We've all heard the optimistic idiom- cheaters never prosper. We like to tell ourselves this cliche, to pine that someone skirting the established rules of a game get their commupance. It could be solitare, of Wall Street, but cheating takes many forms and can have many victims. In the sport of baseball the most hideious, ambitious and vile cheating scandal took place in the recent past. Starting in at least 2017, on through 2019, the Houston Astros created a vast cheating operation to spy on opposing teams and steal pitches, relaying that information to the batter by whistling and clapping. In 2017, the team was brazen enough to bang on a trash can in their clubhouse, a sound that opposing teams heard and was picked up on the TV feeds of the game. Because of this, when the League published their findings on the greatest scandal to rock the sport in a century, observant fans began combing through their schedule for documented instances of the Astros tearing apart the integrity of the game. They won a championship that year, casting doubt on the truth in "cheaters never prosper", but are now priahas in the baseball world with tainted legacies.
To unlock the final coordinates for this cache, please answer these following questions pertaining to the actions of the 2017 Houston Astros.
N 33° ZY.XWV W 96° OR.BIT
~How many times [Z] did an Astro bang the trash can during the 5/9 game against Atlanta?
~On a day in April, the Astros were losing 5-2 in the ninth to the Angels. In the final inning, a bang during whose at-bat gave the team a leadoff single? [Y]
~The league MVP for this year only got a hit off of the system. What inning [X/] did it occur?
~The first recorded instance of the Astros banging the trash can frequently in a game was a victory over the Orioles. Which player [W] grounded out before George Springer broke the tie with a home run?
~About a week before Hurricane Harvey's landfall, the Astros defeated a club after Alex Bregman's [ V/ ]th inning home run, on a 1-2 strike count.
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~Mike Bolsinger is suing the 2017 squad for ruining his career by cheating. What day did the team bang the trash can a record 54 times, costing Bolsinger a job in the big leagues? (O)
~From the Bolsinger game until Hurricane Harvey disrupted their schedule, how many home games (R) did the Astros lose?
~The Astro with the lowest correct bang % only recorded three documented hits off the system. What position (B) was he playing when he knocked a single off Matt Grace after hearing the trash can?
~The only Astro batter who refused to participate in the scheme hit (I) triples in 2017.
~After hearing a bang from the dugout on a 3-2 pitch, Yuri Gurriel hit a double with two outs to score (T) runs in an eventual Astro victory on a weekday in late September.
While unraveling the mystery of this cache is possible with limited knowledge of baseball, it will be significantly easier for fans. When you get to the final, please be delicate in removing the container and re-hide it exactly as found. Feel free to message me for help in solving this cache, and thank you to the drives team for the container. I reserve the right to delete any online log based on integrity and am not forcing you to submit to risk and find this cache. Please be safe and try to have fun!
Congrats to TommeGun, QuadWrays and Leprechaun49 for the combined FTF