Steve Garvey says Astros cheating Dodgers and Yankees in World Series run was 'like taking steroids' – Solondais

EXCLUSIVE: Steve Garvey knows what the Yankees-Dodgers are all about. The World Series means it for America.

He played in the final three games between the two franchises, helping the Dodgers win the final game. He faced the team in 1981 and lost to New York in 1977 and 1978. Previously a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he watched wide-eyed as Brooklyn defeated the Yankees for the first time and won the title.

And like many other baseball players, Garvey knows how close America came to seeing the two teams meet in 2017. The Yankees lost one game, losing to the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the ALCS. He then watched his former team lose to Houston in Game 7 of the World Series.

Two years later, Garvey was shocked by the news that Houston had cheated that year. The Astros were exposed in an elaborate illegal sign-stealing scheme that led to sanctions from MLB and the suspension and eventual firing of manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow.

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“We were all sad about what happened. There was evidence of that, and it got to the point where when they played seven games with the Astros, there was always the question of whether that happened back then,” Garvey said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. Interview. “And the fans haven’t forgotten. So when they see Houston, that brings out the biggest feeling in them.”

Los Angeles Dodgers Steve Garvey, Steve Howe and Steve Yeager celebrate the World Series victory against the New York Yankees at the end of Game 6 at Yankee Stadium. (Jane Kamin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

As a World Series champion, 10-time All-Star and one-time MVP, Garvey knows how difficult it is to achieve the goal. He believes the Astros' use of electronic devices to decipher signs and relay them to players in real time from the bench was a clear advantage that contributed to the Astros' dominance this year.

“If you can tell me what the pitch is, I’ll probably raise my average by at least 40 to 50 points. If you know what's going to happen, a contact hitter like me, you know it's going to happen. A contact hitter like me is a significant advantage,” Garvey said.

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When asked if he thought the Astros could beat the Yankees and Dodgers in the playoffs this year without cheating, the former All-Star first baseman compared the advantage to taking steroids.

“I’m pretty sure,” Garvey said when asked if he thought the Astros could have won without cheating. “I equate it to taking steroids. The people who took steroids and the very important players who were accused of it etc. were pretty good before.”

“And it’s hard to measure by what percentage they were better. But it will have some value for the best players, who are not only physically but mentally capable of thinking about the game and deciding whether it's worth making a game out of if a small advantage gives them “will be a significant advantage.”

Controversy over whether the Astros would make the playoffs this year reignited after Yankees general manager Brian Cashman dismissed the idea that his team had to wait 15 years between its last World Series appearance and this one.

Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros reacts after being thrown out against the Boston Red Sox in the seventh inning of Game 2 of the American League Baseball Championship Series on Oct. 16, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Cashman pointed to the fact that the Yankees were playing the Astros in the middle of their cheating scandal. New York lost to the Astros in the ALCS in 2017 and for the second time in three years in 2019, just months before the scandal broke.

“I hate the 15-year sentence because it completely forgets and does not take into account the fact that at the end of the day another organization deceived us. If they had known what was going on, I don't think they would have moved forward during that time. Time,” Cashman said during an appearance on Chris Russo’s “High Heat” show on MLB Network on Tuesday.

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“I think we would have moved forward,” Cashman said. “I hate this 15-year story because I don't think it accurately reflects history. But we are still proud to be where we are now.”

Former pitcher Mike Fiers, who ultimately uncovered the scandal, revealed the team's elaborate sign-stealing scheme in a November 2019 interview with The Athletic. The league's investigation then revealed that Houston players and staff used the video replay room to decipher the opposing team's signs and then banged on trash cans to hand the decrypted signs to batters at the plate, alerting them to which pitch is coming up.

Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros (left) strokes Carlos Correa (1) as they celebrate Correa's home run in the second inning against the Oakland Athletics on April 8, 2021 in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

As soon as the operation became known, sanctions, suspensions and dismissals began. Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who spent 2017 on the Astros' staff, emerged as the mastermind of the operation and was even suspended and fired by Boston before being reinstated in 2021.

Under Corra's leadership, the Red Sox also defeated the Yankees and Dodgers in the playoffs and won the World Series in 2018.

Astros players, particularly star infielder Jose Altuve, have been stigmatized by baseball fans across the country, particularly Yankees and Dodgers fans. Since then, the team has been constantly booed because of the scandal. However, after the scandal, Houston showed that it could beat the Yankees and win the championship by defeating the Yankees in the 2022 ALCS and then defeating the Phillies in the World Series this year.

However, many of Houston's star players on that 2017 team, including Altuve and shortstop Carlos Correa, never came close to reaching their cheat sheet statistical numbers.

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The Astros took a significant step back in 2024, losing to the Detroit Tigers in the wild-card round and failing to make the ALCS for the first time since 2016.

So the Yankees and Dodgers can finally renew their historic World Series rivalry.

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