Giancarlo Stanton Says He Could Hit 80-Plus Homers If He Knew Signs Like Astros

Like many other MLB players, Stanton is sounding off about Houston stealing signs

Giancarlo Stanton
Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees hits a solo home run. (Bob Levey/Getty)
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Like many of his baseball brethren, New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is taking shots at the Houston Astros in the wake of the team’s sign-stealing scandal.

Stanton, who hit a major-league leading 59 homers for the Miami Marlins in 2017, said he would have been able to hit the most home runs in a season in league history if he was cheating like Houston. “I feel if I knew what was coming in ’17, I probably would have hit 80-plus homers,” he said. 

Barry Bonds, who also has the most career home runs, set the current single-season record with 73 home runs in 2001.

Stanton’s teammate, Aaron Judge, also struck out at the Astros for their actions.

“It didn’t only affect us as the Yankees, it affected the fans of the game and other guys, guys that lost their jobs because of it, the guys that went into Houston and got beat up a little bit and never made it back to the big leagues,’’ Judge said. “That’s another thing for me that I really can’t tolerate. That, for the guys who go in there and play fair and square and get beat up a little bit, and now they’re out of a job because of it. That ain’t right.’’

Nick Markakis of the Braves took things a step farther with his comments on the matter.

“I feel like every single guy over there needs a beating,” the Atlanta outfielder said Tuesday. “It’s wrong. They’re messing with people’s careers. What they did was bullsh*t. They took a lot of opportunities away from people and possibly ruined people’s careers. Like I said, we’re all competitive. We want to compete and win. But when you take it to that level, there is no excuse. Like I said, bullsh*t. They should have some ramifications for what they did.”

While some members of the Astros have apologized for their actions, Houston owner Jim Crane said last week that it was unclear how much of an advantage the sign-stealing operation gave his ballclub.

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