The Houston Astros players, especially second baseman Jose Altuve and third baseman Alex Bregman, have grown used to getting booed at this point. Ever since news of the 2017 sign-stealing scandal became public, the Astros have faced scrutiny from fans.

They escaped the worst in a sense, since the story came out prior to the 2020 season, and no fans were allowed at games that year due to the pandemic. Still, boos tend to rain down in most road stadiums against Houston.

The reality of the situation is that many players on the 2023 Astros weren't even apart of the 2017 sign-stealing scandal. Nevertheless, the memory lives on for many fans. Astros relief pitcher Ryne Stanek and outfielder Jake Meyers recently spoke out on fans booing them despite not playing on the '17 ballclub, via a FOX Sports article written by Jake Mintz.

Astros players address getting booed

“They're booing me, and obviously I wasn't here. I was on another team,” Stanek said. “Those kids were born in, what, 2015? They could barely walk when all that stuff went down. They just think that [booing] is what they're supposed to do.”

“That first year, fans had zero perspective,” Meyers added. “Now I think they've gotten smarter about it. Now, it's just a couple guys who get the worst of it. My favorite chirp I heard was a fan telling me that I was practicing my cheating in the minors.”

The Astros players don't seem to have a problem with it at this point. In fact, Stanek later stated that he's supportive of the trash-talk from fans if it is “witty.” Players on the team understand that as long as they are wearing an Astros uniform, given what happened in 2017, fans are going to give them a hard time.

It will be interesting to see if it ever dies down. Perhaps once Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman either leave the team or retire, fans will be more forgiving. For anyone who's seen the Astros play in person on the road, they are more than aware of how much fans boo those two players.