The record books say the Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series. It’s right there in black and white. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games, a series that, at the time, felt like an all-time classic. But if you’re asking who won because you want to understand the soul of modern baseball, the answer is a lot messier than a simple box score.
In 2017, the Astros were the darlings of the sport. They’d spent years bottoming out, losing 100 games a season, and "trusting the process" before that phrase became a cliché in every front office from Philadelphia to Tokyo. When they finally lifted the Commissioner’s Trophy after Game 7 in Los Angeles, it felt like the ultimate vindication of data-driven rebuilding. Then, the 2019 off-season happened. Mike Fiers, a former Astros pitcher, talked to The Athletic. He blew the lid off a sign-stealing scandal that involved trash cans, center-field cameras, and a whole lot of high-tech cheating.
Why the 2017 World Series Winner Still Sparks Fights
Winning matters. But how you win matters more to fans. The Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to three, clinching the title at Dodger Stadium. George Springer was the MVP. He hit five home runs. He looked invincible.
Years later, we found out the Astros were using a camera in center field to decode the opposing catcher’s signs in real-time. A player or staff member would watch a monitor near the dugout and bang on a plastic trash can to signal to the batter what pitch was coming. One bang for a changeup, no bangs for a fastball. It sounds primitive, but in a game of inches where a 98-mph heater and a 84-mph slider look identical for the first thirty feet, it’s basically a superpower.
The fallout was nuclear. Commissioner Rob Manfred issued a report in early 2020 confirming the scheme. General Manager Jeff Luhnow and Manager A.J. Hinch were suspended and subsequently fired. The team was fined $5 million and stripped of first- and second-round draft picks. Yet, the title wasn't vacated. There is no asterisk in the official MLB record book, even if there is a massive one in the minds of every Dodgers fan from Echo Park to Manhattan Beach.
The Gritty Details of Game 7
Let’s look at the actual clincher. Game 7 wasn't even the best game of the series—that was Game 5, a 13-12 slugfest that felt like a fever dream—but it was the most consequential.
Lance McCullers Jr. started for Houston. He didn't have his best stuff, hitting four batters, a World Series record. But the Astros jumped on Yu Darvish early. Darvish, a brilliant pitcher, lasted only 1.7 innings. He got shelled. People blamed his "tipping" of pitches at the time, but the sign-stealing cloud now hangs over that entire performance. By the second inning, it was 5-0 Houston. The Dodgers tried to claw back, but they left runners on base constantly. Clayton Kershaw came out of the bullpen and threw four scoreless innings of relief, a heroic effort that ultimately meant nothing because the L.A. bats went cold when it mattered most.
Houston won 5-1.
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The Statistical Context
You can't talk about who won the 2017 World Series without looking at the sheer dominance of that Houston lineup. Jose Altuve, the American League MVP that year, was the heart of the team. Carlos Correa was the superstar shortstop. Alex Bregman was the cocky third baseman who seemed to produce a highlight every night.
- Houston’s Regular Season: 101-61
- George Springer’s Series: .379 AVG, 5 HR, 7 RBI
- The Dodger Heartbreak: 104 wins in the regular season, the best in baseball, only to lose at home.
The Dodgers were stacked too. Corey Seager, Justin Turner, and a young Cody Bellinger. They had the highest payroll. They had the history. Seeing them lose Game 7 at home was a gut punch to the city of Los Angeles.
The Ethical Gray Area of Modern Baseball
Baseball has always had a "cheating" problem, or as old-timers call it, "gamesmanship." Gaylord Perry made the Hall of Fame throwing spitballs. The 1951 Giants used telescopes to steal signs. So, why was 2017 different?
It was the electronics.
Using your eyes from second base to decode a sign is part of the game. Using a high-definition zoom lens and a fiber-optic relay to a dugout monitor is a violation of the "level playing field" that MLB tries so hard to project. When we ask who won the 2017 World Series, we are really asking: does the win count if the integrity of the competition was compromised?
For MLB, the answer was yes. They didn't want to open the door to stripping titles. If they stripped Houston's, would they have to look at the 2018 Red Sox? The 2017 Yankees? Where does it end?
