Cheaters stole 2 World Series from Dodgers, so give titles to L.A., city leaders say
Should Major League Baseball strip the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox of their World Series titles and award them to the Los Angeles Dodgers?
At least two L.A. City Council members think so in the wake of a cheating scandal centered on the Astros, whose bench coach went on to lead the Red Sox, KABC reports. The Dodgers lost to Houston in the World Series in 2017 and Boston in 2018.
“This is an equity and justice thing,” said Councilman Gil Cedilo, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Who was the best team in 2017? Who was the best team in 2018?” Cedillo asked, according to the publication. “It was the Dodgers. They got beat by teams that were cheating. Do they need to be told that they shouldn’t have a title?”
Cedillo and Councilman Paul Koretz introduced a resolution Wednesday for a City Council vote calling on MLB to award L.A. both World Series titles, KCBS reported.
On Monday, the league issued one-year suspensions to Houston manager A.J Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow. The Astros were also fined $5 million and had four future draft picks taken away.
An investigation found the Astros had used video equipment to steal signs from opposing catchers and relay the information to their players, including banging a trash can with a bat, according to media reports. Luhnow has denied cheating, while Hinch has said he regrets not stopping the practice.
The Astros owner fired both men a few hours after their suspensions.
On Tuesday, the Red Sox parted ways with Alex Cora, who led the team in 2018 after working as a bench coach for the Astros in 2017, USA Today reported.
Cora was a key figure in the Astros scandal, according to the MLB report, which noted: “Cora was involved in developing both the banging scheme and utilizing the replay review room to decode and transmit signs.”
The league is still investigating whether the Red Sox cheated in 2018, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Carlos Beltran, an Astros player in 2017 just hired to manage the New York Mets, also stepped down after being named in the investigation, USA Today reported.
But Koretz says the firings and resignations, along with the fines and loss of draft picks, aren’t enough, KABC reported. He says the Dodgers are owed some recompense, too.
“I think that would be an appropriate payback,” Koretz said. “I think this really besmirches the national pastime and the most historic sport in American history, and there has to be a message that this isn’t allowed.”
The full City Council is expected to vote on the resolution Jan. 22, KCBS reported. The last World Series win for the Dodgers came in 1988.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 11:39 AM.