“Somebody’s pounding on that trash can, I think the Astros must be in town” - NFL announcer roasts the Houston Astros during TNF game
A few years ago, every MLB fan was livid when they found out that the Houston Astros, who won the 2017 World Series, used cameras and trash cans to signal the Astros hitters what was coming. This resulted in a huge uproar from all of the baseball fraternity, and to this date, the Astros are booed at every ballpark they go to.
Recently, Al Michaels recalled that scandal during the Thursday Night Football broadcast. During the first half of the play between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns, there was a loud banging drum when analyst Kirk Herbstreit was calling a play. This resulted in Michaels calling out the Astros with an unexpected shade:
“Somebody is pounding on that trash can — the Astros must be in town,” the commentator said.
Another look back at the incident prompted many to go back again and talk about what happened.
Aftermath of the Houston Astros cheating scandal
After the incident came to light, penalties were handed out by the league. In the wake of the incident, the Astros fired manager AJ Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow in January 2020 after the league fined the team $5 million and took back several draft picks.
However, the league didn't punish any of the players and also didn't strip them of their 2017 World Series win. Moreover, Alex Cora – who was at the helm during their 2017 title run – was also fired from his position.
However, players from all over the league didn't mince their words when the players involved got away without any punishments. Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger blasted the league for their soft punishments:
“I was pretty mad, pretty upset,” Aaron Judge said. “To hear that you got cheated out of that opportunity, that’s tough to kind of let go. I was sick to my stomach."
“I think what people don’t realize is Altuve stole an M.V.P. from Judge in ’17,” Bellinger said. “Everyone knows they stole the ring from us.”
Many fans in the baseball fraternity are still unhappy with the way the Astros cheated their way in to win the coveted title.