The Houston Astros hold a commanding 2-0 lead in their American League Division Series matchup with the Chicago White Sox. Their fans don’t appear to be handling success well, however. On Thursday night during Game 1 of the series, several Astros fans teamed up to beat up a White Sox fan in the stands.
While the lone Sox fan didn’t help himself by shoving someone, he didn’t start the altercation. It was tipped off by one Houston supporter pouring beer on the guy’s head. That led to a shove, and another Astros fan launched a vicious sucker punch. Another soon jumped in with a second right hand to the chin before things were broken up.
I’ve seen the video. The Sox fan got into an altercation after making obscene gestures while on his way up the steps. He stopped to add a few choice obscenities at Astros fans along the way. During the exchange, it looks like someone threw beer at him. He responded with the shoving, and an Astros fan then threw a punch. I’m not suggesting that anyone should get sucker punched, but it wasn’t as if the Sox fan was minding his business and it came out of nowhere.
It was two Astros fans who were the problem. One poured the beer and got shoved, then his buddy punched the Sox fan. The initial beer pouring guy who got shoved then came back and provided the second punch. Some Astros fans finally pulled the Sox fan away and led him out.
That’s how I saw it. No excuse for the attack and the guy that threw the sucker punch should go to jail but the White Sox fan was acting like a fool and should have known better.
The video was ugly but didn’t tell the whole story. The White Sox fan was arrested just after he got sucker punched. He started the whole thing. It was reported he was going from empty seat to empty seat in mutlple sections being obnoxious. I’m not one to support sucker punches but after reading about the full context of what happened, he got what he deserved.
I didn’t know about his arrest. But I knew he wasn’t just “sucker punched” while sitting there watching the game. He initiated a confrontation with other drunk fans. I agree that punching him for being a dick is pointless, but “fighting words” and all that…he wasn’t just minding his own business. He was specifically looking for trouble.
The interesting thing I keep seeing in these articles is mention of the Astros’ sign stealing scandal yet nobody is mentioning the Red Sox sign stealing scandal in 2018. Are we just pretending that didn’t happen now? One article even went stated Alex Cora was fired from the Red Sox for his role in the ASTROS sign stealing scheme.
They should do more to compare the two, but the above is just fact. Cora was fired before any findings in the Red Sox scheme, for which he was (at least publicly) absolved.