Yankees legend "Gold Glove Award" winner fires back at former Yankees manager Joe Girardi over the 2017 Astros scandal: “They never apologized for what was stolen from us.”
New York, NY – November 11, 2025
Nearly eight years after one of Major League Baseball’s most infamous scandals, tensions have resurfaced in the Bronx. Former New York Yankees infielder Chase Headley has publicly pushed back against comments made last week by ex-manager Joe Girardi, who urged players to “let go” of the pain caused by the Houston Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal.
In an interview on Foul Territory, Girardi revealed he had texted a former Yankee still upset about the incident, telling him: “You’ve got to let that go. I’ve let that go. It’s in the past.”
But for Chase Headley — a key part of the 2017 Yankees team that fell one game short of the World Series — the words struck a nerve. In a candid response shared with The Athletic on Tuesday, Headley made clear that forgiveness doesn’t erase injustice.
“They never apologized for what was stolen from us,” Headley said firmly. “I don’t need a trophy. I don’t need a parade. What I want is honesty — accountability. Because what happened in 2017 changed people’s careers, it changed lives. And to this day, no one in that organization has ever looked us in the eye and said, ‘We cheated you.’”
The Yankees lost the 2017 ALCS to Houston in seven games — a series later confirmed to have been tainted by electronic sign-stealing. For players like Headley, who retired in 2019 after 12 seasons in the majors, the pain isn’t nostalgia — it’s unfinished business.
“People say move on,” he continued. “But how do you move on when the system never admitted what it took from you? That wasn’t just a game. That was our chance — the dream every player sacrifices for. Some of us never got back there.”
Headley emphasized that he wasn’t attacking Girardi, but rather standing for the principle that integrity must mean something in baseball’s modern era.
“Joe’s a good man, and I understand what he means,” Headley said. “But for me, moving on starts with the truth. Until the league, or Houston, truly owns that — we’re all still playing under a shadow.”
As the Yankees prepare for a new season with a new generation of stars, Headley’s words echo through the Bronx — a reminder that, even years later, the wounds of 2017 haven’t fully healed.
“I don’t want revenge,” Headley concluded. “I just want baseball to mean what it says it means — fair play. That’s all I ever wanted.”
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