Power Rankings: April Astro-Hate Power Rankings

Here is a new trend we are starting at CTH: ranking opposing fans reactions to the Astros.

We all knew this was coming. Having a season with no fans doesn’t shake the memory of 29 other angry fan bases.

The Houston Astros came into this season as the new most hated team in baseball because of their sign-stealing scandal from 2017. Uneducated fanbases continue to believe their success was directly attributed to the sign stealing scandal, despite numerous studies and investigations that determined that it didn’t in fact help them. Not to mention the fact that the Boston Red Sox cheated prior to 2017 for sign-stealing and there have been rumblings throughout the league that it wasn’t just a “Houston thing” – many teams were doing this type of tomfoolery.

But the Astros did in fact sin, they did disrespect the game of baseball and in the eyes of many people, they were not given the harsh enough punishment. I guess losing the best GM, the best manager and all your future top draft picks doesn’t provide enough vindication for all those hateful fans out there.

So fans are going to do their best to make the Astros life miserable. How will they do that? The best way fans know how – by driving down to the ballpark when the Astros are in town, paying $400 plus for a ticket, standing in their seat and yelling at the Astros, in hopes that one of the players will hear them. Nothing is more American than being able to pay more than you should for a baseball game and scream out all your hate and insecurities to professional athletes that don’t even know you exist. That’ll show them!

The Astro players seem to focus on the game to care about what the crowd feels, but I felt that manager Dusty Baker shared some great thoughts on these angry fans:

“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.”

Unfortunately, that won’t happen. People want vindication for what the Astros “stole” from them years ago. So, let’s have fun with this. C’mon fanbases – show us your creativity! I put together the Astro-hate power rankings for opposing fans. This will be judged on level of fun, ruthlessness, creativity and passion shared by fans during each Astro road series. So, without further ado, here are the power rankings through April.

2.  Oakland A’s

The four-game series against the A’s was full of angry Oakland residents, throwing high levels of scorn at our boys in orange. The venom was at an all-time high. I guess living in constant quarantine and paying $3,500 a month for a 900 square foot apartment would lead anyone to have some pent-up frustration, so I can’t exactly fault those fans.

Boy – were those fans vicious early. The entire teams was booed harshly when they were announcing lineups. Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa heard it all on opening night, ranging from “cheater” to some choice 4-letter words I can’t write. And ESPN was more than willing to showcase the fan-hate on TV. Everyone’s sign was on display with ESPN and fans were first pumping each other early. They clearly circled the calendar for this one.

However, those boos turned to whimpers quick. The Houston Astros came out and beat up the A’s, outscoring them 36-9 in a four-game sweep. The highlight of the series was Carlos Correa body-slamming Matt Chapman to convert a double-play, a play that made every Oakland fan in stands whine like a child. The avalanche of momentum frankly took the life out those A’s fans – Houston was relentless and the fan groans and Astro bats were the only thing you could hear in the Coliseum. By the end of the series, the fans were more bitter about their own team than the 2017 Astros.

Just about everything has gone well for Oakland since then (and everything has gone wrong for Houston) but this was a “put them in their place” performance by the Astros. When it matters, Houston is better than Oakland. Don’t believe me? Revisit the 2020 ALDS.

Best Moment: Sign by a fan – “Baseball Fans Haven’t Forgotten Cheaters! Respect the Game”.  Couldn’t agree more with this fan, so respect to him. I wonder what his opinion is on Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire and the Oakland A’s 1989 title?

Worse Moment(s): Sign by a fan – “Altuve .472 BA home, .143 BA away –  Correa .371 BA home, .211 BA away – Bregman .293 BA home, .154 BA away  – THAT’S SUS!”

In 2017 Carlos Correa hit .333 at home and .301 on the road, Jose Altuve hit .311 at home and .388 on the road, and Alex Bregman hit .278 at home, .293 on road. The only thing “sus” about this is this fan’s general understanding of stats. It’s never too late to finish high school, buddy.

Cheering when Michael Brantley got HBP. The pitch wasn’t at all intentional, but the fans sure did enjoy it. I doubt any of those fans have been hit on the hand with a 95 MPH fastball. That was pathetic – be better, Oakland.

3. Seattle Mariners

Mariner fans didn’t show up in droves like some of the others team to scorn the Astros. The limited capacity might be some of the reason for that, and just the fact that Seattle fans aren’t as agro about their sports as fans from California.

Mariner fans were actually quite more pleasant than expected. It turned out those fans just wanted to sit at the ballpark, drink a cup coffee and discuss which Pearl Jam album they like the best instead of booing constantly. (My favorite is Ten, followed by Vitalogy).

That wasn’t to say there wasn’t anything – there were the occasional cardboard posters and “Cheater” yells throughout the weekend series. But with no Altuve and Bregman playing, it’s seems it was harder to yell at guys for cheating who were playing AA ball in 2017. Mariner fans seemed more giddy that their team was actually in first place in the AL West rather then worrying about sign-stealing.

Best Moment: Sign by a fan – “My peaches are out in Georgia. My cheaters are out in Houston”. Who knew Henry David Thoreau was a Mariners fan?

Worst Moment(s): Sign by a fan “Hey Altuve: You’re the Sign Stealing MVP”. Apparently someone didn’t tell this fan Altuve wasn’t playing that night. Or that Altuve was the player least-involved in the entire scheme.

Booing Alex De Goti. Really?  How can anyone boo that guy? He was playing in Quad Cities in 2017.

4. Colorado Rockies

Rockies fans were by far the softest off all the early fans, and for a variety of different reasons. The Rockies are in the National League, so there isn’t much of a rivalry to start with. The games were played in 20-degree weather and wet snow, which definitely hurt the attendance. And the Rockies are, well, they are not very good (neither are the Astros right now, but that’s another subject).

To be honest, if Rockies fans should be mad at anyone, it should be their own team. Colorado, instead of agreeing to a long-term deal, shipped off All-Star Nolan Arenado in the offseason to NL foe St. Louis for draft picks and a bag of Ruffles Potato Chips. That lack of commitment to a home-grown star is baffling, and I don’t blame Rockies fans for being upset about it.

While both two teams struggled mightily on the field, the fans struggled to have any consistent Astro-hate. Yeah, there were some boos for Alex Bregman and the occasional trashcan prop, but other than that it was quite soft.

Best Moment: A fan with a trashcan was getting kicked out after 1 inning for banging a trash can directly behind home plate. Sometimes you just got to admire dedication.

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Worst Moment: The entire second game. Not because of the fans – it just looked miserable out there in the snow. Who know the Rockies and Astros would play a game beyond the wall like in Game of Thrones.

Upcoming Schedule – May

The Astros will the hit road on an east-coast trip against Tampa (a place where Houston never wins) and then against the Yankees in the Bronx for a three-game set. The Yankee fan hate should be brutal, but they might just end up booing their own team at this point.

After a mid-month homestand, Houston will head back out on the road to play in the new Rangers stadium before heading to Oakland for another series. Hopefully the A’s will have lost a game by then.