As he rounded third base and approached home plate following his walk-off home run in the American League Championship Series, Astros star Jose Altuve gestured to his teammates not to rip off his jersey in the celebration.
MLB @MLBALTUVE SENDS THE @ASTROS TO THE #WORLDSERIES!
Chapman commented on the matter.
"I've seen that video—a lot of people have seen that video; it's a popular video right now," he said, per ESPN's Buster Olney. "And yeah, if you look at his actions, they look a little suspicious. At the end of the day, I just don't know."
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez used a different tact when discussing Altuve's home run:
Lindsey Adler @lindseyadlerGary Sánchez on the video of Jose Altuve protecting his jersey after Game 6 of the ALCS: "If I hit a homer and get my team to the World Series, they can rip off my pants. They can rip everything off."
Altuve's agent, Scott Boras, told the New York Post's Joel Sherman that the six-time All-Star's "shyness" was the reason he didn't want to expose his torso to a national audience.
While uncovering the use of the Astros' replay room to steal opposing team's signs, Manfred said the league discovered no evidence Houston players had devices under their jerseys to alert them of the upcoming pitch.
"I will tell you this: we found no Band-Aid buzzer issues," he said to Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci. "There's a lot of paranoia out there."
However, the issue refuses to go away and is likely to remain at the forefront after Altuve, Alex Bregman and owner Jim Crane spoke to reporters Thursday.
Altuve and Bregman offered brief statements without taking questions from reporters:
SNY @SNYtvAlex Bregman and Jose Altuve apologize on behalf of the Astros for the sign-stealing scandal: "We have learned from this, and we hope to regain the trust of baseball fans"
Crane then downplayed how much he thought the sign-stealing scheme helped the Astros:
Yankees Videos @snyyankeesJim Crane says the Astros' sign-stealing didn't affect their World Series title in 2017: "Our opinion is this didn't impact the game"
Chapman questioned the opinion.
"Is that the sole reason they won the World Series? I don’t know," he said, per Olney. "But what I can say that when you have an advantage like that, it’s definitely going to make you a stronger team."
Crane's assertion was met with general skepticism on social media as well:
Buster Olney @Buster_ESPNCrane says that he doesn't think the sign-stealing impacted the game. "We won the World Series and we'll leave it at that." Why would the players have done it, if it had no impact? And if it had no impact, what are they apologizing for?
Bill Shaikin @BillShaikinJim Crane: "We're apologizing because we broke the rules." He won't concede breaking the rules gave the Astros an advantage. This press conference was an absolute disaster for the Astros.
Lindsey Adler @lindseyadlerIn what world is Jim Crane living in where knowing what pitch type is coming is *not* an absolute competitive advantage?
The attention paid to the scandal might lessen somewhat with the start of the regular season, when everybody will have more to talk about in MLB.
But the scrutiny directed toward the Astros is bound to linger should they continue to enjoy success on the field.
