Astros reliever Bennett Sousa apologizes after calling fanbase 'spoiled'

HOUSTON -- A day after he called Houston Astros fans who booed him "spoiled," reliever Bennett Sousa apologized for his remarks in a brief interview with The Athletic."I'm sorry for the comments I made about our fanbase. Anyone that knows me knows how much I care about this organization, this city and our fans," Sousa said in the dugout tunnel at Daikin Park before Game 2 of the Astros' Wild Card Series against the Chicago White Sox."This team took me in four years ago when I was at my lowest, and they've seen me at my highest. I feel really bad about last night. One thing I would love for people to know is no matter how bad they feel about me or anything like that, that I'm feeling it 10 times worse."Sousa got showered with boos after spiking two sliders during the seventh inning. The first allowed Chicago to score a needed insurance run during its 6-3 victory. The second struck out Braden Montgomery, but allowed him to reach first base on a wild pitch third strike."I personally was emotional after an emotional game and was emotional in the wrong way," Sousa said Wednesday. "It needs to be about me there and look inside and know it's not about the fans. It's about me. I need to step it up for this team. I will today. Turn the page to today, hopefully win today and keep this thing rolling."Sousa and veteran first baseman Christian Walker voiced frustrations about both the attendance and adversarial reaction from Astros fans. The team announced an attendance of 34,011 -- more than 7,000 under capacity -- and played beneath swaths of empty seats in the upper deck.Walker called the booing "extremely frustrating as a home player" while claiming the team needed "to come together and do it for ourselves." Boos began during the first two innings of Tuesday's game, during which relievers AJ Blubaugh and Bryan King teamed to put Houston in a 3-0 hole."The fans here are definitely spoiled with a lot of ALCS and World Series runs, and we have to earn that right to bring this team back to that position," Sousa said after the game. "That being said, when this team was in their first (playoff) series 10 years ago, Minute Maid Park was probably packed. It makes a big difference. If we were in Chicago, it'd probably be loud as s--."Houston made seven consecutive ALCS appearances from 2017-23 and had an eight-year postseason streak snapped last season. Owner Jim Crane has never hidden his lofty standards, from his continued claim that the Astros' championship window "will never close" to his acknowledgement in August that "the expectation that I have is we're in the playoffs every year.""It's not an excuse, in my opinion," Walker said Tuesday about the high standards. "Each year is its own thing. You can't assume a team is going to win 100 games every year. It's really, really hard to get to the postseason. We had to do a lot of things right along the way. We had to face a lot of adversity along the way.On Wednesday afternoon, manager Joe Espada said he addressed his players about their reactions while acknowledging he "understands both sides.""There's frustration. Our players and the fans have the right to also show their emotions, and I get it," said Espada, who has been in the Astros organization since 2018. "But one thing I do know is that our players love our fans. We respect our fans. We need our fans. We need the energy from our fans. We feed off that.""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."Sousa's full statement to The Athletic is below:"I'm sorry for the comments I made about our fanbase. Anyone that knows me knows how much I care about this organization, this city and our fans. This team took me in four years ago when I was at my lowest. They've seen me at my highest. I feel really bad about last night. One thing I would love for people to know is that no matter how bad they feel about me or anything like that, that I'm feeling it 10 times worse. I'm going out there, giving it everything I got. This whole team is. These fans have supported us. They love us. I personally was emotional after an emotional game and was emotional in the wrong way. It needs to be about me there and look inside and know it's not about the fans. It's about me. I need to step it up for this team. I will today. Turn the page to today, hopefully win today and keep this thing rolling."This article originally appeared in The Athletic.