The repercussions of the Houston Astros 2017 cheating scandal continues to extend its tentacles deeper into the world of baseball with each passing day.
First it was the Astros' manager and front office, then the manager of the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets, on Friday it was Jose Altuve, and tomorrow it will be someone or something new.
As each tentacle of the sign-stealing scandal takes a stranglehold on baseball fans across the globe, none have been hit harder by the news that the Astros cheated to win a World Series than the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 2017 NL-pennant winning Dodgers finished runner up to the Astros that year, after a hard fought and heartbreaking seven-game series. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in his release clearly stated that the Astros continued their electronic sign-stealing scheme during the playoffs and the World Series. That news hit everyone involved with the Dodgers like a gut punch.
The players are taking it extremely hard, but so are the fans, including diehard group Pantone 294, which represents over 3,000 Dodger fans that travel throughout the season during road trips.
The Los Angeles Times checked in with the owners of Pantone 294 after news of the scandal, and the punishment that was subsequently passed down was announced, to get their reaction to the news.
In the article, Desiree Garcia, co-owner of Pantone 294, said that the group is thinking about chartering a fleet of buses and sending thousands of Dodger fans to Anaheim during MLB Opening Weekend when the Astros begin their 2020 season against the Angels.
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Perhaps it’s the baseball Gods that players speak of during postgame interviews that blessed the city of Los Angeles with a schedule that sends the team that cheated the Dodgers out of a championship just a couple dozen miles south of Chavez Ravine to start the season.
Sure, suspensions, missed draft picks and a $5 million fine are appropriate penalties, but facing the wrath of the best fans in the world, that seems more apropos for the Astros.
"It would be a really cool idea to do," Garcia told the Times. "As Dodger fans, we definitely feel like we've been cheated out of something. We don't know if we're willing to take that business risk and bring a bunch of angry people to Angel Stadium."
Garcia mentioned that they customarily book 1,200 tickets when the Dodgers travel down Interstate 5 to play the Angels for the annual Freeway Series, and that she would first consult with the Angels to see they would be allowed to do the same for the opening series against the Astros.
The Dodgers are not playing the Astros in 2020, so hopefully the Angels will oblige the Pantone 294 fan group, and any other Dodger fans that want to travel to Anaheim to boo the Astros. Even if Pantone 294 isn't able to organize it themselves, that shouldn't stop other Dodger fans from making the trip on their own accord.
