It had been clear that the Astros were doing something to steal signs during the 2017 season. Players were not getting fooled and were on virtually every pitch. While that came to a head during the World Series that year, one had to wonder how long it took other teams to realize that something was amiss.
As it turns out, it took a few innings. Then Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter was the first person to realize the Astros were somehow stealing signs during the first game of the trash can scheme on May 26.
Btw, the very observant Buck Showalter was the first person in baseball to notice that the Astros were cheating in 2017, and he did it the first night they were doing so. pic.twitter.com/uWXNcRvBDr
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) December 22, 2021
Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter knew Astros were up to something
Showalter knew something was going on. The problem was that he could not figure out what the Astros were doing. His usual ways of determining anything untoward had failed him as the coaches were not doing anything suspicious. The Orioles knew that something was happening, but they just did not know what.
Back then, no one would have suspected the trash can. Those signs might be relayed by a runner on second, or by the positioning of a coach, but no one was looking at the players in the dugout. No one at the time would have suspected that RubberMaid would be the Astros’ MVP.
This did not change that there were suspicions. Showalter was hardly the only manager or person on the diamond to suspect that the Astros were doing something. He just happened to be the first, even if he could not prove anything. But those years of being in the game meant something – Showalter just knew something was happening.
The Astros began their sign stealing scheme against the Baltimore Orioles on May 26, 2017. It did not take Buck Showalter long to know something was up.