Astros focused on winning World Series, not redemption from scandal
Jose Altuve of the Astros celebrates after defeating the Red Sox 5-0 in ALCS Game 6 to advance to the World Series at Minute Maid Park on Friday in Houston. Credit: Getty Images/Carmen Mandato
HOUSTON — The Astros know how much they’re despised outside of this city.
They know how desperately most fans wanted just about any other team to represent the American League in the 2021 World Series, which starts Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. They know that the Atlanta bandwagon has filled up quickly.
And the Astros couldn’t care less about any of it.
Indeed, ready all of your slings and arrows, your inflatable trash cans, your "cheat-ters! cheat-ters!" chants, and even those chants with a vulgarity or two thrown in (typically the case if the chant involves Jose Altuve).
The Astros have taken it all for the better part of the last two years since news of their elaborate sign-stealing scheme came to light in November 2019. The reaction on the road was particularly hostile in 2021 as crowds were allowed back into the ballparks for the first time since 2019.
"We got it pinned on us, we owned it, we took the penalty and we’re past that now," Astros owner Jim Crane said on the field, according to USA Today, late Friday night after his team beat the Red Sox in six games to win the American League pennant.
Crane’s comments, no doubt, are the equivalent of salt in a wound for a large segment of fans, particularly those who root for the Yankees and Dodgers (the 2017 Astros beat the Yankees in seven games in the ALCS, then took out the Dodgers in seven games in the World Series).
To those fans and others, Crane’s remarks are representative of everything so many have come to dislike about the Astros. The organization, only moderately punished by MLB, never truly seemed to acknowledge the scope of what it did. Many of those apologizing sounded far more sorry that they got caught than about the deed itself.
Though the Astros might quibble with that characterization, they would not with this: In their eyes, the scandal is in the past and, no, they don’t see this World Series as a redemption tour, one that will take the taint away from the 2017 title.
Not that any of the players from what by any objective measure was an uber-talented club believe the championship was tainted. Regardless, that isn’t a narrative the 2021 edition is remotely interested in.
"I don’t think we’re playing here in the World Series because we’re motivated to go out there and prove [to] people that we’re a really good team," Carlos Correa said Monday. "We’re just here because we worked really hard from the moment we showed up to spring training because of the loss last year [in Game 7 of the ALCS to the Rays].
"One win away from the World Series is bittersweet, and we just want to really show the world that we’re the best team out there. In order for us to do that, we’ve got to get four more wins. I don’t think the outside noise motivates us at all."
Correa, Altuve and Alex Bregman are the three highest-profile holdovers from the 2017 team that was found by MLB to have engaged in the extensive sign-stealing venture, including the banging of a trash can to relay what pitch was coming.
"I haven’t thought about that," Altuve said Monday of how this year’s run might alter how the 2017 club is viewed.
Altuve, fairly or not, became the face of the scandal. As a result, he bore the brunt of opposing fan reaction on the road this season (Google "Altuve," "2021" and "Yankee Stadium" to get an idea), even more so than Correa or Bregman.
"We all want to win," he said. "There’s not a single guy that’s thinking about something else but winning, and I think that can be the key to win a World Series."
Bregman said "I’m not worried about narratives" when it comes to this series.
The reality is the Astros are never going to grovel publicly. Period. They’re liked plenty here, and that’s all that matters in their clubhouse.
"It’s been an honor to suit up with my teammates and go compete and try and win baseball games," Bregman said. "To be honest with you, the only thing on my mind is execution. That’s it. That’s what postseason winning baseball is all about is execution. Not any other stuff."
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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