The Los Angeles Dodgers returned to Minute Maid Park last weekend for a three-game set against the Houston Astros, and results aside, both clubs have remnants from the 2017 World Series matchup.
In hindsight, the 2017 Astros were guilty of an elaborate cheating scandal that resulted in a World Series title, robbing teams of fair play during the regular season and playoffs, including the Dodgers out of a championship.
Since then, both franchises have played nine regular-season games against one another. When asked during the most recent series, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expressed a lower sense of care for the past, Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said his feelings about the 2017 World Series have “softened over the last few years.”
“It certainly brings back some memories, not great memories,” he said of returning to Houston. “But it’s baseball. You can’t change it. I think just try to move forward.”
Many current and former Dodgers have left the team and returned, including Kiké Hernández, who isn’t held up by memories from 2017 either:
“I’ve already played a playoff series here since then,” said Hernandez, who went 10 for 26 with three home runs for the Boston Red Sox when they lost the 2021 American League Championship Series against the Astros in six games. “I don’t give a (expletive) about that anymore. That was seven years ago. I played for one of the guys (Red Sox manager Alex Cora). I played with guys that were on that team. I don’t care.
“It’s (expletive) over.”
Austin Barnes was also on the 2017 Dodgers roster, and had the same thought that it is all too far behind them to care much about:
Barnes listened to Hernandez’s answer, smiling at the passion, then endorsed the feeling.
“It’s in the past,” Barnes said. “What are you going to do? There’s no point in holding on to it.”
Some fans haven’t felt the same way as Roberts, Barnes and Hernández, as the wait between World Series titles from 1988-2020 was exaggerated by the Astros. However, those directly playing in the games go through the grind of a regular and postseason, all while playing with, and against some involved in those matchups.
The Dodgers and Astros won’t play again this season, but there’s always the possibility of meeting in the postseason for a repeat showdown.
Should Dodgers fans still be upset about Astros cheating?
There’s no blueprint for what people should feel, or if they should get over it, like many Dodgers coaches and players have.
Fans who were in attendance hoping to see a World Series are forever scorned with bad memories of a series they feel cheated out of. Major League Baseball not doing anything to truly reprimand the Astros didn’t help matters, either, but the joyous win in the 2020 World Series allowed many to move past the pain.
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