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Legendary TV Show Makes Fun Of Astros

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI | By Brad Wakai | Last updated Dec 27, 2023 7:00 PM ET

The baseball world was rocked following Major League Baseball's investigation that dug up the cheating scandal which put the Houston Astros into their crosshairs following the 2019 season.

Owner Jim Crane fired then-manager A.J. Hinch after it was announced he would be suspended for one year following the investigative results.

Dusty Baker was hired in 2020 and the Astros continued to win after the cheating scandal, lifting the World Series trophy in 2022.

But, despite the success that Houston has had post-scandal, there are still factions of fans, players and others around the league that have yet to let things go.

And most recently, they were once again the butt of a joke on the latest episode of "The Simpsons."

"This is the world we live in! Taxpayers hide money from the IRS, dating profiles are nothing but lies, and right now, the Houston Astros are dreaming up ways to cheat that would blow your mind." pic.twitter.com/ySWN45HjUt
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 25, 2023

The University of Springfield Camp, or USC, is an institution that embraces cheating and is led by a character named "Dean Belichick." The plot of the episode revolves around Lisa Simpson getting accepted into USC because her mother, Marge, doctored some photos of her rowing.

Many of the jokes in this episode are references to cheating things that have happened in sports over the years.

University of Michigan football head coach, Jim Harbaugh, had a building named after him called, "Jim Harbaugh Center for Competitive Imbalance." New England Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick, is played by a character who is the dean of this institution.

The Astros are referenced by Belichick's character when explaining to Simpson that they encourage cheating to prepare their students for the way the world actually works.

"Right now, the Houston Astros are dreaming up ways to cheat that would blow your mind," he said before holding up a picture of a baseball player that is also a cyborg robot.

So, as Houston tries to put the entire scandal behind them, it continues to be referenced by people across every facet of entertainment.

This article first appeared on Houston Astros on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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