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A winter vacation has turned a New York high school student into a minor internet celebrity.
Twitter user @Captainderk talked to The Post on Wednesday morning after his trolling of the Astros at their spring training facility in West Palm Beach went viral this week. The student, who wished to remain anonymous, posted videos of himself banging a trash can and shouting “Cheater” at Jose Altuve on Monday as the Astros franchise is embroiled in a sign-stealing scandal that has turned them into baseball villains.
“I’m a big baseball fan, so I wanted to watch some practices,” the lifelong Yankees fan said. “When I called Altuve a cheater, there was some gasps, but no one said anything. When I banged the trash can, [Carlos] Correa saw and smiled. One Astros fan said ‘Good one’ right after I did it.”
The student said he was on vacation with his family in the West Palm Beach area and the Astros facility is “only a short drive away.” Altuve has become one of the faces of the scandal, as some have speculated that he was also cheating in 2019 with the use of buzzers. The 2017 MVP was seen shouting at teammates not to rip his shirt off after he hit the pennant-winning home run in Game 6 of the ALCS against the Yankees.
Altuve has denied those accusations.
Players around the sport — from Mike Trout to Aaron Judge — have spent the opening days of spring training letting loose on the Astros’ sins, which included a poorly received apology last week. @Captainderk said he has received a mixed reaction to the videos, which have been viewed more than 2 million times online. He has been written about on several notable sites, including Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports.
It has provided a small taste of what the Astros can expect when they travel to opposing ballparks this season.
“Some Astros fans thought it was funny, and others are really upset over it,” he said. “Overall I’d say the reaction from the internet has been positive, but Astros fans are extremely defensive of their team … I didn’t think it would blow up this much. My notifications were ridiculous for two days like they’ve never been before.”
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