The Houston Astros have become enemies of the entire baseball world after their sign stealing scheme used during the organization’s 2017 World Series season was uncovered, and while some players have warned that Astros may face retaliation in the upcoming season, some angry fans are unsurprisingly crossing the line and sending threats to players involved in the scandal.
Athletics pitcher Mike Fiers, who acted as a whistleblower and provided details about the scheme to The Athletic in November, said this week that he’s received death threats. According to Astros outfielder Josh Reddick, who won a ring with the team in 2017, said Friday that he and other Astros players have received threats as well, and that he’s worried about his family traveling with him throughout the season.
Via ESPN:
“You just see the first things in your suggested box and it just says, ‘I will kill your family. I will kill your kids. Blah blah blah. It’s depressing to read because it’s over a game of baseball. It’s not worth that kind of drastic measure.”
Earlier this month, Carlos Correa said that Reddick was one of the players who did not want to hear a trash can bang to indicate pitches during the 2017 season, and that Reddick would be mad if he heard it during his at-bats. According to a comprehensive study of game footage completed by a fan, a total of 28 bangs could be heard during Reddick’s home at-bats over the course of the season.
