The Astros, sign-stealing, and baseball's cheating etiquette

Another chapter in the sport's long tradition of seeing what you can get away with

Baseball cheaters.
(Image credit: Illustrated | AP Photo/File, AP Photo/Chris Park, natasaadzic/iStock)

Baseball is a no-nonsense game. Three strikes and you're out. Don't get caught off base. Even a "home run" is unambiguous; it doesn't matter if you've ever seen a baseball game in your life, you still know what the phrase means.

Just because much of baseball is cut-and-dry, though, does not mean it is also black and white. Clubs and players have long exploited the sport's unwritten rules (and sometimes the written ones, too) for even the tiniest advantage. The evolving scandal over the Houston Astros' electronic sign stealing is just the most recent controversy to result in handwringing about the integrity of the game. What makes the Astros actions unsurprising, if no less reprehensible, is that cheating is as much a part of baseball's identity as getaway days and the seventh-inning stretch. From sign stealing to spitballs to PEDs and pine tar, baseball has long been a game rooted in the question of how much can you get away with.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.