EXCLUSIVE: Steve Garvey knows what a Yankees-Dodgers The World Series matters to America.

He played in the last three between the two franchises, helping the Dodgers win the last one meeting in 1981 and played on the losing side of New York in 1977 and ’78. Before that, he was a ball boy for the Brooklyn Dodgers and watched with wide eyes as Brooklyn beat the Yankees for the first time ever to win the title.

And like many in baseball, Garvey knows how close America came to witnessing a matchup between the two teams in 2017. The Yankees were one game shy of losing to the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the ALCS. Then he watched his former team lose to Houston in Game 7 of the World Series.

Two years later, Garvey was shocked by the news that Houston had cheated that year. The Astros were the target of an extensive illegal sign-stealing operation, which resulted in sanctions by MLB and the suspensions and possible firings of manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow.

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“We were all saddened that it happened. There was evidence of it, and it got to the point where there was always a question when they played seven games with the Astros if it happened then,” Garvey told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “And the fans haven’t forgotten. So when they see Houston, it brings out the loudest in them.”

Los Angeles Dodgers Steve Garvey, Steve Howe and Steve Yeager celebrate winning the World Series against the New York Yankees at the end of Game 6 at Yankee Stadium. (Jayne Kamin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

As a World Series champion, 10-time All-Star and one-time MVP, Garvey knows how hard it is to hit. He believes the Astros’ use of electronic devices to decipher signs and relay them to players from the dugout in real time was an undeniable advantage that played into the Astros’ hitting dominance that year.

“If you can give me what the pitch is, I’ll probably increase my average by at least 40-50 points. If you know what’s coming, a contact hitter like me, and you know it’s coming. A contact hitter like me, it’s a significant advantage, says Garvey.

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When asked if he thought the Astros would have been able to beat the Yankees and Dodgers in the playoffs that year without cheating, the former All-Star first baseman equated the benefit to taking steroids.

“I’m absolutely sure,” Garvey said when asked if he thought the Astros could have won without cheating. “It’s like I equate it to taking steroids. The people who took steroids and the very important players who were accused of it and so on were pretty good before that.

“And it’s hard to measure by what percentage they were better. But it’s going to have some value with the top players being able to not only physically, but mentally be able to think the game and determine when they get a small advantage if they’re going to turn it into a significant advantage.”

The debate over whether the Astros should have won the playoffs that year has resurfaced after the Yankees general manager Brian Cashman dismissed the idea that his team had to wait 15 years between its last World Series appearance and this one.

Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros reacts after flying out against the Boston Red Sox during the seventh inning of Game 2 of baseball’s American League Championship Series Oct. 16, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Cashman cited the fact that the Yankees faced the Astros at the height of their cheating scandal. New York lost to the Astros in the ALCS in 2017 and then for the second time in three years in 2019, just months before the scandal was revealed.

“I hate the 15-year thing because it completely forgets and discounts that some other organization cheated us when we were all the way to the end. If you knew what was going on, then I don’t think they would advance during that time,” Cashman said during an appearance on Chris Russo’s “High Heat” on MLB Network Tuesday.

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“I think we would have moved forward,” Cashman said. “So, I hate that 15-year thing because I don’t think it accurately reflects history. But regardless, we’re proud to be where we are now.”

The scandal’s eventual whistleblower, former pitcher Mike Fiers, revealed the team’s elaborate sign-stealing operation in an interview with The Athletic in November 2019. It was then discovered through a league investigation that Houston players and staff used the video replay room to decode the opposing team’s signs, then hit dumpsters to deliver they decoded the signs to the hitters at the plate, warning them of which plane was coming.

Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve, left, applauds Carlos Correa (1) as they celebrate Correa’s home run in the second inning against the Oakland Athletics April 8, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Once the operation was made public, all the sanctions, suspensions and dismissals began. Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who spent 2017 on the Astros staff, proved to be the mastermind behind the operation, and he was even suspended and fired by Boston before being rehired in 2021.

Under Corra’s leadership, the Red Sox also beat the Yankees and Dodgers in the playoffs to win the 2018 World Series.

The Astros players, especially star Jose Altuve, were labeled cheats by baseball fans across the country, especially Yankees and Dodger fans. The team has been relentlessly pilloried for the scandal ever since. However, Houston showed it could beat the Yankees and win a championship after the scandal, sweeping the Yankees in the 2022 ALCS before beating the Phillies in the World Series that year.

Still, for many of the Houston star players on the 2017 team, including Altuve and shortstop Carlos Correa, they never came close to matching their statistical performances while cheating.

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The Astros took a significant step back in 2024, getting swept in the wild-card round by the Detroit Tigers and failing to reach the ALCS for the first time since 2016.

So, the Yankees and Dodgers are finally in position to renew their historic rivalry in the World Series.

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