If there's one exception to the rule of MLB players generally looking forward to the return of fans throughout the 2021 season, it's probably the Houston Astros on road trips. We'd seen it throughout spring training, with everyone from fans to security guards perpetuating the Astros' role as the villains of the league.
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Opening Day of the regular season picked up right where spring training left off. Though access to trash cans for fans to bang on wasn't as readily available near the field, there were trash cans and angry messages abound on posters throughout RingCentral Coliseum.
To no one's surprise, there was a healthy helping of boos that rang down from the seats when the Astros' roster was introduced... and they may have turned the amps up to 11 when the, uh, beloved name of Jose Altuve came over the PA.
None of this comes as a surprise and, frankly, nothing really should at this point, at least when it comes to fan reactions to the presence of the Astros. Joe Kelly became a national icon — a hero to some, but a disgrace to others — after he threw at Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa in one of the most memorable moments of the 2020 season.
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Still, it's always a little shocking when you hear a crowd of fans react to a player getting hit by a pitch... with glee. This was the case when Correa was drilled in the top of the fourth by starter Chris Bassitt.
Yordan Alvarez was also hit later in the game, which resulted in more of the same. But, as a number of Twitter users and writers pointed out, Alvarez was playing with the Buies Creek Astros, Quad Cities River Bandits and Mesa Solar Sox throughout the 2017 season. It just goes to show that simply no one is safe if they don the Astros uniforms... eh, who am I kidding. You just can't get mad at Zack Greinke, Astro or not.
Correa and company got the last laugh, however, scoring seven runs after the sixth inning and coming away with a resounding 8-1 victory over the A's.
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