VIDEO: Never Forget When AJ Hinch Called the Astros' Whistling Scandal 'a Joke'

By all metrics, it seems the Houston Astros are cheaters. They cheated their way to win the 2017 World Series, and who knows what they did to make the World Series in 2019? However, no one within the organization seemed to give these accusations much credence before the other shoe dropped and former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers came clean this past November. Before Fiers' confession, whenever an accusation came up, everyone involved with the Astros scoffed at it. AJ Hinch, your response?

During the 2019 ALCS, the New York Yankees accused the Astros of stealing their signs, and communicating signals by whistling to each other. When asked about it at a press conference during the series, Astros manager AJ Hinch laughingly dismissed the accusations as a joke. However, once Fiers came clean, it became clear that there was validity to the Bronx Bombers' complaint.

The Astros' punishments from the commissioner's office came on Tuesday afternoon. Both general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were suspended without pay for all of the 2020 season, the Astros were stripped of their first and second-round draft picks for the 2020 and 2021 drafts, and the organization was fined $5 million. Hinch and Luhnow were then dismissed by owner Jim Crane.

A harsher punishment is inbound for former Astros bench coach and current Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

After the punishments came down, owner Jim Crane fired Hinch and Luhnow, making Hinch look like a fool for his dismissal of the Yankees' accusations.