Houston Astros accuse Boston Red Sox of stealing signs, benches clear

No ejections were made as the dust-up quickly dissipated. The Houston Astros however accusing another team of cheating is very ironic, as the Astros were famously embroiled in a cheating scandal relating back to their 2017 World Series win.

“Imagine the Astros being mad about stealing signs,” Red Sox broadcaster and former player Will Middlebrooks said on the broadcast. “But guess what? That’s part of the game when you can see the grip in a glove.”

News of the cheating broke in late 2019, which led to Major League Baseball dropping the hammer on the organization in 2020. The Astros received a $5 million fine and were stripped of their first and second round picks in both the 2020 and 2021 MLB Draft. General manager Jeff Luhnow, manager A.J. Hinch and then Red Sox manager Alex Cora all received season-long suspensions, which led to Luhnow and Hinch’s firings.

Red Sox and Astros are both currently in postseason picture

“It’s a fair question,” Hinch said when asked if the Astros’ 2017 World Series title is tainted due to the cheating. “I think everyone is going to have to draw their own conclusions. I hope over time, and the demonstration of the talent of this team and the players and the careers that are being had — we have some of the best players in the entire sport all together on the same team — I hope over time, it’s proven that it wasn’t.”

Hinch’s firing would eventually lead him to the Detroit Tigers, who he’d lead to the ALDS just four years later in 2024. Just two years after the repercussions were handed down to the Astros, they’d win their second World Series title in franchise history (2022).

The 2025 season has been good to both the Astros and Red Sox so far, as both franchises are currently in the playoff picture. Houston currently sits at 62-49, good for first place in the AL West. Boston, which took the opening game of the weekend series 2-1, sits at 61-51 and are in second place in the AL East. The Red Sox and rival New York Yankees currently hold the two AL Wild Card spots.