At this point, Houston Astros players seem to know what they’re in for during the MLB All-Star Game and other keystone events.
During last year’s Midsummer Classic in Los Angeles, the clubs’ representatives were booed, and this year, they faced the same from the crowd in Seattle.
The jeering at T-Mobile Park started almost immediately as the Astros players were introduced before the start of the game.
The boos were sustained as Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez jogged down the red carpet that extended from the outfield wall toward the top of the infield.
Pitcher Framber Valdez, who did not stroll down to the infield with his teammates, was not spared from the crowd.
Astros manager Dusty Baker was also given the same treatment when he was introduced as the manager of the American League All-Star team.
Baseball fans don’t appear to be forgetting the infamous sign-stealing scandal that has marred the Astros’ 2017 World Series championship, even if Tucker, Alvarez, Valdez and Baker were not part of that team.
None of that has stopped opposing fans from booing the Astros in the years since the cheating scandal became public knowledge.
At this year’s 2023 MLB Draft, the team was booed as commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the team was on the clock in the first round.
No member of the Astros organization has seemed safe from the ire of the rest of the baseball world, including the team’s mascot, Orbit, who was booed before the start of the Home Run Derby on Monday.
As he was rained down with boos again during pregame festivities Tuesday, Orbit had a little fun with the noise and pulled out a box of tissues to mock the fans.
The Astros could get the last laugh again, as they sit at 50-41 and sit primed to make the postseason again after last year’s World Series win.
