Astros fans booing Tarik Skubal during Tigers injury delay emphasizes hate for Houston

If someone were to run a poll on which MLB team has the worst fanbase in baseball, we'd put money on Astros fans being right up there with Yankees fans. Houston fans were mostly fine until sign stealing scandal of 2017 came to light in 2019, just after the Astros' third consecutive trip to the postseason, and then the fans got indignant.

And loud. And obnoxious. And it's been getting louder and louder as the Astros have gotten to their eighth consecutive postseason this year, fully embracing their team's role as baseball villains and clearly looking to perpetuate it.

During Game 1 of the Tigers-Astros Wild Card series, Houston brought all of that terrible energy back to Minute Maid Park. They were definitely miffed because Game 1 starter Tarik Skubal had kept their team to just three hits and no runs 2/3 of the way through the sixth inning, which is kind of understandable.

What isn't understandable are the boos that rained down on the field when Skubal stepped off the mound after getting Alex Bregman to a 3-2 count. He was attended to by AJ Hinch and Tigers trainers, and Astros fans did their level best to prove that they are, in fact, the worst fans in baseball.

Astros fans boo Tarik Skubal, Tigers during injury delay in Wild Card series

The immediate Twitter reactions from Astros fans to Skubal getting checked on should tell you everything you need to know. It's true that Bregman had put multiple good fights against him already. He went down easily enough in the second, but he fought Skubal through a nine-pitch battle in the fourth and was in the middle of a five-pitch battle that would eventually turn into eight before the injury delay. But come on. You're really going to boo a Triple Crown winner and future Cy Young winner when he might be hurt in a postseason game?

Bregman ended up with a long single to end that at-bat, but Skubal got Yainer Diaz to go down swinging for the last out of the inning. He roared as Diaz whiffed on three pitches, yelling back at all of those indignant, loud, obnoxious fans.

Skubal left the game on 88 pitches through six innings, with Will Vest coming in on a nice three-run cushion the Tigers' offense put up for him in the top of the second. Vest continued to keep the Astros off the base paths. Why don't you try booing your own team, Astros fans?