The Houston Astros cheating scandal has affected a youth baseball team in Gatineau, Quebec.
The Aylmer Astros are changing their name and jersey colours, which were inspired by the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball.
Daniel Caron, the president Association de Baseball Amateur d’Aylmer (ABBA) told Radio-Canada that he didn’t want the teams players aged 10 to 17 to be bullied and taunted because of their uniforms.
“We also have codes of conduct […] that specifies in a lot of places the integrity of the game, fair play. So that’s what motivated the decision,” Caron said.
The team’s colours will change from the orange and blue of the Astros to turquoise inspired by the Seattle Mariners.
According to Baseball Quebec, ABBA is the first league to remove references of the Astros. In the United States, two California little leagues banned the use of the term “Astros” from their teams.
The Houston Astros were caught using the video feed from centre field to figure out the opposing catcher’s signs to figure out what kind of pitch was coming. The team would then bang on a trash can to signal the batter, giving them a better chance to hit the ball.
The Astros head coach A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were fired by the Astros organization in January after being suspended by the MLB for their role in the sign stealing scandal during their run to the 2017 World Series and during the 2018 season. The organization was also fined $5 million by the MLB.
With files from CBC News and Radio-Canada’s Kim Vallière
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