The moment the 2021 MLB regular season schedule was released back in September 2020, Dodgers fans have had these two days circled on the calendar for months now.
The Houston Astros will return to Dodger Stadium, the place where they won their now-controversial 2017 World Series championship.
After two years, Dodgers fans will pack the stands when the Houston Astros visit the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday
Both the Dodgers and Astros of course did play each other at Dodger Stadium last year because of the shortened COVID-19 season, but it was with empty seats.
The Dodgers and the Astros did play each other earlier in the season in late-May. It was like this series a two game series, but it was at Minute Maid Park. They split both games.
It is the first time since the 2018 season, that fans will attend a Astros-Dodgers game at Dodgers Stadium.
For the Houston Astros, the hate will be nothing new. They have been booed, thrown inflatable trash cans, abused with signs at ballparks, and have been nothing short of being abused at every ballpark they have visited since the sign-stealing scandal came out.
Don’t expect it to stop at Dodger Stadium. Expect it to get a whole lot worst than what they experienced.
If you thought Yankees fans abusing the Astros at Yankee Stadium in early May was entertaining, get ready for Dodgers fans to one up them for the next two days and make the Yankee stadium feel like it was a high school football game.
The crowd at Yankee Stadium during those three Astros games in May was averaged to slightly over 10,000 fans at the stadium. The Dodgers averaged over 42,000 fans during their last homestand between July 19th-25th, reaching a height over 50,000 fans during a Giants-Dodgers game during that homestand.
Expect the two games to reach over 45,000 fans, maybe even reach 50,000 fans at both games too. Tickets are still pretty cheap, according to Stubhub, as they are only as low as $37 for Tuesday games, and as low as $46 dollars, for Wednesday game, which will be Max Scherzer’s debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The atmosphere will be loud, abusive, and massive during the two Astros-Dodgers games. This will be the loudest booing they will ever face since the sign-stealing scandal broke.
Mookie Betts, All-Star Outfielder for the Dodgers, told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that he was prepared for war during these two games.
“I’m sure there’s going to be some fights and stuff in the stands,’’ Betts told Nightengale, “It was a such a long time ago. The emotions the fans feel, what the other guys feel, I don’t have any of that. But I assume there’s guys in here that still feel a certain way.”
Juan Toribio and Brian McTaggart, both beat writers at MLB.com for the Dodgers and Astros respectively, echoed that same sentiment during MLB.com preview of the Astros-Dodgers series.
“I think it’s going to be the most hostile environment the Astros play in yet,” McTaggart said according to MLB.com, “(Dodgers) fans have been waiting for nearly two years to let the Astros know how they feel.”
“I also think a lot of the former Dodger players on that team are really looking forward to seeing what happens and how the fans react,” Toribio said, according to MLB.com, “It won’t be closure for these guys, but booing and yelling “cheater” for three hours will help these people heal a bit.”
My message to the Houston Astros on how to handle the two games is pretty clear: embrace the hate. Just do your job and try to win one of the two games against the Dodgers.
This will be the loudest and abusive atmosphere that you will face. The atmosphere will feel like a Texas-Oklahoma football game.
So sit down folks, enjoy these two games, and Houston: prepare to feel the hate the next two days.