Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) attended the ALCS championship game at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Cruz, who lives in Houston, was there to cheer on the Houston Astros against the New York Yankees. Cruz was booed and jeered in the stands, with the occasional middle finger salute thrown in for a true Bronx welcome.
It’s ok. Cruz is used to such treatment. He wore an orange Astros shirt, as Astros fans do, so he was going to get the business from Yankee fans anyway. If it was, say, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee or Mayor Sylvester Turner, both Houston Democrats, their presence would have been applauded or perhaps just ignored. But we know how the game is played and so does Cruz.
On Twitter there was plenty of criticism of Cruz for showing up. The game was the 4th of 7 in the championship series for the American League pennant. The winner of five out of seven games would go to the World Series. The game Sunday was the fourth of the series of seven. A lot was riding on it, especially if the Yankees wanted to stay in the fight.
Social media did what social media does. Many people on Twitter relished the negative reactions Cruz received. Let’s look at some of those reactions.
This is Cruz’s reaction today as he notes that the Astros won the game and bested the Yankees in four games.
scoreboard.#GoStros https://t.co/915ltl7KBb
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 24, 2022
Here’s a Project Lincoln guy getting in on it:
Ted Cruz getting a real New York greeting pic.twitter.com/cplqzNq1Oe
— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) October 24, 2022
Here is the former Harris County Clerk involved in the shenanigans that occurred during early voting in Harris County in 2020. He is running for Mayor of Houston now.
If you’re also irritated seeing Ted Cruz’s face during every pitch, please vote for @texasdemocrats candidates starting tomorrow. You can’t vote out Ted this year, but you can remove some of his pals from state office. #LevelUp #ALCS
— Chris Hollins (@CGHollins) October 24, 2022
A perpetually thirsty Trump-deranged Lincoln Project co-founder grifter weighed in, too.
Ted Cruz going to Yankee Stadium proves his staff really, really, really hates him.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) October 24, 2022
You get the picture.
The truth is that Cruz, and Houstonians, got the last laugh. The Astros knocked off the Yankees in four games and will face the Phillies in the World Series. The first game is Friday. Yes, I fully expect to see Cruz in the stands at Minute Maid Park cheering on the Astros. Houston loves the Astros and they have had a spectacular season and post-season. Too bad, so sad, Yankees. Not really. The senator did a little poking at the New York fans by wearing an Astros orange shirt.
As a Texas Republican, Cruz was never going to be given a warm reception from the New Yorkers in the stands.
But by wearing the Houston colors – as his team sealed their narrow 6-5 victory at the Yankee Stadium – a frosty reception was all but guaranteed.
Cell phone footage from a few rows behind Cruz showed at one point he got up out of his seat to shake the hands of other spectators around him.
But this was met with a chorus of loud boos, with some Yankee fans not holding back in loudly sharing their feelings about the controversial senator.
‘You f***ing loser,’ one could he heard shouting over the boos. ‘Racist piece of s**t,’ another yelled at Cruz.
Yet another shouted: ‘Go back to Cancun,’ likely a reference to Cruz taking a family vacation to the Mexico destination last year while millions of Texans were left without power due to a winter storm.
In one photograph, taken from the side of where Cruz was sitting and shared by VICE reporter Jesse Angelo, Cruz is seen standing up to wave to the crowd.
However, three spectators – including one sitting just two seats away – can be seen flipping the bird at the senator. Another can be seen giving him a thumbs down.
‘@tedcruz came to @yankeestadium wearing @astros colors tonight. The Bronx responded in kind…’ Angelo wrote when posting the image.
My, my. Such unsportsmanlike behavior. New York hasn’t had a World Series appearance in 13 years.
Perfect in the playoffs, Houston opens the World Series at home Friday night against Bryce Harper and the wild-card Philadelphia Phillies, who beat San Diego to close out the best-of-seven NLCS in five games.
It was the first time both pennants were decided on the same day since 1992.
After losing to Atlanta in last year’s World Series, Houston is 7-0 this postseason, earning the fifth pennant in franchise history and another chance at its second championship. The team’s 2017 title was tainted by a cheating scandal.
The first game of the World Series is Friday night at Minute Maid Park. Go, ‘stros. #LevelUp
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