Before the coronavirus pandemic put a stop to the baseball season and sent games behind closed doors, the Houston Astros were essentially guaranteed a season full of hostility from opposing crowds.
The Astros cheating scandal dominated the offseason, and we were already seeing that hostility play out during spring training before the sport was shut down.
But closed-door games haven’t completely shielded the Astros from their much-deserved heckling. Fans will always find a way. We’ve seen that play out during the ALCS matchup with the Rays at San Diego’s Petco Park.
Reporters at the stadium noticed someone watching the game with a megaphone from a nearby apartment balcony. He was taunting the Astros for the cheating scandal.
There is someone (in an apartment building?) outside Petco Park with a megaphone reading out the names of Astros players and calling them cheaters. "Jose Altuve, you are a cheater shame on you. Carlos Correa, shame on you.” And so on.
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) October 15, 2020
A man outside of the ballpark is on a megaphone yelling that "the Astros are a bunch of cheaters" and that "Jose Altuve, you are a cheater, shame on you." They are going down the list of players who were on the team and saying the same thing
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) October 15, 2020
According to The New York Times, this fan shouted insults like:
“Attention: Members of the Houston Astros organization that participated in the sign-stealing scandal of 2017 and 2018. You all are a bunch of cheaters. The global baseball community has not forgotten your transgressions against the game.”
Just legendary.
The Times actually caught up with this fan: 30-year-old Chicago White Sox fan, Tim Kanter.
He went as far as to purchase a megaphone that could project sound the approximate 700 feet from his balcony to the field (he did the math to figure out the distance). And Astros second baseman Jose Altuve evidently noticed the heckling as he could be seen turning around and looking towards the outfield as Kanter was speaking.
We haven’t been able to find video of Kanter’s antics, but plenty of reporters heard it.
A fan with a megaphone in one of the buildings surrounding Petco Park is going down the Astros roster and saying "(Player name), you are a cheater, shame on you."
— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) October 15, 2020
Someone with a bullhorn behind Petco Park is talking about the Astros: "The baseball community has not forgotten your transgressions."
This man is now going through each player and saying: "You are a cheater, shame on you."
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) October 15, 2020
Someone at Petco is blaring from an unseen loudspeaker: "You are cheaters. Shame on you."
— Stephanie Apstein (@stephapstein) October 15, 2020
There's someone outside Petco Park, presumaby, with a speaker, listing the names of #Astros players, saying "You are a cheater, shame on you.'
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) October 15, 2020
You have to respect that effort from a totally neutral fan who just wanted to shame the Astros for cheating. Well done, Tim.
He’ll have another chance during Thursday’s Game 5.
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