Los Angeles Dodgers: Did the Astros’ sign stealing cost the World Series?

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost the 2017 World Series in heartbreaking fashion, losing game seven to the Houston Astros 5-1 in Dodger Stadium.

Revelations are now coming out that the 2017 World Series and the Astros success over the Los Angeles Dodgers may not have been entirely due to just skill.

Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic has written an article that states the Astros were stealing team signs and pitches using electronic devices at Minute Maid Park.

Rosenthal’s allegations are corroborated by Mike Fiers, who pitched for the Astros from 2015-17.

https://twitter.com/TheAthleticMLB/status/1194438481356972033?s=20

Revelations of the Astros’ misdeeds sent the collective Dodgers Twitterverse into a fit. The question being, did the Dodgers get robbed of a World Series title due to illegal means?

The case for yes

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost games three and five in Houston. Their two best pitchers in the playoffs struggled mightily against the Astros in Houston. Yu Darvish, who up this point was 2-0 with 14 Ks in 11 innings in the playoffs, could not get past the second inning in game three.

Clayton Kershaw shut down the Astros in game one, going seven innings with one run and 11 Ks. In game five, Kershaw could not get out of the fourth inning despite being given leads of 4-0 and 7-4.

The Astros ability to solve the Dodgers’ best pitchers was due to cheating and not a superior roster.

The case for no

The Dodgers didn’t lose the World Series because the Astros were cheating, the Dodgers’ loss was due to their own faults.

The Dodgers should have won game two when they had a 3-1 lead and a runner on third with one out in the bottom of the 7th. Instead, the runner was stranded and the Astros came back to tie and then win the game in extra innings.

The Dodgers also lost game seven at home with Darvish on the mound, those are two games the Astros system could not help them and yet they won.

Somewhere in the middle

The Dodgers pitching was much better at home than on the road during the World Series. However, Dodger Stadium is considered more of a pitchers park than Minute Maid Park.

The Dodgers two big starters were ineffective in the Astros park, but if there was a system in place, why couldn’t the Astros solve Alex Wood in Game four and his 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball?

All evidence points to a system that Astros used to steal signs and pitching tendencies that went beyond what is acceptable by baseball’s standards. That being said, no, the Dodgers were not robbed, when they needed to step up the Dodgers didn’t and that’s why they lost the World Series