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At the bottom of the ninth inning, Jose Altuve stepped up to the plate. The game was tied 4-4 in the ALCS Championship. Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman delivered his pitch to send the game to extra innings. Altuve sent the baseball over the fence, and Houston Astros advanced to the 2019 World Series.
The Astros went on to lose the World Series to the Nationals 4-3. Following the season, reports came out that the Astros had been using electronic sign-stealing mechanisms. Batters, therefore, knew the pitches being thrown to them. The New York Yankees were one of the main teams affected by the scandal after their ALCS series loss off a walk-off home run. People raised suspicion after the All-Star second baseman Altuve did not let Astros teammates rip off his jersey following the walk-off home run.
Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve apologize on behalf of the Astros for the sign-stealing scandal:
"We have learned from this, and we hope to regain the trust of baseball fans" pic.twitter.com/5cwjyHE1Q2
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 13, 2020
Reports accused the former Yankee outfielder Carols Beltran of being the main player running Houston’s cheating scandal. Beltran played for the Yankees in 2014 and 2015 before being traded to the Rangers. The Astros later signed Beltran for the 2017 World Series season, where he implemented the electronic sign-stealing methods.
Yankees Reflect on the Scandal
Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke out about the situation regarding the Astros. He comments on how Yankees will be affected in the future. Boone still considers former Astros manager A.J. Hinch and Carlos Beltran friends to him but questions if he will ever get clarity from the cheating.
Boone also believes that the Yankees players have a right to be angry about the cheating scandal, but the Yankees organization needs to move on and only worry about the future.
Boone and the Yankee team are in a great position moving forward after having an impressive 103-59 record in the 2019 season. The Yankees signed All-Star pitcher Garret Cole to add to star power already including Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge.
The New York Yankees have an extremely bright future. Boone thinks the Yankees can not let anger distract them from what they can accomplish in the 2020 season.
