At the time of that home run, and him not wanting his shirt ripped off, he explained it to
Fox Sports by saying, "I'm too shy. Last time they did that I got in trouble with my wife."
I remember thinking, what a load of crap. I didn't know why, but it didn't pass the smell test. He has a history of him posting shirtless pitures of himself in the lockeroom. That he was suddenly shy, just didn't add up.
But, I picked up on him facing Chapman, who was throwing 101-103, then suddenly, for no apparent reason, Altuve moved forward in the batter's box to tear into an 84 MPH slider. I didn't have a clue, not a hint, about the sign stealing stuff, but no one, and I mean nobody, moves up in the box against Chapman. You move back as far as you can, look for the fastball and hope you can get around on it. If you get burned by an offspeed pitch, that's OK, because he throws fastballs 80% of the time. That's the only pitch you look for. You don't move up in the box and make an adjustment to an offspeed pitch (unless, of course, you know one is coming).
My personal opinion is that everyone on the Astros roster should be suspended for 80 games. They have plenty of Minor Leaguers they can bring up.
CC Sabathia is not happy. At the Astros Fanfest, Altuve guaranteed another WS championship in 2020. Sabathia responded to Altuve by tweeting a picture of Altuve walking from the On Deck Circle to the Batter's Box, but having to go through a metal detector first.