The Pitchers' Perspective
Think about the guys on the mound. Rich Hill, Brandon Morrow, Kenley Jansen. These guys spent their whole lives working to reach that stage. Jansen, one of the most dominant closers of his era, blew a save in Game 2. He’s been vocal about how that series changed the trajectory of careers.
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Yu Darvish's reputation took a massive hit after the 2017 World Series. He was labeled a choker. He was harassed by fans. It took years for him to rebuild his image and for people to realize that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't failing—maybe the hitters just knew exactly what was coming. It’s a cruel twist for a sport that prides itself on being a fair fight between pitcher and batter.
What Most People Get Wrong About the 2017 Astros
It's easy to say they only won because they cheated. Honestly, that’s probably not true. That Astros team was incredibly talented. They might have won anyway. They had a pitching staff led by Justin Verlander (acquired in a late-season trade that shifted the balance of power in the AL) and Dallas Keuchel.
The tragedy of the 2017 World Series isn't just that Houston cheated; it's that they were good enough to win without it. They chose to seek an edge they didn't necessarily need, and in doing so, they tainted the legacies of players who were already destined for greatness. Jose Altuve, for example, has spent the last several years being booed in every stadium except Minute Maid Park, despite some evidence suggesting he wasn't even a fan of the trash-can system.
The Home vs. Road Split Myth
One of the weirdest parts of the 2017 World Series stats is that the Astros actually played better on the road in some stretches of that postseason than they did at home, where the cheating system was located. In the World Series, they won Games 2 and 7 in Los Angeles. They lost Game 4 at home.
This nuance often gets lost in the social media shouting matches. If the system was so effective, why did they struggle at home against the Yankees in the ALCS? Why did they lose games at Minute Maid Park in the Fall Classic? It suggests that while the cheating was real and systemic, it wasn't a magic "win" button. Baseball is too chaotic for that.
The Long-Term Impact on the Game
The 2017 World Series changed how baseball is played today. If you watch a game now, you’ll see catchers wearing "PitchCom" devices on their wrists or knees. These are electronic transmitters that send the pitch call directly to the pitcher’s hat via an encrypted audio signal.
Why do we have these? Because of 2017.
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The paranoia in MLB reached such a fever pitch that the league had to modernize the technology just to keep teams from spying on each other. The "dark arts" of baseball moved from the shadows into the front office's R&D departments.
Acknowledge the Complexity
If you talk to a fan in Houston, they’ll point to the 2022 World Series win as proof that they didn't need the trash cans. They’ll say the 2017 team was just doing what everyone else was doing, only better.
If you talk to a fan in Los Angeles, they’ll tell you the 2017 title belongs to the Dodgers. They’ll talk about the "stolen" ring for guys like Andre Ethier, who retired shortly after.
There is no middle ground here. You either believe the win is valid because the commissioner said so, or you believe it’s a fraudulent result.
Actionable Takeaways for Baseball Fans
Understanding the 2017 World Series requires more than just knowing the score. It requires understanding the shift in sports culture toward "winning at all costs."
- Watch the documentaries: There are several deep-dive investigative pieces (like the ones from Frontline or various sports networks) that interview the scouts and players involved.
- Look at the 2017-2019 stats: Compare home and away splits for Houston players during those years. You’ll see some fascinating, and sometimes confusing, discrepancies.
- Respect the Dodgers' longevity: Regardless of the 2017 outcome, the Los Angeles Dodgers' ability to remain a powerhouse for over a decade is a testament to their organizational strength, finally getting their "undisputed" ring in 2020.
- Follow the PitchCom evolution: Next time you’re at a game, look at the catcher's wrist. That little device is a direct response to the 2017 Astros.
The Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series. They got the rings. They had the parade. They have the banner hanging in their stadium. But the debate over that victory will likely outlive everyone who played in the game. It’s the title that changed baseball forever, for better or worse.
Next time someone asks you who won, tell them the Astros—but tell them the story didn't end when the last out was recorded in Los Angeles. It was only the beginning of a decade-long reckoning for Major League Baseball. The real "win" for fans was the eventual transparency and technology that followed, ensuring that the game on the field stays between the pitcher, the batter, and the crack of the bat.