Nick Swisher: “I think that the title should be stripped and it should just be an asterisk year with no World Series champion. The ickiness on that organization and the ickiness on that championship trophy is so bad right now that I don’t think it’s very fathomable for people to even understand it, or feel bad about these guys. People don’t like two things; they don’t like liars and they don’t like cheaters, and this organization did both of those things.” (Full Audio at Bottom of Page)
Listen to former MLB All-Star and World Series Champion Nick Swisher Join The Herd (Doug Gottlieb guest-hosting for Colin Cowherd) to discuss the Houston Astros' notorious sign-stealing saga that slowly became one of the biggest stories in sports history this offseason.
Swisher had some strong opinions about what the league should have done with the Astros organization for their role in the illicit scheme, and went so far to say they he believes the league should have stripped the Astros' 2017 World Series championship.
The Astros will likely go down in history as perhaps the biggest cheaters in North American sports history for their role in reckless on-field mischief with an unlawful sign-stealing operation that had video replay tennants deciphering signs via a monitor near the Astros dugout, and then relaying the signs to the hitters at the plate in real life using artificial noise makers.
New theories exploded onto Twitter las month, revealing damning allegations against Astros stars Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman using electronic buzzing devices taped to their chests in new and creative ways to be warned on what pitch was coming next.
After Altuve begged his teammates to not tear off his jersey after his walk-off homer versus Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman in Game 6 of the 2019 ALCS, it became apparent Altuve was potentially trying to make sure the buzzer on his chest wouldn’t be revealed.
This week The Athletic, who has been the media’s most profound ombudsman on the story, published new findings into the clandestine operation that was much more intricate than what was previously believed, with former player Carlos Beltran being tabbed as the ringleader.
Check out the full interview with Swisher below.