Hank Aaron thinks Astros cheaters should be banned for life from MLB

Mike Oz
Updated ·2 min read

Hank Aaron, one of Major League Baseball’s greatest living icons, has a take about the Houston Astros cheating scandal that will raise some eyebrows in Texas.

In an interview that aired Thursday, Aaron was asked by The Today Show’s Craig Melvin if he thought the punishments were fair in the sign-stealing scandal. Aaron’s take?

“No, I don’t,” Aaron said. “I think whoever did that should be out of baseball the rest of their life.”

This comes at an interesting time in the discourse about rule-breaking in baseball. Pete Rose, the most famous person banned from baseball, is seeking reinstatement again, citing the Astros case.

The idea that someone like Alex Cora — who MLB’s investigation pointed to as a central figure in this, and who was later linked to an alleged cheating scheme in Boston — isn’t banned like Rose has left many opining that something isn’t right.

As for Aaron, this sort of technologically-aided sign-stealing scheme isn’t something he’s had to deal with before, but his legacy is intertwined with a different type of alleged cheating.

The question of whether Aaron is MLB’s true Home Run King, rather than Barry Bonds, has lingered since Bonds broke Aaron’s record. Aaron has never said players accused of PEDs should be banned for life, but he did suggest in 2009 that players linked to steroids should have an asterisk next to their name if they’re in the Hall of Fame.

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