Charlie Morton: Astros' World Series 'negatively affected' by cheating

Current Houston Astros are still not reflecting on their role in the team’s 2017 cheating scandal, but members of that team who have moved on to other organizations are proving a bit more open.

Charlie Morton, who closed out the 2017 World Series but is now with the Tampa Bay Rays, admitted that the championship may be tainted by the scandal.

“I think the perception of that World Series was negatively affected, at minimum,” Morton said, via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Morton admitted he knew about the cheating, but he suggested that came from simply hearing the trash-can banging as opposed to actively discussing it. Like most involved who have spoken publicly, he also said he wished he’d done more to stop it.

“I was aware of the banging. You could hear the banging. Being in the dugout you could hear it. I don’t know when it dawned on me, but you knew it was going on,” Morton said.

This is a bit more contrite than one of Morton’s ex-teammates, but some of this is likely to be the regular script for ex-Astros. Everyone will say they wished they had done more to stop it, but ultimately, no one did. The players will have to live with the consequences of that, and the fact that, for most, the championship will never be looked at the same way.