The New York Yankees will play their first World Series game in 15 years on Friday night, when they open the 2024 Fall Classic in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. At least one involved party, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, is doing his part in the run-up to Game 1 to remind people that New York's World Series drought comes with an asterisk stemming from the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal.
"I hate the 15-year thing because it completely forgets and discounts that some other organization cheated us when we were all the way in the end," Cashman said during an appearance on MLB Network's High Heat. "If you knew what was going on, I don't think they would be advancing, I think we would've been advancing.
"I hate that 15-year thing because I don't think it accurately reflects history. But regardless, we're proud to be where we are now."
Cashman's comments can be viewed around the 1:15 mark in the video below.
Cashman was referencing the 2017 American League Championship Series, in which the Yankees lost in seven games to the Astros. Houston won every home game during that set, including a pair of games by a single run. Major League Baseball later discovered that the Astros had been improperly using technology during both regular season and playoff games to steal the opposition's signs. (Stealing signs without technological help is and has always been an accepted part of the game.)
There's no way of knowing how the series would have played out if the Astros weren't skirting the rules. (To wit, the Astros defeated the Yankees in the ALCS in 2019, when MLB found no evidence that Houston was still stealing signs.)
Still, Cashman's gripe is legitimate, and his annoyance has likely been exacerbated by how quickly and fully the industry has moved beyond the scandal. Alex Cora, one of the supposed ringleaders and Houston's bench coach at the time, is back managing the Boston Red Sox; AJ Hinch, Houston's then-manager, was lavished with praise for his leadership with this year's Detroit Tigers without many noting why he was available to hire in the first place; and so on.
You can understand why everyone wanted to move on -- it was a large and ugly blemish on the league that threatened to dent the sport's credibility -- but you can certainly understand why Cashman is tired of hearing about his team's title droughout without introducing some relevant context.
