In 2016, the Houston Astros won 84 games and finished third in their division. The year before they had won 86 games. For the second year in a row, they had failed to live up to expectations and disappointed their fans.
So the Astros went into the 2017 Major League Baseball season determined to win, determined to prove to their fans and opponents that they had what it takes to be world champions.
After winning a jaw-dropping 101 games, the Astros made it to the World Series, where they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in a nail-biting winner-takes-all game seven. Dodgers’ fans were crushed and Astros’ fans were ecstatic.
CNN described the World Series contest between Houston and Los Angeles as “one of the most evenly matched, hard fought and thrilling World Series of all time.” A.J. Hinch, the Astros’ manager proudly announced, “You know what, Houston? You’re a championship city.”
But back in September, about a month and a half before their historic World Series victory, a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox named Danny Farquhar complained that he’d heard the sound of a banging trash can coming from the Astros’ dugout while he was pitching. He said he noticed it every time he was about to throw an off-speed pitch.
Farquhar’s suspicion never garnered much attention. His teammates thought he was being paranoid and Farquhar didn’t think he “had the standing to make such an accusation.” Reporters didn’t pick up on Farquhar’s comments—they were too caught up in the excitement surrounding the Astros’ rise.
We know today that Farquhar’s observations were important because it turned out the trash can banging was intentional. The reason Farquhar heard the noise every time he was about to throw an off-speed pitch was that someone in the Astros’ dugout was alerting the Astros batter about what to expect.
The Astros had been cheating all season—sign stealing—using a camera they’d set up in the outfield. But by the time the cheating scandal was discovered and investigated, the Astros had already been declared the 2017 World Series Champions. One could say they stole the championship. But the season couldn’t be replayed, could it? And the Los Angeles Dodgers couldn’t be declared the winners instead, could they?
Something similar occurred with our 2020 election.
The Biden-Harris ticket made the mediocre 2016 Houston Astros team look like the epic New York Yankees of 1927. Joe Biden crawled across the finish line to secure the presidential nomination after Kamala Harris exposed him as the leading anti-busing crusader of the 1970s. Kamala Harris was about as popular as GMO food is in San Francisco.
Nonetheless, the Democratic Party was eager to show the world that their 2020 presidential ticket had what it took to win a national election.
The world watched in breathless anticipation as the votes were tallied. When the American people went to bed on election night, Donald Trump appeared to have hit a walk-off home run. But as he rounded the bases, the umpire called time out.
Multiple states where Donald Trump held a commanding lead suddenly stopped counting votes for the night. It was a dramatic and unprecedented event in American politics.
When the American people awoke the next morning, Joe Biden miraculously had taken the lead in every state Donald Trump had appeared certain to win. We were treated to the most remarkable comeback in presidential election history.
The Democratic Party rushed to the microphones and proudly announced, “You know what America? Joe Biden is the 46th president of the United States.”
But in the months leading up to the election, armies of Democratic lawyers and politicians had swarmed the swing states that Donald Trump appeared poised to win, and lobbied the cities and states to change the voting laws.
While the Democrats pushed the mass mailing of tens of millions of unsolicited ballots to every voter in the country, they simultaneously fought to eliminate the safeguards put in place to prevent voter fraud: eliminating signature verification, preventing the purging of deceased and disqualified voters from the voting rolls, and harvesting ballots to their hearts’ content.
To mention just one of countless examples,—poll watchers at the State Farm Arena in Georgia were told on election night the counting of votes was stopping for the night and that it would resume in the morning. The poll watchers left but the counting continued, as troves of ballots were oddly pulled out from underneath tables. Surveillance footage showed this happening.
The drive-by media had no interest in the story. They simply told us we hadn’t seen what we clearly saw with our own eyes. Others were likely too caught up in the excitement surrounding Biden’s shocking rise.
In the days and weeks following the election, hundreds of witnesses to Democratic Party malfeasance came forward and signed sworn affidavits under penalty of perjury.
But by the time the cheating scandal was discovered and witnesses had come forward, Joe Biden had already been declared the winner of the 2020 presidential race. One could say he stole it. But the election couldn’t be redone, could it? And Donald Trump couldn’t be declared the winner instead, could he?
The answer is actually yes.
While the Democrats today admit that some cheating likely occurred, they contend the number of illegal votes cast could never have amounted to enough to affect the outcome of the election.
I suppose the Houston Astros could contend the same—that while they did steal signs, the number of runs scored or games they won because of the cheating could never have amounted to enough to significantly affect the outcome of their season. After all, they could only cheat at home games . . . just like the Democrats.