Nobody threw more regular-season innings for the 2017 world champion Astros than Mike Fiers. But after Fiers slumped badly in August and September, Houston left the righthander off its postseason roster.
His place on that championship team was a forgotten footnote until a startling assertion he made to The Athletic in a Nov. 12 story: The 2017 Astros cheated.
Fiers alleged that Houston stole catchers’ signs from a camera positioned in centerfield at Minute Maid Park. The signs were read on a television monitor just steps behind the Astros’ dugout. A signal for an off-speed pitch would prompt someone to bang a dugout trash can loudly enough for the hitter to hear.