Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw Takes Hilarious Shot at Astros for Cheating
Clayton Kershaw probably didn’t wake up planning to call out the 2017 Houston Astros this week. However, when he was asked him who the best 1-2 hitting duo was, an amusing thought was voiced.
“I’m trying to think of teams that I pitched against,” Kershaw told Jayson Stark of The Athletic. “Like the best teams. I mean, leadoff-wise, (Jose) Altuve and (Alex) Bregman were good (in Houston). But they cheated, so that’s not really the same.”
Needless to say, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman don’t have the talent that Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts have.
The sign-stealing Astros embarrassed Kershaw, arguably the greatest pitcher of the generation, in Game 5 of the 2017 World Series. Houston ran the veteran southpaw off the mound by scoring six runs in the fifth inning.
The Astros would go on to win Game 5 by a final score of 13-12 at Minute Maid Park. History would be tarnished as the Astros would go on to win the Fall Classic in seven games.
After an investigation done by the commissioner’s office, it was revealed that Houston used a trash-can scheme to seal their October fate. It was a nightmare for Kershaw and it’s evident he hasn’t forgotten what could’ve been.
Kershaw likely would’ve been the 2017 World Series Most Valuable Player, but it was ripped away after his performance in Game 5. According to Evan Gattis, the team knew what pitches Kershaw was going to throw in Game 5 at Minute Maid Park.
The Houston lineup didn’t swing and miss at a single breaking ball from Kershaw. In 2019, MLB determined the Astros electronically stole signs throughout the 2017 season, but the damage had already been done to the reputation of Kershaw and the Dodgers.
To make matters worse, no player from the 2017 Houston Astros was ever suspended and the squad kept their championship trophy.
Flash forward to 2024, the Dodgers are one game away from the World Series. It’s so close fans can practically taste it.
The Dodgers play their final game at Citi Field Friday with Jack Flaherty on the mound. The Los Angeles squad has the chance to close out the NLCS in New York Friday night.
Although Kershaw won’t take the mound for the Dodgers at any point in the 2024 postseason, the veteran left-hander will obviously earn a World Series ring if L.A. wins it all.
He also already made it known he’s coming back in 2025.
Read more: Clayton Kershaw Reveals Whether or Not He’ll Test Free Agency in Offseason
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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Manfred totally bungled it. Players should have been suspended and title vacated.
Yall still crying about this?
Sure, people still complain about the White Sox scandal over 100 years later. Pete Rose, the all time hits leader, is banned for life for gambling and the possible cheating implications. The Astr*s cheated at every single home game, regular and post season, so the title should have been vacated. People like you say this isn’t an issue, but then say the 2020 WS title earned by LAD doesn’t count, even though we didn’t cheat and played by the same rules as every other team.
BTW, think it didn’t make a difference? Astr*s scored an average of 5.7 runs per game at home in the 2017 post season and nearly half of that on the road, where they averaged 3.0. Stop being a denialistic DB.
Two of the four wins were in LA
Lmao why did Astros catcher say that they had to switch signs every AB while pitching to the dodgers? Bunch of bullshit, the dodgers weren’t innocent and even got spanked at home. If it was different the MLB wouldn’t have let them keep the title. I love how dodger fans still write articles like this to make themselves feel better about losing. Don’t worry though, looks like you losers finally will win something. Even though it took buying every top free agent out there to do it. Losers.
Yeah we are all still pissed off about that. They cheated and got caught but the commissioner didn’t have the balls to do anything about it.
Every player on that team and us fans all got robbed by those cheaters so we all have every right to be pissed!
Boo hoo. Just have management go get another $500 million player and steal other teams best players. If you’re too stupid to change signs dont know what to tell you.