If a batter knows what pitch to expect and where it will be located, the batter will hit the ball more times than not. Stealing signs meant for the pitcher should be recognized as illegal in major league baseball, but Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has not done anything and said he will not do anything to punish the Houston Astros, who were found to have cheated this way in 2017. The decision that the league has made to not enforce any punishments on the Houston Astros is laughable. The MLB is quite literally saying that it is OK to cheat, which no other league would say. Not the NBA, NHL or NFL.
There have been instances in other sports where teams or athletes who have been caught cheating have been punished. For example, in 1988 Ben Johnson won a gold medal in the 100-metre race and was later stripped of it because he was caught using performance-enhancing drugs. So why should baseball handle the situation any differently? Cheating is cheating, whether that be performance-enhancing drugs, or using cameras to gain a competitive advantage.
The Houston Astros should have their World Series victory taken away, and should have to issue a sincere apology to their fans and MLB fans everywhere. Baseball is a sport that is based on tradition and the Houston Astros completely forgot about the game of baseball and how it is supposed to be played, as did MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
Jaron Rashed,
UPEI student
