The Houston Astros have been booed since they arrive in Seattle for the MLB All-Star Game.
It's fair to expect a rival to be booed during All-Star Game festivities. In Seattle, the Houston Astros have been a prime target.
This all began during the lead-up to the Home Run Derby, when Orbit, Houston's mascot, was mercilessly booed by Mariners fans. This continued on Tuesday.
Orbit did not seem to care.
However, it was a bit of a surprise to see the likes of Dusty Baker and Yordan Alvarez receive this sort of negative attention. Baker, for one, was not even managing the team during the 2017 sign-stealing scandal. That was A.J. Hinch, who is nowhere to be found during All-Star week.
Sheesh! Credit to Mariners fans for bringing the heat.
Why are the Astros being booed at the MLB All-Star Game?
Houston players are being booed for several reasons. First, they were not suspended for the 2017 sign-stealing scandal. Even for those who were not a part of that team, the Astros organization will have a stained reputation for quite some time, especially among division rivals and Los Angeles Dodgers fans.
Booing Baker, who has been around baseball for decades, was a bit much. However, the minute he signed on to be the Houston manager, he should have seen this coming. The more the Astros succeed, the worse the vitriol of opposing fans will get. That's just how this works.
Even at the MLB Draft, which is typically a celebration of young prospects receiving their chance to play for a major-league club, Houston was on the receiving end of some serious hate.
For the first time as commissioner (at least lately) Rob Manfred was not the main subject of this discontent.
The Astros expect this kind of treatment. It's not a huge surprise on their end, though it's certainly noticeable.
