You could see this coming from a mile away.
Sports Illustrated reports the Houston Astros complained to Major League Baseball about taunting by fans this season. This report comes at a time when New York Yankees fans are absolutely crushing the Astros at Yankee Stadium.
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This week, the Yankees are hosting the Astros for the first time since the disclosure of Houston’s illegal sign-stealing scandal. In 2017 and 2018, the Astros illegally used electronic equipment to steal signs, then communicated with batters by banging loudly on a trash can. The Astros beat the Yankees in the 2017 American League Championship Series on their way to the World Series.
The Astros also beat the Yankees in the 2019 ALCS, with Houston under suspicion of using an electronic buzzer under jerseys to tip hitters about pitches. So naturally, Yankees fans have been airing their grievances since the first game of the three-game series on Tuesday.
But according to SI, one Yankees fan, David Taub, went too far after spending $85 on an Oscar the Grouch costume. Oscar, the lovable, grumpy Sesame Street character, lives in a trash can. You can see where Taub was going with this.
When he arrived wearing the costume and carrying a sign reading YOU AIN’T STEALING THIS COSTUME TRASHTROS, he drew laughs and cameras. Unfortunately, he also drew attention from security. “Our policy changed,” he said the guard told him. Taub said the guard added that the Astros had complained to MLB about fans in other cities, and MLB had told the Yankees to tighten their rules. (Officials from the Astros and the commissioner’s office said they were unaware of any such complaints or directives.) So Taub climbed a hill across the street from the ballpark, balled the costume up and buried it amid a cluster of rocks. He flipped the sign over and scrawled MY FRIEND HAD A SIGN LIKE THIS BUT THE TRASHTROS STOLE IT.
The Yankees go for the three-game sweep of the Astros Thursday with ace Gerrit Cole on the mound.
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