There’s nothing more smug than self-referential reminders of your own cheating past, and the New York Yankees allowed the Astros to have a disrespectful party on their field in Sunday’s loss. Yet again.
Anyone attempting to deny that the Astros own the Yankees is playing a fool’s game; despite the Yankees’ combined 12-5 record against Houston since the start of the 2023 season, it just won’t matter. Until there’s a single playoff series between the two parties that falls in the Yankees’ favor, the Astros will have the only edge that matters (even if the 2017 trophy, and probably the 2019 pennant, was ill-gotten).
That type of impenetrable bravado has made the Astros think it’s totally okay to reference their own cheating past and relish in it – and they’re right! Until the Yankees take anything meaningful away from them, this is just how it’s gonna be. MLB decided that the players deserved no punishment for their own actions, and so the players now decide to do things like this.
Look, there’s Carlos Correa – who the Twins handed back to Houston, in a manner that remains completely insane – rounding second on his insurance run home run Sunday and holding his jersey tightly shut, then wagging his finger now. It’s a clear reference to Altuve refusing to remove his jersey after his 2019 ALCS walk-off, which led to a bubbling up of buzzer allegations.
Carlos Correa provides a 9th-inning insurance run for the @Astros! pic.twitter.com/u166lwG8Rq
— MLB (@MLB) August 10, 2025
Astros reference Jose Altuve’s buzzer, cheating allegations in Carlos Correa’s celebration vs. Yankees
Why … did Altuve refuse to show his chest, though? Did we ever figure that out? Bad tattoo? Just plain old shy? I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, even though it was more than likely nefarious. MLB told the world to move, we “did,” and now the Astros can continue to reference their own malfeasance as they defeat the Yankees. Just like old times.
Much like David Ortiz vowing to find the “real killer” after his positive PED test, then relying on Rob Manfred to bail him out and bury the story, the Astros clearly do not care if you think they were dirty back in their heyday (which isn’t over yet). They were confirmed dirty, in fact, and now they’re owning it.
You want them to stop, Yankees? Win a postseason head-to-head. Might not work to curb their ego, but it’ll at least get you closer (and delight us).
