Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
NEW YORK — For about 45 minutes, David Taub’s plan worked perfectly. Weeks earlier, he had spent $85 on an Oscar the Grouch costume from Amazon.com. A few days beforehand, he had visited Yankee Stadium to confirm that he would be allowed to wear it on Tuesday, for the Astros’ first visit to the Bronx since the world learned they had cheated en route to their 2017 title.