Astros confiscate fan’s sign, booed in first spring training game
The Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal was taken to a whole new level on Saturday.
The team held its first spring training game of the year in Florida on Saturday, a matchup against the Washington Nationals, and were naturally booed heavily throughout the contest. Even their mascot, Orbit, was targeted.
El momento en el que los Astros saltaron al terreno en West Palm Beach pic.twitter.com/df29d4P594
— Mari Montes ❤️⚾️ (@porlagoma) February 22, 2020
One man brought a fairly clever sign to hold up behind home plate to honor the team — which is caught up in a massive cheating scandal that has dominated the offseason.
This fan was holding this sign as the Astros players walked off the field after the National anthem. A few seconds later stadium security confiscated it. pic.twitter.com/58eMHuJ7K5
— Stefano Fusaro (@FusaroESPN) February 22, 2020
That sign, however, didn’t last long. Astros personnel quickly confiscated the sign and multiple others — which, of course, sparked a new wave of obvious jokes on social media.
A different kind of sign-stealing for the Astros: This fan’s Houston Asterisk sign got taken away at today’s Astros game.
(Via @kristieAP)pic.twitter.com/d0bdgw8FSV— Yahoo Sports MLB (@MLByahoosports) February 23, 2020
The Astros are likely to face this kind of reception for quite some time. Fans — especially Los Angeles Dodgers fans, who the Astros beat in the 2017 World Series — are upset that Houston has been cheating, and rightfully so. The way the organization, and the league as a whole, have handled the scandal hasn’t helped much, either, even leaving many Houston fans frustrated.
“When the report finally came out and I read it, it was like your uncle bought you every Christmas present you ever wanted, and then a year later you find out they were all stolen,” one Astros fan told Yahoo Sports’ Hannah Keyser.
If Saturday was any indication, the Astros aren’t going to find many ballparks across the country that will welcome them in with open arms this year.
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