Orel Hershiser said he didn’t want to open an old wound. Naturally, he proceeded to jab a finger directly into it.
No trash cans were harmed — or reportedly used — in Chavez Ravine on Friday night. But the Dodgers were absolutely battered in an 18-1 drubbing at the hands of the Houston Astros, a franchise still carrying the scarlet letter of 2017.
We bring that year up because Hershiser kind of did, too.
It started in the third inning, with Dodgers rookie Ben Casparius already unraveling. After a double from Jake Meyers and a home run from Jose Altuve, Cam Smith jumped on a 2-2 sweeper and just missed putting it over the center field wall. It was starting to look a little too familiar.
“I don’t want to open an old wound,” Hershiser remarked. “But in some ways, they’re swinging at these breaking balls like they know what is coming.”
“I don’t want to open an old wound. But in some ways, they’re swinging at these breaking balls like they know what is coming.”
Orel Hershiser on the Astros during a big inning against the Dodgers. pic.twitter.com/15HeqcRLkc
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 5, 2025
It’s basically impossible to steal signs with PitchCom. And even before that, sign-stealing was usually something home teams got accused of, not visiting clubs teeing off in L.A.
But when Hershiser starts talking about hitters “knowing what’s coming,” against the Astros of all teams, no one’s thinking about pitch tipping.
They’re thinking about 2017. You know, the year the Astros reportedly used banging trash cans and decoded signs from a center field camera to steal pitches all season, culminating in the World Series against the Dodgers.
The league didn’t vacate the title, and the players didn’t get punished. The wounds never really healed.
But Dodgers fans haven’t forgotten. And clearly, neither has Orel.
So no, there’s no evidence the Astros were up to anything nefarious on Friday night. But the moment Hershiser cracked that door open — even ever so slightly — it’s impossible not to look through it.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.