An interview with Jose Altuve after his huge home run to send the Houston Astros to the World Series last season — coupled with the infielder’s behavior after the homer — have fueled speculation about the Astros illegally using an electronic buzzer to communicate signs.
Altuve hit a monster home run off Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 6 of the ALCS against the Yankees last October. As Altuve approached home plate, he was seen making a conscious effort to keep his jersey closed and getsured to teammates to not rip it off in celebration.
Altuve then was asked by Ken Rosenthal in a post-game interview about not wanting his jersey ripped off. He asked for the question to be repeated — the only time that interview he needed a question repeated — and then said his wife got upset last time it was taken off.
It was almost like he was buying time to come up with an answer.
Altuve also went into a private area to change into his American League champions T-shirt before coming back onto the field.
There has been speculation that some Astros players wore electronic buzzers, possibly under their jerseys, through which they could be signaled which pitch was coming.
Altuve’s agent Scott Boras addressed the electronic buzzer speculation.
There were also questions online whether Josh Reddick had something like that on his body in this photo, though some believe it was confetti.
Many teams and players around baseball that lost to Houston are upset. Former Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia has said he felt “cheated" Former Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer has long insinuated the Astros were up to no good.
And on Thursday, Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger lashed out at the Astros via Twitter.
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