A New York Yankees fan became a social media sensation this week thanks to his recent antics during which he taunted the Houston Astros over their sign-stealing scandal, and now the young man has opened up about his brilliant bit of trolling.
What played out at the Astros’ spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., was surely a delight for anyone who believes the team egregiously violated myriad baseball norms by stealing signs during their 2017 World Series-winning season.
The newly internet-famous Yankees fan shared footage of himself on Twitter banging a trash can — which is of course a method the Astros employed to relay stolen opponents’ signs — as Houston held a workout on Monday.
The Yankees fan in question also shared video of himself hollering “cheater” at Jose Altuve — no stranger to mockery of late — as the Astros second baseman signed autographs.
Identified only by his Twitter handle, @Captainderk, the high school-aged Yankees fan recently spoke with the New York Post about becoming a hero for our times with his trash-can trolling.
“I’m a big baseball fan so I wanted to watch some practices,” he said. “When I called Altuve a cheater, there was some gasps, but no one said anything. When I banged the trash can, [Carlos] Correa saw and smiled. One Astros fan said ‘good one’ right after I did it.”
He added that he’s received mixed reactions to his videos, which have been viewed over two million times.
“Some Astros fans thought it was funny, and others are really upset over it,” he said of his antics while in Florida with his family for a vacation.
The Astros’ sign-stealing scandal has evolved into an unmitigated disaster as spring training gets underway. How Major League Baseball completely bungled the situation and turned it into a full-blown crisis has not helped matters, nor has how major leaguers have unloaded on the Astros organization over the past week-plus.
What’s worse, Wednesday is sure to bring more of the same.
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