture.

Instead, the Astros were assessed with a $5 million fine, forfeited first and second round selections in the 2020 and 2021 Rule 4 drafts, and suspensions for the 2020 season for manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow. Both men were immediately terminated by the Astros. Hinch was hired to manage the Detroit Tigers in October 2020. Brandon Taubman, a former assistant general manager, was suspended and fired as well for inappropriate comments in the Astros’ clubhouse directed towards female reporters.

Former Astros bench coach, Alex Cora, mutually parted ways with the Boston Red Sox as their manager in January 2020. He was rehired by the Red Sox after serving a suspension which ended at the conclusion of the 2020 postseason. Carlos Beltran, a veteran ball player on the Astros during the 2017 season, was mentioned in the decision for discussing ways on how the Astros could decode signs from their opponents and relaying this information to teammates in the batter’s box. After being hired by the New York Mets to manage the ball club in November 2019, both parties agreed in January 2020 that it would be in the best interests of everyone involved if they had parted ways due to the sign stealing scandal.

So, what happened to the Astros’ ball players who cheated their way to a world championship and individual awards? Baseball fans were subjected to weak and insincere apologies from two of the ball club’s so called “leaders,” Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, Altuve signed a seven-year, $163.5 million contract extension in March 2018. The following March, Bregman signed a five-year, $100 million extension. Both benefitted and were handsomely compensated with nine figure, long-term contracts based on highly questionable statistics and performances.

The Astros attempted to insult everyone’s intelligence with claims that sign stealing might or might not have impacted the outcome of ball games over the course of two seasons. Even though this is utter nonsense, the truth of the matter is no one is shedding a tear for the Yankees. However, several ball clubs were adversely affected by the Astros’ devious behavior while compromising the integrity of the game. Major League Baseball’s penalty was appropriate to a certain extent, but they should have taken an unprecedented stand and forced the Astros to vacate their title. Most importantly, ball players who were associated with the sign stealing scandal should have also been held accountable for their actions.

Rest assure the Bronx faithful will warmly welcome the Houston Astros back to Yankee Stadium in a way that is most appropriate for a group of cheaters. Even though the stadium will be operating at 20% capacity for each of the three ball games, the fans in attendance will make it feel as if it is a sellout crowd with raucous boos showering down upon the playing field. Bitterness still lingers for the New York Yankees as they are left constantly asking the question, “what could have been?”