Houston Astros: Ranking them among other cheaters in MLB history
The aftermath of the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal is sweeping the baseball world. Now that the Astros were found guilty of cheating, where does this scandal rank among others in MLB history?
After a two-month investigation, the Houston Astros were found guilty of illegally using ballpark cameras to steal signs during their 2017 championship season. This led commissioner Robert Manfred to slap the Astros with a $5 million dollar fine and the forfeiture of their 2020 and 2021 first and second-round draft picks.
In addition, GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were hit with one-year-long suspensions from the MLB, which prompted Astros owner Jim Crane to fire them almost immediately after they received their punishments.
While no players will be disciplined for their involvement, this scandal will cause a ripple effect throughout the rest of the league. Ex-Red Sox manager Alex Cora is expected to be harshly punished for his involvement during his tenure as the Astros’ bench coach, which was reportedly very significant. The Red Sox are currently under investigation for an alleged sign-stealing scandal of their own during their 2018 championship season and have already fired Cora. It is also possible that Carlos Beltrán could face discipline, especially after he was dismissed of his duty as the Mets’ skipper before managing a single game in Queens.
As the baseball world waits for the rest of the details to unfold, it is undeniable that this is already one of the most significant cheating scandals in MLB history. The MLB has dealt with a fair share of scandals in their history, so where does this one rank? Let’s take a look at some of the others.
Keep in mind, this list only includes scandals that had a direct impact on performance on the field. Thus, scandals such as the Pittsburgh drug trails and the 1994-95 strike will be excluded.
Honorable mention: Chris Correa hacking scandal
Up-and-coming Cardinals analyst Chris Correa got sentenced to 46 months in prison for illegally hacking into a protected Houston Astros computer to gain a competitive scouting edge in 2017. However, he only earns an honorable mention because he was working as a rogue employee who was not even fully aware that what he was doing was illegal. Mark this one down as a very costly brain fart.
Ranking Houston Astros vs Other Cheater in MLB history
Pete Rose gambling scandal
Pete Rose is one of the best players of all-time. He was a 17-time all-star for the Cincinnati Reds who holds the major league record in hits with 4,256. His record has remained untouched, with no one even coming close to his mark. Additionally, he won three World Series, three batting titles, the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year award, the 1973 NL MVP, and two gold gloves as an outfielder.
However, he is also one of the most infamous figures in sports history. After playing 5 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos from 1979-84, Rose rejoined the Reds following a midseason trade. From there, he served as player-manager until 1986, where he retired from playing but remained the manager until 1989. In 1989, Rose’s actions would taint his legacy forever.
After speculation that Pete Rose had been betting on baseball during his time as the Reds’ manager, Commissioner Bart Giamatti called on lawyer John Dowd to investigate the matter. Dowd submitted a 225-page report in June 1989 detailing Rose’s exploits, including interviews with many of his associates and his day-to-day account of his betting habits. According to the report, Rose betted on 52 Reds games in 1987, among other allegations.
Giamatti and Rose mutually agreed to place Rose on baseball’s ineligible list permanently. The ban still stands today, despite numerous efforts by Rose to seek reinstatement. As a result, his performance on the field has not been recognized with enshrinement in the baseball hall of fame.
An open letter to the MLB commissioner's office. light. Related Story
Still to this day, it is unclear whether Rose ever bet against the Reds, which could imply an intentional effort to fix games. The Dowd Report was unable to conclude that he ever did so. Rose also maintains that he never bet on baseball during his time as a player, but an independent ESPN investigation in 2015 concluded that he did so when he was still a player-manager. Because there is so much uncertainty surrounding Rose’s gambling habits, he remains low on the list, but it is still quite evident that his betting habits could have caused him to alter games either as a manager or player.
Ranking Houston Astros vs Other Cheater in MLB history
The Mitchell Report
You can’t have a discussion about cheating in the MLB without mentioning the lengthy list of performance-enhancing drug-based scandals. The best place to start is the Mitchell Report, as it largely served the purpose of amending the MLB’s performance-enhancing drug use protocol.
On March 30th, 2006, former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig appointed former US Senator George Mitchell to openly investigate the use of performance-enhancing drugs around the league. In years prior, more and more allegations were coming out about some of the league’s top players using illegal substances including steroids to gain a competitive edge on the field. The book Game of Shadows about Barry Bonds and the BALCO scandal, which we’ll get to later, was the straw that broke the camels back. Thus, Selig took the initiative to get to the bottom of this crisis.
