Former Astros player Evan Gattis opens up on the cheating scandal: 'We cheated baseball'
At this point, it’s clear that every member of the 2017 Houston Astros will have their legacies tainted by the cheating scandal. Evan Gattis was once known for his unconventional and adversity-riddled road to the big leagues, and now, he’s ending his career with an apology.
Gattis was a part of that 2017 Astros World Series team that took advantage of technology and trash cans to steal signs from opposing teams. He last played in 2018, and this week, he announced that he was done playing baseball for good.
But while looking back on his career, he didn’t shy away from addressing the cheating scandal.
Speaking to The Athletic on the 755 Is Real podcast, Gattis reflected on the cheating scandal and offered his apology. He admitted that the Astros did what they were accused of and felt as if they cheated the game … and spirit of competition.
Gattis said:
“I don’t know how to feel yet. We didn’t look at our moral compass and say, ‘Yeah, this is right.’ It was almost like paranoia warfare or something. What we did was wrong. Don’t get it twisted. It was wrong for the nature of competition — not even just baseball. Yeah, that was wrong. I will say that. … We cheated baseball. We cheated fans. Fans felt duped. I feel bad for fans because I really wish everyone was there. I wish everyone could experience what it’s like to break spring training and break for the big-league club and be in a big-league clubhouse, part of a big-league team. I wish everyone knew what that was like.
“But I’m not asking for sympathy or anything like that. Part of the punishment is being hated by everybody forever. I don’t know what should have been done but something should have (expletive) been done. I do agree with that big time. And I do think it’s good for baseball that they clean it up. I’ve thought about it a (expletive) (expletive)-ton, and I still don’t know how I feel … I understand that it’s not (expletive) good enough to say sorry. I get it.”
He continued:
“We did it, that’s a fact. And that’s on the wall. Part of me is really glad that it’s out there – it’s public knowledge and it’s accurate.”
Gattis ended his six-year MLB career after playing for both the Braves and Astros.
You can listen to the full podcast here.