When all you can say is, “At least they aren’t The Mighty Ducks,” well, that’s too damn close to being grateful for Mississippi. What a stupid, stupid name. The amount of stupid that people will put up with is staggering.
Houston sets up shop in Anaheim for a long weekend series with Big Money. They’ll face a couple of really good pitchers and some really good hitters and a whole lot of empty money bags blowing around the diamond. It’s been a long time since you could look at pitching matchups involving the Astros and not feel only shame and embarrassment.
Thursday, July 3, 9:05 PM CST, Angel Stadium of Anaheim (it’s LA, man – get a sponsor)
Brett Oberholtzer, LHP 2-6, 4.40
Nice start for Obie last time out against the Tigers, but it’s been a yo-yo ride and gravity generally wins those.
Matt Shoemaker, RHP 5-2, 4.50
First start against Houston for the New Toy, who got dinged up good in his last start against Kansas City.
Friday, July 4, 8:05 PM CST
- PROMO: 4th of July Fireworks
Dallas Keuchel, LHP 8-5, 2.78
Our ace.
C.J. Wilson, LHP 8-6, 3.90
Was their ace. 5.97 ERA in six starts last month and has given up 10 runs in his last two starts over 8 2/3 innings.
Saturday, July 5, 9:05 PM CST
- PROMO: Patriotic Hat and Post-Game Fireworks
Scott Feldman, RHP 4-5, 3.92
Hector Santiago, LHP 0-7, 4.08
Sunday, July 6, 2:35 PM CST
- PROMO: Family Sunday and Kids Run the Bases
Collin McHugh, RHP 4-7, 3.22
Garrett Richards, RHP 9-2, 2.81
Over his last six starts, Richards has a 1.49 ERA.
***
It’s been almost a year and a half since the break. You can look at it either way, I guess – a break from something and a break into something, that bit about a door closing while another one opens. The inability to watch the Astros on TV was dealt with in the usual way, finding pirate broadcasts to watch while cobbling together viewings of their games against the Rangers. That worked for a little while, but eventually the sites got shut down and the growing chasm of difficulty in watching games made traversing it less worthwhile. The lack of radio presence chipped in too. Soon I, like many others, had time on my hands that used to be filled watching the Astros.
You can see it on this site. The people who are engaged, who talk about the games are the ones who can see them. Either they live in areas outside the blackout or they live in Houston and actually go to the games. For the rest of us, within the blackout zone but not close enough to go to games frequently, well – we’re dying on the vine.
I’m sure I’ve seen less than twenty games in the last two seasons, and maybe two this year. In the past, I’d watch easily more than a hundred a season. It may well be that Jim Crane believes that the returning success of the team will fill the void with new fans and he’s expecting to lose a massive percentage of the previous fan base in the interim, perhaps forever. The new fans will grow to love what he brings to the experience and the rest of us will have learned the harsh truth that we can actually fill that space in our lives with something else. Some will stay with baseball but move to different teams. Some will find other things to do.
To the Astros, I’m rapidly becoming a ghost, after more than 45 years of being a fan. I’m fading away, moving on to a different journey. The view from the transition is as new and bewildering as it was when I sat in the Astrodome in 1965 to see my first game.
Without going into too much detail, I was lucky enough to make a connection with a band I’d loved since the mid-80s, as they were planning a temporary reunion. I went from fanboy to being on the inside, accompanying them on the short tour they did in 2013 and from there to working with three members in their solo careers after they put the reunion on hiatus. Rock and roll has replaced the Astros.
I’ve met so many people, made so many new friends, famous and struggling alike. I’m working on projects that will be dreams coming true, dreams of what I wanted to do with my life from as far back as early high school. Dreams I’d strangled and buried long ago have somehow taken form, a passerby on a street who stopped to talk, with nothing but shiny promise and boundless joy to share.
My active involvement with the Astros gets weaker every day. I don’t know where this is going or where it will end up. For now, I feel like David Bowman peering beyond the infinite, watching the kaleidoscope in wonder.
***
I’ve…seen things you people wouldn’t believe… Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those…moments…will be lost in time, like tears…in…rain.
Time…to die.
Enjoy every sandwich.