NFL
By: Billy Lewis
The New York Yankees will host the Houston Astros for the first time since October 18, 2019. Of course, that was Game 5 of the ALCS, a series the Yankees would eventually lose in 6. To say a lot has happened since then would be an understatement. Shortly after losing the World Series, the baseball world was rocked by the Astros sign-stealing scandal.
The scandal focused on the 2017 season, a season in which the Astros and Yankees also met in the ALCS. The Astros ultimately won in 7 games, winning each game at home before winning the World Series. The 2017 Yankees seemed to be a team of destiny. They entered the season unsure of what to expect.
2017 was Aaron Judge’s magical rookie season, which helped propel the team into the playoffs. Judge won rookie of the year in 2017, and finished as the runner-up in the MVP voting, to Jose Altuve.
If the MVP race was the only thing seemingly tainted by the Astros over the Yankees, the fans would still give the Astros a rude welcome. However, 2017 ended up being a cultural change in the Bronx. After falling just short of the World Series, the Yankees decided to move on from Joe Girardi and hired Aaron Boone as their new manager.
Had the Astros not been cheating, is it guaranteed the Yankees would have won the series? Absolutely not, but the way that team clicked I like their chances.
Yankee Fans to Aid in Astros Punishment
What would commissioner Rob Manfred do in response to such a jaw-dropping cheating scandal? Well, in the end, not much of anything. Yes, Aj Hinch and Jeff Luhnow were both suspended for a year, but not a single Astro player was punished. Unless you count Carlos Beltran who was fired as manager of the Mets after the story was released.
Manfred more or less was going to let the public ridicule be the players’ punishment. Early on in 2020, it was clear that fans would not let them off easily. In February of 2020 fans were already heckling the likes of Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Carlos Correa by banging on trash cans during batting practice.
As we all soon found out, 2020 was not going to be a normal year. As the Covid-19 pandemic spread, many things shut down. Professional sports were among the closures. By the time sports resumed, fans were still not allowed in most venues.
2020 used a schedule sticking regional teams against each other. Meaning the Yankees only played the AL and NL East and the Astros played the AL and NL West during the regular season. May 4, 2021, is the first meeting since the Astros eliminated the Yankees in 2019.
While not at full force, Yankee Stadium is still allowed 20% capacity, which will be plenty to make their voices heard. Astros’ manager Dusty Baker, was vocal about his displeasure in being booed back in April. After a game against the Angels, in which fans booed and threw inflatable, and miniature trash cans on the field, Baker said, “How many in the stands have never done anything wrong in their life? We paid the price for it. How many people have not cheated on a test or whatever at some point in time?
Baker was hired after Hinch was fired by the Astros, so coming into the job the baseball lifer knew part of the job was damage control. You can’t blame him for coming to the defense of his players. However, saying they paid the price for it was utterly wrong.
The Yankees are still looking to get on track this season. The Yankees are only sitting with a 15-14 record, and they needed a three-game sweep of the lowly Tigers to get to there. The Bronx Bombers will look to live up to their nickname and get rolling against the Trashtros. It was a great start last night with a 7-3 win and they look to make it two in a row. Justin Montgomery takes the mound for the Yanks. One thing is for certain, for a series in early May it should be electric in the Bronx.
