By dwalt
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on October 15, 1998.
In the first installment to Bleacher Rap, Andyzipp talked about what it meant to be an Astro fan and about the Astros past. I would like to talk about the Astros future.
I’m not an author. That said, be patient – it won’t be that bad. The day I found out the child my wife was carrying was going to be a boy was one of the happiest days in my life. He would be a ball player, not just any ball player but a hall-of-famer. Dads, you know how it is. On the ride home from the doctor’s office we had to make one very important stop. We stopped by the local card shop and I found what I was looking for. An Astros team set with a Bagwell rookie card. We decided to decorate his room in a baseball motif and started getting ready. We did the border and trim in a dark blue and the curtains in blue pinstripe. Biggio and Bagwell posters hang on the walls and he has an Astros team locker with a glove in it, Christ he was not even born yet at this time. Maybe a little overboard huh? Anyway I took him to his first game when he was three. It was against St. Louis and he was more interested in throwing popcorn and peanuts at the people below us then the game, but I was in heaven. He got sick on cotton candy and I got sick on nachos and beer but we had a great time. He will be five years old this month and is an Astros nut. When we play ball in the back yard he insists on being Bagwell.
Watching a game on TV he asks if they are playing inside or outside. If they are not playing in the Dome he gets disappointed and asks why not. He refuses to take off his Astros jersey, it has gotten to the point where I have to chase him around the house threatening him with bodily harm if he won’t let me wash his damn shirt. At night when he says his prayers he includes Bagwell, Biggio, Alou and Berry. He leaves out Dave Clark, go figure. I stood in line for three hours to get a Bagwell autograph, another two to get Biggio. It was worth it, someday he will give it to his son. We all bitch and complain about attendence and fan support. But it all starts at home.
Baseball is the greatest thing to happen to a father and son. For those who have not experienced a day at the park with your kid you don’t know what you’re missing. The future of baseball and more specifically the Astros, is in our hands. This has been a great year for the game. Just think, you are sitting on the front porch with your grandkids telling them about the year the Astros won 102 games, about Sosa and Big Mac. About the year the Cubs went to the playoffs (they won’t believe that, but you try). You’ll tell them about the year of the strike and how the game almost died. You will tell them about the biggest trade in Astros history, the one where a 6’10 inch flame-throwing lefty came to Houston and almost carried us to the promised land.
We have a long way to go to get the game back to where it once was. There is the NBA , which at this time is shooting itself in the foot, and the NFL. The NHL is making a lot of waves and now there is pro soccer. We have to teach our kids the true meaning of the game, sportsmanship, teamwork, discipline, hard work.
God I love this game. I hope I didn’t bore you with all of this.