More from Houston Astros
- Julio Rodriguez doing it all for Mariners, including playing peacemaker against Astros
- MLB Trade Deadline: AL West roundup with Rangers, Angels, Astros wishlist, A’s and Mariners for sale
- Grading Dana Brown and the Houston Astros front office at the season’s midway point
- Houston Astros: Houston, we have a Martin Maldonado problem
- Stock Up, Stock Down: Red Sox, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Astros
The investigation concluded after 20 months and was published and released in December of 2007. The findings implicated 89 major league players that allegedly used some form of performance-enhancing drugs. Many high-profile players were included in the report, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, Andy Pettite, and Eric Gagne, just to name a few.
Some of the accused have since admitted their guilt, such as Jason Giambi and Gagne, while others still vehemently deny their use of performance-enhancing drugs, most famously Clemens and Bonds. Regardless, the aftermath of the Mitchell Report caused significant changes in MLB’s performance-enhancing drug use policy. Every player is now subject to two unannounced drug tests each season, and they now test for a much wider array of drugs. Additionally, the punishment for positive drug tests is much harsher. Now, a first-time violator receives an automatic 80 game suspension, a full season for a repeat offense, and a lifetime ban for a third. Jenrry Mejía is the only player to receive a permanent suspension under the new rules, although he was reinstated in 2018 by Commissioner Manfred.
This scandal has changed the game for the better, and while it exposed a large number of players, none were directly suspended in the aftermath of the report. For this reason, it ranks lower than the other performance-enhancing drug-related scandals on this list.
Ranking Houston Astros vs Other Cheater in MLB history
Biogenesis Scandal
Following in the wake of the Mitchell Report, a brand-new performance-enhancing drug scandal was on the horizon. However, this time, the MLB was well-equipped to lay down the hammer at all the parties involved. Thus, the Biogenesis Scandal goes down as one of the most extreme of all-time in terms of the punishments that followed
In 2013, a former employee of Biogenesis of America, a “rejuvenation” clinic revealed that the firm was involved in illegally selling performance-enhancing drugs, most namely human growth hormones. The firm was founded by Anthony Bosch in Coral Gables, Florida, and was described as a “weight-loss” clinic, but after closing in December of 2012, their true business was revealed to the public.
After three players tested positive for PEDs in 2012, Melky Cabrera, Yasmani Grandal, and Bartolo Colon, they were linked to the clinic in a story published by the Miami New Times. Thus, an investigation was opened, and the MLB sued Bosch and his associates for their distribution of banned substances to MLB players. During the investigation, it was found that a representative of Alex Rodriguez had purchased his medical records in an attempt to suppress the evidence of his involvement in the scandal.
A-Rod subsequently became the figurehead of the scandal, receiving widespread criticism for his unwillingness to confess and take responsibility for his actions. It had long been speculated that A-Rod was a frequent user of PEDs, but this was the scandal that buried his legacy forever. He was given a year-long suspension, which was the longest for any player involved in the scandal. He eventually admitted to his use but was never able to turn his legacy around for the remainder of his career.
Others who received suspensions were Ryan Braun, Nelson Cruz, Colón, Grandal, and Cabrera, among many others. The Mitchell Report paved the way for these 13 suspensions to be handed out, and as a result, it was the most suspensions handed out simultaneously in MLB history. While it had plenty of suspensions, it still was not the biggest performance-enhancing scandal in MLB history. That belongs to the next one on our list.
Ranking Houston Astros vs Other Cheater in MLB history
BALCO Scandal
The BALCO scandal was perhaps the biggest cheating scandal in sports history, mainly because it spread across so many sports and involved so many high-profile athletes, included the outright home run king, Barry Bonds. The Bay-Area Laboratory Co-Operative was found guilty of providing athletes with anabolic steroids following a 2002 federal investigation.
While the lab’s distribution of illegal substances can be traced back to the 1980s, it was not until Jason Giambi came forward in a testimony in December of 2004 that this scandal took the national spotlight in relation to baseball. He pointed out that he became involved with Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson, who provided him and his brother Jeremy Giambi with the substances. Gary Sheffield was also among the MLB players who testified before a grand jury.
Thus, Barry Bonds became the enemy of the MLB. He vehemently denied any involvement in order to retain his legacy as the best player of all-time, but his obvious change in appearance following his alleged use of steroids led to him behind declared guilty by the media. However, since he never tested positive, he avoided any discipline from the MLB. However, what makes this scandal much deeper than both the Biogenesis and Mitchell Report scandals is the legal implications that resulted.
