Altuve and Co. return to vale of jeers
NEW YORK — Before the Bronx made his life a living hell, Jose Altuve approached a group of three youngsters clad in Yankees gear. He posed for pictures with one boy wearing an Aaron Judge jersey. Altuve gave his batting gloves to another in a Derek Jeter jersey.
Altuve is often generous with his time during pregame batting practice. He signs autographs and fulfills as many reasonable requests as time allows.
That he continued the tradition on Thursday hardly counts as news, but illustrated a new normal he and the Astros have had no choice but to embrace. The team enters every road venue a villain, some due to actual misdeeds and others only because they wear a Houston uniform.
Treating it as routine is perhaps the only way to cope.
“It’s crazy,” said Yankees infielder Marwin Gonzalez, a member of the Astros’ 2017 team. “That’s how it’s going to be for a while. I’m on this side now. They did a really good job last year (of handling it). They’re prepared to handle it. Last year, everywhere they went it was the same. They have been through that.”
Atmospheres during the Astros’ six-game stay in New York will rival any since their sign-stealing scandal became public in late 2019. The two-game series at Dodger Stadium last August set a high bar, but the length of this stay in the city that never sleeps may push it over the top.
Comments from both Astros owner Jim Crane and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman only fueled the fire. In an interview with The Athletic this spring, Cashman called the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scheme “illegal and horrific,” contending it was the only reason New York did not capture the 2017 World Series. Houston defeated the Yankees to win the American League pennant.
Speaking to USA Today, Crane called Cashman’s claims “extremely strange” in the wake of a Sept. 2017 letter from commissioner Rob Manfred to Cashman that confirmed the Yankees violated signstealing rules during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The violations did not match Houston’s in any severity.
“We have to anticipate we’re going to get the full brunt of the Yankees fans. This team also got the full brunt of them in the playoffs in 2019,” general manager James Click said earlier this week.
“We’re going to take whatever measures we feel are necessary to keep our guys safe, but we have faith in the security we have, we have faith in the Yankees and their security. I don’t anticipate anything happening. I think it will be just a very intense environment and, in a lot of ways, that’s good for the game of baseball.”
Houston finished 44-37 on the road last season, one where ballparks gradually allowed larger capacities and criticism became more difficult to ignore. When the Astros came for a three-game series last May, Yankee Stadium only operated around 20 percent capacity.
It did not diminish the abuse. Altuve endured a miserable experience before belting a game-winning, three-run home run to stave off a sweep. Patrons coined a profanitylaced chant featuring his name that continued on Thursday.
The crowd erupted when Altuve absorbed the game’s second pitch off his right elbow. Altuve grimaced in some pain, but bounded to first base to begin another night of boos.