Orel Hershiser calling Jose Altuve striking out.
MLBBy Andrew Bucholtz on

The Houston Astros’ sign–stealing saga and MLB’s lackluster punishments have received widespread pushback from fans and players, with that particularly boiling over this week during their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (who the Astros beat in the 2017 World Series). On Tuesday, Kelly threw a fastball behind Alex Bregman’s head, then yawned, then just missed Carlos Correa, then mocked Correa, leading to the benches clearing. On Wednesday, MLB’s eight-game suspension for Kelly was roundly mocked, and the teams played again. During that game, the Astros’ Jose Altuve struck out on a called third strike, and SportsNet LA play-by-play announcer Joe Davis speculated that he was “perhaps guessing something else.” Analyst Orel Hershiser then commented “Guessing’s harder than knowing,” which many took as a reference to the Astros’ past sign-stealing.

“Strike three, called. Perhaps guessing something else. Two out.” “Guessing’s harder than knowing.” And that drew quite a few Twitter responses. Here are a few of those:

Of course, the Astros are not the only team that’s been caught illegally stealing signs with the aid of cameras. The Boston Red Sox in particular were determined by MLB to have also broken the rules during their 2018 championship season, and they lost a 2020 second-round draft pick over that. But the Astros’ saga has particularly struck a chord for many players and fans, especially with discussions of how detailed their setup was. And this week’s Dodgers series has shown there are still a lot of people ready to get in digs at the Astros. That list now seems to include Hershiser.

[Blake Harris on Twitter]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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