HOUSTON — Aaron Judge isn’t forgetting. The slugger was outspoken in the aftermath of the Astros’ cheating scandal, saying that their 2017 World Series title was meaningless. And Saturday, in the Yankees’ first trip back to Minute Maid Park since MLB confirmed the suspicions that Houston was illegally stealing signs, the usually stoic Judge trolled Astros star Jose Altuve.
After hammering a third-inning home run off Zack Greinke, Judge mocked Altuve as he ran around second and was heading towards third. He held onto the front of his jersey as if holding it together, mimicking the second baseman’s odd action after hitting a series-winning, walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 2019 American League Championship Series.
That weird reaction, which Altuve claimed was because his wife didn’t like it when his teammates ripped off his shirt, led to speculation that the Astros were using buzzers under their jerseys to relay stolen catchers’ signs in real-time. MLB investigated the Altuve accusations and found nothing, according to the book “Cheated,” by former New York Daily News writer Andy Martino.
While MLB said the cheating stopped and was not used in the playoffs, that did not satisfy the Yankees, who lost to the Astros in the 2017 and 2019 ALCS. They believe they were cheated.
“It was tough to watch; and through the whole thing and once it came out, I was pretty mad, pretty upset to know that we were probably cheated out of the possibility of making it to the World Series,” Judge said after the report came out. “As a kid, that’s — forget the individual awards; forget how many games you win, how many homers you hit — it’s about winning the World Series, winning the World Series with your team and fighting to the very end; the blood, sweat and tears you put in the game, to be that last team standing.
“And to hear that you got cheated out of that opportunity, that’s tough to kinda let go.”
And they were very suspicious of Altuve’s behavior after hitting a home run off Aroldis Chapman.
“I don’t know. I can tell you if I hit a homer and I get my team to the World Series, they can rip off my pants, they can rip everything off,” Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez said through interpreter Marlon Abreu in 2020 “If I get my team to the World Series (by) hitting a walk-off home run like that they can take everything off.”
Judge, who was beat out for the AL MVP in 2017 by Altuve, was also among those who believed that the Astros’ World Series title should have been vacated.
“I just don’t think it holds any value,” Judge said back in February 2020 referring not just to the 2017 World Series, but also Jose Altuve’s MVP that season. “You cheated. You didn’t earn it.”