George Springer dragged back into sign-stealing mess before World Series

It's an awkward World Series matchup for Houston Astros fans as they likely do at least somewhat enjoy the success George Springer is having with the Toronto Blue Jays, but that also means James Click may prove to have the last laugh. With the Blue Jays facing the Dodgers, it seems likely that most Astros fans are rooting for their Canadian counterpart. Especially when Dodgers fans still can't put the sign-stealing scandal of 2017 behind them.

The scandal is seeing renewed life as the World Series starts, considering Springer's run with the Astros that included the 2017 World Series. Facing a familiar setting of a World Series game in Los Angeles, Springer was asked about 2017 in a recent interview with USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

World Series stage pulls George Springer back into Astros controversy

While stressing that the focus was on the Blue Jays' current run, Springer is aware of the boos that are waiting for him once the series comes to Los Angeles next week.

“I don’t have a choice," Springer said. “So, you know, I’d have to go back there. The focus will be on the game and to play the game the best I can. It’s an incredible team on the other side of the field. Everyone knows that."

With there being a week from when the ALCS ended and the start of the World Series, Springer being a member of the 2017 Astros and returning to the World Series to face the Dodgers was an inevitable storyline that was going to come up. It speaks to how national writers need something to talk about before there is an actual game to break down. There's no hiding from the 2017 sign-stealing scandal if you're the Astros (or a former Astro), but talking about it nearly 10 years after the fact is as silly as talking about Shohei Ohtani's Blue Jays' gear.

Besides, hating the Dodgers has become the in-thing with the cool kids in Major League Baseball. Dodgers fans can boo Springer all they want, but it's their team that is ruining baseball.