'Make some noise:' Dodger fans bracing for Astros' return to Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES -- They have been booed wherever they’ve gone.

They’ve been taunted.

They’ve been cursed.

They’ve seen inflatable trash cans, and real ones, thrown on the field towards them.

But, now, for the first time since the cheating scandal broke, the Houston Astros are going to the place Tuesday night where they are most reviled: Dodger Stadium, where an expected sellout crowd of 56,000 awaits to unleash a torrent of ferocity towards the Astros.

It could make the Astros’ visit to Yankee Stadium in May look like a housewarming party considering that although the crowds were raucous, with ugly chants towards Jose Altuve, the crowds were limited to less than 11,000.

“It’s going to be wild, we’ve been waiting a long time for this,’’ says lifelong Dodger fan Juan Balderas, 42, who plans to fly in from Phoenix for Wednesday’s game. “We didn’t get a chance to boo them last year because of the pandemic, so it’s just built up....

“We’re going to be really tough them, and hopefully they feel all of the pressure, because they stole that 2017 World Series. It belongs to us.’’

The Astros, who arrived at their Los Angeles-area hotel Sunday night, definitely know what’s coming. Even with no fans permitted during regular season games last year, Dodgers fans stood on the roadside, screaming at the Astros’ buses as they pulled into Dodger Stadium, holding up garbage cans and signs to taunt them.

Now, for the first time since the cheating scandal was revealed in January, 2020, resulting in one-year suspensions for GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch, who were subsequently fired, Dodgers’ fans will finally be able to vent.

“I’m sure there’s going to be some fights and stuff in the stands,’’ says Dodgers All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts, who was on the Boston Red Sox team that got beat by the Astros in the 2017 playoffs. “It was a such a long time ago. The emotions the fans feel, what the other guys feel, I don’t have any of that. But I assume there’s guys in here that still feel a certain way.

“I’m ready for war.’’

The Dodgers, particularly those on that 2017 team, will tell you they certainly haven’t forgotten. They may not be interested in staging a war of words with the Astros, but they’re ready to embrace all of the intensity the Dodgers fans will bring.

“I think they have the right to do whatever they feel,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says, “to express their feelings. We have passionate fans.’’

The Dodgers players themselves have expressed their feelings loud and clear, and wasted no time showing the Astros how they feel when they met for the first time last season at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly threw a 96-mph fastball over the head of Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, an 87-mph curveball over Astros shortstop Carlos Correa’ head, mocked Correa after he struck out, and benches cleared.

It cost Kelly an eight-game suspension.

It also made him a hero in Los Angeles.

When the two teams played earlier this season in Houston, there were no altercations on the field, but the stands were littered with vicious fights, with a large contingent of Dodger fans taunting the Astros and their fans at every opportunity.

Now, there are Dodgers’ TV ads promoting the series, saying, “Join us and make some noise.’’

The subliminal message: This is your first chance to take all of your frustrations and anger out in person on the Astros.

MLB has increased security for the series, wanting to make sure that all of the hostility is expressed only verbally, reminding fans that anyone throwing anything onto the field will be immediately ejected.

“I don’t know what everyone in here is thinking,’’ Dodgers first baseman Albert Pujols says, “but a lot of those guys on that team are really good friends of mine. I have nothing against those guys.

“But at the same time, I know the fans are not going to forget about them. We’ll be hearing them.’’

Over and over.

All night long.

Opposing fans have been booing each and every Astros’ player all season, even though most had nothing to do with the electronic sign-stealing scandal. There are only four position players remaining from that 2017 Astros’ World Series team: Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman, and Bregman is on the injured list.

“The biggest thing that pisses me off the most is that the players were 100% responsible, not the GM, not the manager,’’ Balderas says, “and nothing happened to them. They still kept playing. There was no punishment.

“I’m like, are you kidding me?’’

Lost in the drama is that this could be a preview of the 2021 World Series. The Dodgers, 64-43, just added three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer and All-Star shortstop Trea Turner, and are favored again to return to the World Series as defending champions. And the Astros, 64-42, have the best record in the American League.

“It’s a really good ballclub,’’ Roberts says. “We are just prepared to win a baseball game. I certainly understand the outside noise. But we don’t think too much about it.’’

Who knows, maybe the ultimate drama would be a 2017 rematch in October, this time, fair and square, with no sign stealing.

“I’ll pass on that,’’ said Dodgers fan Trey Smith, 41, who watched the Dodgers with his son over the weekend in Phoenix. “I’m not a guy who boos. I just don’t want to see those guys (Astros) back in there.’’

Follow Nightengale on Twitter: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers-Astros: L.A. fans expected to be raucous for Houston's return