At this point, it might as well be a time-honored tradition for American sports fans to boo the commissioner during a league draft. It happens to Roger Goodell in the NFL, Gary Bettman is no stranger to it in the NHL, and Rob Manfred gets his according hate in the MLB, too.
But sometimes, hostility for a commissioner doesn’t actually come first to fans. Take what happened during the 2023 MLB Draft in Seattle on Sunday.
Manfred was busy receiving his usual chorus of boos throughout the first round. But when he mentioned that the Houston Astros were about to make their first pick, fans turned up the volume on their jeering. It’s almost as if hating Manfred didn’t matter compared to hating baseball’s preeminent “villain” team in Houston.
Check it out in the video below via ESPN:
As much as the fans in Seattle hate Rob Manfred, they hate the Houston Astros even more. pic.twitter.com/5F5wcvSliq
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 10, 2023
Rob Manfred can barely get words out pic.twitter.com/DturFI8c4E
— Baseball GIFs (@gifs_baseball) July 10, 2023
Manfred has received a fair amount of rightful criticism since he took over as MLB commissioner. This is a guy who has weak explanations for racist advertising and who put bat boys and bat girls on notice (yes, seriously) for how they apparently slow down the pace of games.
But it seems the Astros — after their unceasing run atop the league and past major cheating scandal — still hold a special place of loathing in the hearts of baseball fans. We have a real Sophie’s Choice here.