Houston • Not too long ago, the Houston Astros were the feel-good story of baseball. Led by their diminutive Venezuelan dynamo and featuring smart play on the field and in the front office, they emerged from a morass of awful seasons that got them mocked as the ‘Lastros and ascended to the top of the big league galaxy as World Series champions.
That picture of the sheer joy as the Astros celebrated their 2017 crown at Dodger Stadium sure looks different now.
Fresh off a bitter Game 7 loss in their bid for another title, and tarnished by an executive’s clubhouse rant at female reporters and the failed attempt to smear the journalist who wrote about it, the franchise is now embroiled in a new scandal: allegations with on-the-record comments from a former player the Astros turned to technology to devise a sign-stealing scheme during their greatest season.