The Houston Astros Sign-Stealing Scandal (2017)

The Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal during their 2017 World Series-winning season fundamentally breached baseball's integrity. The team used a camera system to steal opposing catchers' signs, relaying them to batters by banging on a trash can. MLB's investigation confirmed the scheme but controversially allowed the Astros to keep their championship title and issued no player suspensions. The phrase "bang the trash can" became shorthand for institutional cheating. While the Ben Johnson doping case (#8) involved a single athlete's failed drug test, the Astros scandal orchestrated systematic fraud by an entire franchise over 162 games, damaging the sport's credibility for years.