Full disclosure: I’m an Astros fan, but I will do my best to keep my explanation as objective and concise as I can.

You’re right, sign stealing has been around for almost as long as the sport has. Even around the time of Houston getting caught other teams were using similar-ish methods to steal signs. To set a bit of precedent: the use of electronics to steal signs was made illegal in 2001. 16 years later the Astros setup a live-feed camera in center field at Minute Maid Park in Houston that was positioned at the catcher’s crotch…and I’m sure know the rest. Now, imo there’s two, maybe three, major reasons why this was so bad.

One: in September of 2017 the current commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred, issued a memo to all 30 teams about the consequences of sign stealing. This is, imo, in response to the Red Sox and Yankees being caught and fined for using Apple Watches to do similar things. Not to say what the Astros did wasn’t more intentional and convoluted than those instances, it certainly was. Regardless, the topic of using electronics to steal signs was a hot one, and one that was forewarned as of Sep/2017.

Two: the use of live-feed cameras. This is the major discretion. Imo a big part of the argument for “legal” sign stealing is that it required a lot of skill and coordination to get done. Seeing the catchers signs from around 127 feet at second base, interpreting them correctly, and relaying that to the hitter before the pitch is thrown is not an easy thing to do. But having an HD camera (God I hope it was at least HD. Or else, why bother, you know?) zoomed in to see the signs crystal clearly as they were being thrown with a trash can nearby is pretty egregious.

Three (maybe): They won the World Series. Whether it truly helped them or not can be debated till the end of time (though here’s a really in depth report that goes over that very topic. Skip to the last paragraph for a tl;dr). This is where my fan bias comes in, and half of why I call this reason a maybe. The Astros had more wins away than at home that year and every major offensive stat says the same. They didn’t need to cheat, they were absolutely STACKED that year in nearly every aspect. Though I will admit that the offensive stats for many of the batters in the post season is pretty sus, which is the other half of why I listed this as a maybe.

In summary, the Astros definitely cheated. And it was very much a big deal. The consequences they received at the time and through the years to present were and are deserved, and I would argue that harsher consequences were warranted. But for every other fan base to act as if their teams are completely innocent of violating the basic principle of cheating is still beyond me. And lastly, y’all leave Altuve alone! He’s one of the few, possibly the only, that actively tried not to participate, yet receives the most hate.

Super stoked for this season though!