Opinion: Astros apologize for cheating, but won't waver on merits of their 2017 World Series title

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Astros’ apology tour: It was wrong, but didn't taint team's legacy What I’m Hearing: The Astros’ may be apologizing but they are not giving up that championship.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Houston Astros spent the day apologizing Thursday, admitting they cheated during their World Series championship season, and blamed no one but themselves for their actions.

“There’s no excuse,’’ Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said. “We were wrong for everything we did in 2017. We feel really bad for possibly ruining careers and having that advantage by using technology.

“It was just straight-up wrong. It was bad.’’

Yet for those who wanted more angst, like players tearfully admitting their 2017 World Series title is tainted or confessing they wouldn't have won without stealing signs, that didn't happen..

It never will.

Sure, they concede that stealing signs from the video monitors was wrong – and acknowledge it was beneficial during the regular season, but insist it didn’t help them during the postseason en route to their first World Series title

“I firmly believe we earned that championship,’’ Astros pitcher Lance McCullers said. “I believe that championship was earned 100%.’’

They feel bad for their peers, but have no plans to personally call and apologize to the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox, the three teams they defeated during their playoff run.

They acknowledge that Jose Altuve looked suspicious grabbing his jersey after his pennant-winning home run against the New York Yankees in 2019, but called it “ludicrous’’ that they wore wires with electronic buzzers.

In front of 100 reporters, It was hardly the mea culpa that will convince an angry public, or calm furious peers around baseball, but this is the Astros’ story.

And they’re sticking to it.

“We don’t feel a need to reach out to anybody,’’ Astros outfielder Josh Reddick said. “We won the World Series. And in my opinion, it’s not [tainted]. It’s in Houston to stay.

“They can go home believing what they want.’’

I'M SORRY: Astros stars Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve apologize

THAT'S A LIE: Astros categorically deny they used buzzers to steal signs

BUZZERS: Ex-Astros manager says he's 'never seen any such device'

If the Astros truly believe that no one else was cheating, it might be different.

Two members of the Astros organization told USA TODAY Sports they believe several teams were also cheating by using live video feeds during the season – but no one else has been caught. The Boston Red Sox are the only team currently being investigated by Major League Baseball, but without a whistle-blower like former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers, their penalty could be light.

The Astros refused to draw any other teams into it – insisting that everyone is free to speculate – but nobody would say they were convinced they were the only team partaking in such a scheme.

Come on, does anyone really believe the Astris were smarter than everyone else?

No one else could have figured out how to use live video feed to inform their hitters what was coming?

No others acted immorally and unethically?

Really, every other team in the entire sport played the game clean?

“People can draw their own conclusion,’’ McCullers said.

The Astros will wear it, because they have no other choice, but they can’t wait for the day MLB launches investigations into other teams, when there are more whistleblowers.

For now, they’ll be baseball’s most hated team, with fans taunting them on the road, opposing teams deliberately hitting them with pitches and perhaps even threats that summon extra security.

“I think it’s going to be difficult,’’ Astros Cy Young winner Justin Verlander told USA TODAY Sports. "Every series is going to like when we went to Yankee Stadium in the playoffs. It’s going to have to be us against everyone else. …

“You just hope some riled-up fan doesn’t try to take things too far. I actually woke up thinking about that the other day. If some person wants to do something crazy, I don’t know. Scary.’’

The Astros aren’t about to ask for sympathy. They’ve had enough public-relation catastrophes to realize that would never fly.

They know it’s going to take time for people to believe them again.

Some never will.

Some will always believe that the Astros cheated, too, in 2019, and advanced their technology to electric buzzers.

“That’s a lie,’’ Correa said. “Nobody wore buzzers. Nobody wore devices. That story should be killed already. We know for sure, for a fact, 100 percent, as a team …

“If I’m lying here, I’ll lose credibility. I want to speak the truth. It’s just straight-up false. Nobody wore anything. In 2018, nothing. 2019, nothing. 2017, nobody wore devices either.”

Really, if you don’t want to believe anything the Astros ever again, or if you want to hate them forever, they understand.

But they also want you to know they are taking full responsibility for their actions.

Sure, it’s easy to say that if former manager A.J. Hinch didn’t like it, he could have stopped it. It’s simple to say they were intimidated by the clubhouse culture created by former bench coach Alex Cora and teammate Carlos Beltran.

Enough already.

It starts and stops with them.

“No one put a gun to our head," first baseman Yuli Gurriel said. "It would be a lie to say that one or two people are responsible. We are all responsible."

There will be a day, the Astros say, when they will talk more freely. There will be more details that trickle out. Maybe we’ll learn of more teams doing the same thing.

“The landscape’s changing very quickly,’’ Verlander said. “There’s new information coming out constantly, so time will tell.’’

For now, they’ll take the hits, be the brunt of jokes and ridicule, and be known as the team everyone loves to hate.

“This will probably be something that will be spoken about for a long time,’’ Reddick said. “It’s something we’re going to have to learn how to cope with and put behind us and play baseball.’’

The greatest way to silence the critics, manager Dusty Baker said, simply is by winning.

If they lose, the ridicule will be deafening.

“Everybody’s going to have their own opinions, everybody’s going to have their own beliefs,’’ Correa said. “The reality is we’re remorseful, we feel sorry.’’

Follow Nightengale on Twitter: @Bnightengale