Orioles fans crying over Juan Soto collision to justify Aaron Judge HBP is pathetic

It turns out, every fanbase morphs into a bunch of crybabies when their team faces the New York Yankees. It's just how it goes. And then they try to compare apples to oranges to make themselves feel better.

There was no better example of that on Tuesday night. In the bottom of the first inning, Giancarlo Stanton hit a weak ground ball to third base with runners on first and second. Baltimore Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg came out of nowhere to nearly make an athletic play to get the out.

The O's would log an out on the play, even though Westburg couldn't throw out Stanton. Juan Soto, who was on second base and making his way to third, collided with Westburg and the O's slugger had to leave the game with hip discomfort.

An awkward encounter? Sure. But what about this suggests Soto was being irresponsible or intentional? It was an unfortunate bang-bang play. Could Soto have been a bit more careful? Sure, but then he would have been focusing on avoiding an unlikely collision rather than beating out the play at third base.

Orioles fans crying over Juan Soto collision to justify Aaron Judge HBP is pathetic

All of a sudden, this is a crime against humanity once Yankees fans complained about Albert Suarez hitting Aaron Judge on the hand with a fastball. Judge left the game but thankfully the tests came back negative. He called out the Orioles in the postgame, but Baltimore fans' delusion began well before that.

Karma? Jordan Westburg for Aaron Judge? We call that an eye for an eye? In what society? Westburg, who is admittedly emerging as a good player, has 135 games under his belt. Judge is the best hitter in the planet. These players are not the same.

Collisions on the base paths aren't out of the norm. Nor are hit by pitches. But citing a dumb play from earlier in the season in which Soto was called for "interference" for getting back to the bag on an infield fly couldn't be more of a stretch to try and fortify your "argument" here.

There's also a difference between accidentally hitting batters (which the Yankees pitching staff does, they're third in the league with 40 HBPs) and consistently throwing up-and-in, which the Orioles did on Tuesday. An errant slider hitting somebody in the foot — once again — is not the same as a mid-90s fastball coming at your head/neck area.

In the end, it's baseball. However a team opts to play their game is their business, and it's up to the opponent to adjust. The Yankees just so happened to call out the Orioles for what was turning out to be a dangerous practice (Gleyber Torres was also hit with a pitch on the hand) that could've cost them their $360 million player and AL MVP frontrunner.

Orioles fans can try and spin it all they want. Jordan Westburg is not Aaron Judge. A bang-bang play on the bases is not the same as your wild, incompetent starter throwing 49% balls during his outing (absolutely terrible, find a new profession).

Judge has the right to call out whoever he wants because he's carved out a reputation for keeping to himself and going about his business. Orioles fans? You've earned nothing. When you sign a player for more than $20 or make it past the ALDS, feel free to apply for your seat at the big kids' table.