Video: Fans Throw Inflatable Trash Can onto Field During Astros vs. Angels

Scott Polacek @@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVApril 6, 2021

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels pitches against the Chicago White Sox at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, on April 4, 2021. Ohtani hit and pitched in the same regular-season game for the first time in his major league career. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)

Kyodo News via Getty Images

The Houston Astros didn't have to worry about opposing fans referencing their sign-stealing scandal during a shortened 2020 Major League Baseball season that was played without spectators in stadiums due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That has very much not been the case in 2021.

Houston visited the Los Angeles Angels for the first matchup of the season between the two American League West squads on Monday, and a blow-up trash can made its way from the stands onto the field:

Jack Harris @Jack_A_Harris
FOLKS https://t.co/TJH5i8hDRo pic.twitter.com/87b8r2Y3VY

tedsbaseballvlogs @tedsbaseballvl1
Blow up trash can. #Astros #Angels pic.twitter.com/4wPFCXegpx

The Baseball Newsletter @bbletter
Another angle of the “trash can” and the Astros on the field, right beside a *know the signs* ad board<br><br>(Via @sam_berns97) pic.twitter.com/VcSMEgFCBL

This comes after the Oakland Athletics played the song "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood while announcing the Astros' starting lineup before a game in the season-opening series, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle.

The trash can was referencing one of the ways Astros players apparently communicated with each other to signal which pitch was coming during their 2017 World Series championship run.

Houston was ultimately fined $5 million and stripped of its first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021. General manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, who were both fired by the Astros, were each suspended one year for their role in the scandal.

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