In the same testimony as Giambi and Sheffield, Bonds testified that he used steroids provided by Anderson, but he was unaware of what they were. However, the 2006 book Game of Shadows publicly exposed Bonds for his extensive use of steroids and prompted the media to believe Bonds lied under oath. Thus, in 2007, Bonds was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice. Bonds is found guilty of obstruction of justice, but avoids a heavy punishment for his actions. However, Bonds’ reputation was tarnished forever, and all of his records now carry an asterisk and likely will exclude him from hall of fame enshrinement.
BALCO’s founder Victor Conte, and Bonds’ trainer Greg Anderson were the two central figures that both received jail time for their involvement in the scandal. They received charges of money laundering, fraud, and possession of with the intent to distribute banned substances. Anderson also received discipline for refusing to testify against Bonds during his trial in 2011. Thus, because of the legal implications of this scandal, how it involved the best player of all time, and how it impacted future investigations, it is the worst performance-enhancing drug-related cheating scandal in MLB history.
Ranking Houston Astros vs Other Cheater in MLB history
Black Sox Scandal
While each scandal from Pete Rose to BALCO had a significant impact on the course of MLB history, nothing was infamously worse than the Black Sox scandal of 1919.
Before Game 1 of the 1919 World Series, multiple White Sox players met in Chick Gandil‘s hotel room to discuss their plan to fix the World Series. Players like pitchers Left Williams and Eddie Cicotte had major roles in the on-field fixing of the World Series, while others like Fred McMullin heard about the scandal and threatened to report them if he did not receive payment.
Thus, rumors started circulated before Game 1, and many people started throwing bets down on their opponent, the Cincinnati Reds. Once the game started, it became clear that they were making an effort to throw the game. Cicotte hit the Reds’ leadoff hitter with the second pitch of the game, signaling his willingness to go through with the fix.
Eventually, the White Sox were accused of fixing the World Series, and Cicotte admitted to his involvement before a grand jury in 1920. After that, the dominoes began to fall. After the trail in 1921, the MLB appointed its first Commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who subsequently banned all eight players involved in the scandal for life. Among the “Eight Men Out” was “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who’s involvement was controversial due to his excellent play during the World Series.
This scandal is much worse than any performance-enhancing drug scandal because it directly affected the results of the World Series. It was, in fact, a concerted effort by a team to alter the results of the biggest sporting even in America at that time. Furthermore, it is worse than Pete Rose’s because multiple actors were proven to directly bet against their own team, thus affecting their play for personal financial gain. It is likely we will never see another scandal like this ever again, and it has cemented its place in baseball lore forever.
Biggest Cheating Scandals in MLB History
The Final Verdict on the Houston Astros
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
So, after ranking the top 5 cheating scandals in MLB history, where does the Houston Astros scandal stand? It is difficult to say, especially because this scandal is inherently unique in its nature. Never before has the MLB dealt with a scandal involving the illegal use of technology to gain an on-field advantage. However, when looking at similar scandals across the other major sports, most namely the Patriots’ filming scandals, the punishments following have been relatively weak.
Commissioner Robert Manfred is receiving widespread criticism for his rather soft punishment on the Astros. Luhnow and Hinch’s suspensions seem light, as they will likely receive jobs after their mandatory year off. A $5 million fine seems like a lot, but it is not that costly in the grand scheme of things. The loss of draft picks could be costly as well, but there is no guarantee that any of the players they will miss out on will have a real impact on their future.
What will truly determine where this scandal stands is how Manfred decides to punish Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran. Cora and Beltran have been identified as the masterminds behind the sign-stealing scandal, and the fact that the scandal followed Cora to the Red Sox could result in a lifetime ban. Beltran was fired by the Mets before even managing a game, but it’ll be interesting to see how he is disciplined since he was a player at the time.
There are also new rumors coming out about players where electronic devices to tip them off about which pitch is coming. 2017 MVP Jose Altuve has been in the center of these new allegations as a photo has surfaced which seems to suggest evidence of a device under his jersey.
Next. Braves add royalty to rotation mix. dark
Thus, this scandal is far from over. However, it already ranks among the worst scandals in MLB history. Since it directly involves a concerted, team effort to cheat, I would put it above any PED-related scandal. Just the Black Sox scandal, it is likely that this scandal had a direct impact on the on-the-field results of the World Series two years in a row with both the Houston Astros and the Red Sox. Thus, at the end of the day, if Manfred lays the hammer down on Cora and Beltran, it could rank just behind the Black Sox scandal.