CNN's Jake Tapper Says Baseball Fans Should Vaccinate to Fill Stadiums, 'Boo' Astros
The Houston Astros in 2021 are finally playing before live fans in the regular season after Major League Baseball found them guilty of a sign-stealing, cheating scandal from 2017. CNN's Jake Tapper said this week that baseball fans should get their COVID-19 vaccinations to not only fill up ballparks again, but to "boo against the Astros."
"Just please everyone, keep getting vaccinated so we can all pack the stands and boo against the Astros," Tapper said Thursday morning at the beginning of The Lead on CNN.
The Houston Astros played Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium in New York. Yankee Stadium only had an announced crowd of 10,580, which is about 20 percent of a capacity-packed 54,251 fans.
Despite a smaller crowd, Yankees fans were still vocal this week, and not just because it was an out-of-town team. It was the Astros, the team who got caught using outfield cameras to steal pitching signs from opponents on their way to their first World Series title in history during 2017. The Astros beat the Yankees in seven games during the American League Championship Series that season—with all four of those wins at Houston's Minute Maid Park.
Yankees fans were seen holding signs calling Astros players "cheaters," and chants could be heard throughout the stadium: "Cheaters, cheaters, cheaters."
The league began investigating the Astros' 2017 team when former Houston player Mike Fiers in November 2019 came forward to say his team had engaged in sign-stealing methods during 2017 that violated MLB policy.
The Astros organization cooperated with the investigation, handing over video equipment, emails and other communications methods by the team. MLB also interviewed several dozen people, according to its report.
"During the investigation, the DOI interviewed 68 witnesses, including 23 current and former Astros players," the report read. "Some witnesses were interviewed multiple times. The DOI also reviewed tens of thousands of emails, Slack communications, text messages, video clips, and photographs. The Astros fully cooperated with the investigation, producing all requested electronic communications and making all requested employees available for interviews."
News broke on January 13, 2020, that Major League Baseball suspended Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow one year for the team stealing signs during the 2017 season and postseason. No players were suspended for their parts.
Social media trends across Twitter took aim at the Astros that day. Among the hashtags were Cheaters, Pete Rose and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost in seven games to the Astros during the 2017 World Series—Houston won two of the three games played in Houston.
It almost seemed certain the Astros would face a barrage of "boos" and "cheaters" calls during the 2020 season road games. However, the COVID-19 global pandemic put a halt to all spring training events two weeks before the season began, and baseball resumed with a shortened regular season with no fans in the stadiums.
Now that 2021 is here, MLB clubs have begun allowing fans back into their stadiums. Only the Texas Rangers have opened their doors to full capacity.
The Astros have heard the "boos" and jeers at their road games, from Oakland to The Bronx. As the season grows onward, and more people become vaccinated, stadiums will likely see more and more fans up to 50 percent and eventually 100 percent.
The Astros do not travel to Philadelphia this season to play the Phillies, which is Tapper's favorite team.
Houston traveled back to Texas on Thursday, and the Astros will begin a 10-game home stand on Friday. The Astros will then have road series games at Oakland and Texas. Other notable road series this season include trips to Boston, Minnesota, Baltimore and Detroit before the all-star break.
This story has been corrected for the misspelling of Jake Tapper's last name in two instances.
