Houston Astros manager Joe Espada acknowledged the boos from his home crowd after the team’s 6-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday, September 29, 2026. This comes as the team, after finishing the regular season at a surprising 81-81, became the first team with a non-winning record to even qualify for the postseason. For that playoff opener, an announced attendance of 34,011 left large portions of the upper deck corners mostly empty, a stark sight in a ballpark that holds nearly 41,000.
“Pretty Pissed Off” Player and a Manager’s Balancing Act
The fan frustration hit a boiling point when reliever Bennett Sousa told The Athletic he was “pretty pissed off” after getting booed for allowing a run following a couple of wild pitches in the seventh inning. Sousa didn’t hold back, saying Houston fans “are definitely spoiled with a lot of ALCS and World Series runs.” He later apologized for those comments on Wednesday. Espada, speaking before Game 2, had to navigate that tricky situation. He talked to his players about how to react to the environment, telling reporters, “The way I see it, I understand both sides.” He gets it: “There’s frustration. Our players and the fans have the right to also show their emotions, and I get it.” But he also made it clear where the team stands, emphasizing, “Our players love our fans. We respect our fans. We need our fans. We need the energy from our fans. We feed off that.” Espada delivered a direct message to the fanbase, saying, “I do want our fans to know that we love them and we need them. They’re part of what we are trying to accomplish here. They’re part of our family.”
A Dynasty’s Dip and Espada’s Personal Stakes
It’s undeniable, Astros fans have seen an incredible run. After just one World Series and four league championship series in the franchise’s first 55 years, they’ve stacked up two World Series wins, four World Series appearances, and seven straight American League Championship Series from 2017-2023. But that downtown ballpark that was rocking for so long? Interest has definitely dwindled a bit. Regular season attendance averaged 30,520, their lowest since the 2017 championship season, not counting the COVID years. Manager Joe Espada, who’s been with the team for nearly a decade, joining as bench coach after 2017, is now in his third year as manager and the final year of his contract. He’s won two division titles, but he’s still chasing his first playoff win as the head honcho. He even admits he gets booed too, saying, “I go to the grocery store and I talk to our fans. I go and I drop my kids off at school and I talk to the parents, they’re fans. And I love our fans, right?” For Espada, it’s about setting high expectations and embracing the competition.
Espada’s message to his team is all about respect and moving forward. “We are competitors, and we want to win every pitch, every inning,” he said. He wants the fans to be proud and tells his players “to show their respect, show that they’re on our side.” But ultimately, he’s ready to put the boos on the “back burner” and get his team ready for Game 2 today, Wednesday, September 30, 2026, as they try to keep their Wild Card Series hopes alive.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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