When future generations are documenting baseball history, Mike Fiers will surely be remembered as one of the game's most significant figures.
The pitcher blew the lid off one of the most nefarious schemes in the history of the national pastime, a scandal that ranks right up there with the Black Sox and the Steroids Era.
Some surely will whisper — or even say right out loud — that he violated one of baseball's cardinal rules by revealing the secrets of the clubhouse when he went public with revelations that Houston cheated its way to a World Series title in 2017 by stealing signs.
If Fiers hadn't made his on-the-record allegations to the Athletic, the world probably never would have known the full extent of the scam.
If there's one thing that sports leagues and pretty much any for-profit business try to avoid, it's embarrassing publicity. We'll never know how thorough the investigation would have been if baseball officials had known it was all on the down low, but history is filled with foul deeds that went largely unpunished until a whistleblower bravely went public with the truth.
Chances are, A.J. Hinch, Jeff Luhnow, Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran would still have jobs.
Instead, all were ousted from the game after Commissioner Rob Manfred quickly and thoroughly investigated the report, singling them out as most responsible for a clandestine video system that allowed the Astros to signal to their hitters what pitches were coming — providing a huge advantage over the guys on the mound.
Not surprisingly, some players who reacted negatively to the way Fiers exposed the Astros' dirty little secret, though they didn't have the same courage to let their be names be used.
