Rival Astros pitcher stokes flames, calls out Yankees fans for booing Aaron Judge

The New York Yankees are having so much trouble with their fans these days that apparently the rival Astros are starting to feel sympathy.

Though fan toxicity exists in every nook and cranny of the internet, Yankee fans are getting the lion’s share of the blame lately for being frustrated by 13 consecutive years without a pennant, many of which featured a king’s ransom of wasted resources. That frustration led to booing during a pitiful showing in Games 3 and 4 of the ALCS. The atmosphere was a result of both poor play and a three-hour rain delay without an explanation prior to Game 5 of the ALDS, which left a lot of fans feeling disrespected.

In a best-case scenario, the Yankee Stadium crowd never boos. They shower their 99-win regular season team with love throughout an adversity-free playoff run. They get their faith rewarded, and the on-field play is so exciting they can barely even remember the GM and manager’s names.

Instead, though, 2022 Yankee fans were treated to an all-time offensive drought of a playoff run, where Aaron Judge hit .063 in the ALCS after an historic regular season. The Astros had a strong enough roster to be able to withstand Jose Altuve’s and Kyle Tucker’s struggles. The Yankees … didn’t, hence the boos. We can’t endorse it, but we can understand it.

Astros closer Ryan Pressly, who retired Judge for the series’ embarrassing final out, doesn’t seem to be able to grasp the motivation behind the boos, though. He spoke out this week and claimed “surprise” at the fans’ actions, crossing his fingers and hoping to chase Judge to San Francisco in the process.

Astros closer Ryan Pressly: Yeah, Yankees fans suck for booing Aaron Judge

It’s almost hard to believe that this non-story has reached such heights that those across the league are commenting on it, but here we are.

The Astros have been relentlessly good for six years. Have they really never heard boos from the home crowd? Ever? Fans boo when a pitcher hucks too many pickoff throws towards first. This fantasy world where booing is uncommon and only reserved for capital offenses just feels so off base.

And plus, there’s that whole … thing about how Judge has mostly provided endless regular-season joy in recent years. Fans were so excited for him to finally carry over his monstrous production into the postseason this year, and they were disappointed when it didn’t come to fruition.

Yankee fans have a relationship with Judge unlike any we’ve seen since Derek Jeter. They serenade him with MVP chants on summer nights in July. They toss baseballs back and forth with him from the right-field seats. He is universally adored.

Apparently, a few bad nights in October were enough to get the league talking about how unfairly he’s been treated. Embarrassingly predictable.

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