Watch or Go Home, Please

Tonight, my 9-year old son and I attended the Astros vs. Brewers game at Minute Maid Park. It was an awful experience, as we witnessed our team get manhandled at the plate and on the mound en route to an 8-1 Brewer's victory. My wife, Sarah, is from the Milwaukee area and I've been to several Brewers games. They're a fun team to root for when they're not playing your home team. And though the lop-sided loss was another humiliating defeat for our team, it was an important victory for the Brewers as it protected their 3 game lead in first place in the division over the Cardinals, which is a team that is very easy to dislike if you're an Astros fan.

While I was at the game, I happened to glance at the flags on the left field wall, commemorating the years the Astros went to the playoffs. Two struck me in particular, the one when they won the NL West in 1986, and the one where they won the NL Central in 1997. An 11 year drought. After 1997 there were quite a few successful seasons, although it took another 8 years for them to finally break out of the first round, then win the NLCS, and get a shot at the World Series, only to get swept by the Chicago White Sox in four games.

I pointed this out to Jude. He is a die-hard Astros fan, with the loyalty and ferocity that a nine-year old boy has in spades for his hometown baseball team. But I wanted him to understand that it sometimes takes a team a while to build. My main concern is that many Astros game attendees (not necessarily fans) don't grasp this concept. I know this team is horrendous and has only dug itself deeper in a public relations pit with its fan base after the trades of two of its top players for prospects, but if you're going to go to the game, then go to the game to WATCH THE GAME. We sat in $11 seats and there was constant noise from conversations, and constant viewing obstructions from people walking up and down the aisles. They were oblivious to the game going on. The best part was in the 7th inning when, down 7-1, everyone starts doing the wave. I won't even get into the issue of this activity being banned at Arlington stadium, but what sort of moronic sport fan are you to instigate this when your team is being pummeled in a game you most likely paid no attention to, being played by guys who you don't even know because you didn't even bother to see who they traded Pence and Bourn for? What was more embarrassing was that there were a number of Brewer fans there and if there is one thing about Brewer fans it's that they are serious baseball fans, not the casual fans that are attracted to Astros games for the social environment.

These young players, Martinez, Sanchez, Bourgeious, Altuve, etc. are fun to watch because they're aggressive at the plate. They've gotten fairly lucky and have had some success, but that often translates into a lot of swinging strike outs, which is what they fell prey to tonight, making Matt Gallardo, a 12-7 pitcher, look like Greg Maddux. I recall watching Hunter Pence being very impatient when he first came up. Once he learned some discipline at the plate and let the game come to him, he forced pitchers to make pitches they didn't want to and the next thing you know he was on base either via a walk or a hit. The hope is the same happens for these guys. They have a lot of potential. But potential doesn't translate into wins.

Win, and it doesn't really matter whether it's a no-name on the back of the jersey, or a series of indecipherable symbols and hieroglyphs. But winning is key. And this front office of Wade and McLane has had trouble gaining trust from fans that they can scout and find good talent, and the poor guys on the field have an audience who is familiar with the name on the front of the jersey, but not the one on the back. So it's "OMG, when is the hot sauce packet race?" and "Aw shit, I just spilled nacho cheese on my favorite A&F shirt!"

So, while we're still grumbling about selfish NFL players and revving our disgust towards NBA players, make sure to spend time truly feeling sorry for your Astros who are busting their asses in front of a home crowd who are too busy tweeting to realize they're watching the future of this team, and confirming the fact that Houston sports fans are what the rest of the nation assumes we are: Fair weather fans.