Los Angeles Angels fans are already starting to raise the bar for Yankees fans a handful of games into the 2021 season.
During a Monday-night victory in which they handed the Houston Astros their first defeat of the 2021 season, fans threw an inflatable and real garbage can on the field as Major League Baseball’s revenge tour on the Astros finally begins after fans were not allowed in ballparks during the 2020 season due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Those garbage cans are for Houston’s cheating scandal, which came to light during the offseason between the 2019 and 2020 campaigns in which the Astros were found guilty of illegally using technology to steal an opposing catcher’s sign and relaying to a clubhouse attendant, who would then bang on a trash can in the tunnel of the dugout to alert the batter about which pitch was coming.
The scandal took place during the Astros 2017 World Series-winning season with further speculation insinuating it was used once again in 2019.
The Astros played the Yankees in the ALCS in both of those seasons with one of the most questionable images of it all coming when Jose Altuve clutched his shirt close as he was mobbed by teammates in Game 6 of the 2019 championship series after hitting a series-clinching, walk-off home run off Aroldis Chapman.
So there might have been some satisfaction from the Bronx faithful when both of those trash cans came in the sixth inning in Los Angeles on Monday night, the second coming while Altuve was at the plate.
Trash can gate in Anaheim is on and poppin as the Houston Astros have been welcomed by Angels or just baseball fans. pic.twitter.com/sXujkPOWQt
— Adam Castro (@Amcastro16) April 6, 2021
Needless to say, there are some Yankees fans out taking notes as other signs at Angels Stadium read “Yo, you guys need an extra buzzer?” and “Had A Funny Sign Planned For This Week But The Astros Stole It!”
And with two years of pent-up frustrations ready to boil over, one can imagine just how much vitriol Yankees fans — regardless of how many are permitted in the ballpark — will spew upon the Astros, who visit the Bronx for a three-game set May 4-6.
Meanwhile, Astros manager Dusty Baker — who took over for disgraced manager AJ Hinch after he was fired — doesn’t seem to know what awaits his team this season.
“You can tell the amount of hostility and the amount of hatred in the stands,” Baker said. “How many in the stands have never done anything wrong in their life? We paid the price for it.
Hinch lost his job, so did GM Jeff Luhnow, Alex Cora, and Carlos Beltran — who was momentarily the manager of the Mets. The Astros lost some draft picks and some pocket change, too.
But Hinch is leading the Detroit Tigers, Cora is back with the Boston Red Sox, while Beltran was unnecessary collateral damage. So the punishment didn’t nearly fit the crime.
“How many people have not cheated on a test or whatever at some point in time,” Baker wondered. “I mean it’s easy if you live in glass houses, but I don’t think anybody lives in glass houses. I think that sometimes we need to look at ourselves before you spew hate on somebody else.
“It’s a sad situation for America, to me, when you hear things — I mean what are the kids supposed to think in the stands? And some of them are kids that are following their parents. It’s sad to me. People make mistakes. We paid for ours, and I wish they’d leave it alone.”
That’s not happening Dusty. Cue the photos of Yankees fans rummaging around for their pitchforks and torches.
