A funny thing happens when sports team have a long periods of sustained success: They become villains.
The Houston Astros are in the midst of the most dominant stretch in club history. The team is headed to the ALCS for the fifth straight season after eliminating the Chicago White Sox with a 10-1 Game 4 win Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field. Next up is the Boston Red Sox in the penultimate American League playoff series, a familiar matchup for more reasons than just the 2018 ALCS.
They are also less than two years removed from a major sign-stealing scandal that cost the general manager, the manager, the bench coach and a prominent former player their jobs and cost the organization $5 million and two years of of first- and second-round draft picks.