How did you become an Astros fan?

[headhunter]

The possibility of an abduction into the AL is shaking the loyalties of many among the Astros faithful. Some, perhaps many, will take their irrational passions elsewhere. Before we few, we miserable few, are scattered I am wondering what brought you to this dark corner of sports fandom in the first place. So before the captivity of the AL night descends, I'd like to share what brought us here. Born and bred, married into it, followed a favorite player, lost a bet--what led you to the Astros?

For me, it was pure schadenfreude. I wanted to see if Joe Carter had crushed not only the ball, but Mitch Williams' ability to find the strike zone. Having just moved to Houston I went the Dome to see Williams pitch. He was a wild thing indeed. But better than Williams was this great young infield with these guys I had never heard of: Caminiti, Biggio, Bagwell. I kept coming back to see them. And Bagwell just kept hitting the Ball out of the park even in that huge freaking stadium and the team got better and better and they were just on the cusp of busting ahead and catching the Reds but then there's a broken hand and a strike and that growing hope that next year is going to be the year. 

[BUWebguy]

Grew up in Houston (moved there when I was 3). My dad (a diehard White Sox fan who grew up in Chicago) passed away just a couple of years later, so I never really got to share the game with him, but apparently his love of baseball was passed along in my genes.

I didn't really get into baseball myself until fourth or fifth grade, and I started out equal parts Astro fan and Cub fan. (A little league coach one year had given us baseball cards of the players he said we reminded him of; I got Sandberg, and thanks to WGN got to watch him often and thus liked the Cubs. I ask forgiveness for 10-year-old me.) Over time, the Astro part grew and the Cub part dwindled until it became all Astros, all the time.

I have no idea how my following will change if/when the Astros go AL. Just have to wait and see.

[Ebby Calvin]

Born and bred in Houston.  My dad was a Cardinals fan (he grew up in Missouri), and he's loved the game his whole life.  My mom traveled three or four days a week (flight attendant), so watching the game quickly became an every-night thing.  We'd catch a Rockets game here and there, but we rarely missed it when the Astros were on.

I fondly remember warm summer nights eating raw carrots, buttered toast and grilled chicken (dad isn't much of a cook), me with a glass of milk and dad with a bottle of Bud.  We'd talk about the game, talk about the players, talk about anything, really.

I remember towing dad's boat back from Trinity Bay on a hot summer day, freshly-filleted speckled trout in the cooler in the back - Milo on the radio.

I see the joy in my dad's eyes when he recounts the first game he took me to in the Dome, sitting on his shoulders and gasping the first time I saw the field.

I remember skipping a day of school in 1986 to catch Game 6 with a friend and his mom, getting home and finding out my parents bailed on work to do the same thing.

I remember Mike Scott's no-hitter, Craig Reynolds coming in to pitch in a blowout, Dickie Thon's left eye, Caminiti's rifle arm (Hidalgo's too), Biggio's uniform, Baggie's stance, Kent's walk-off, Bourn's wheels and 33 seasons of other memories.

To me, the Astros ARE baseball.  It's my game and they're my team.

[JaneDoe]

Born and bred in Houston.  My dad was a Cardinals fan (he grew up in Missouri), and he's loved the game his whole life.  My mom traveled three or four days a week (flight attendant), so watching the game quickly became an every-night thing.  We'd catch a Rockets game here and there, but we rarely missed it when the Astros were on.

I fondly remember warm summer nights eating raw carrots, buttered toast and grilled chicken (dad isn't much of a cook), me with a glass of milk and dad with a bottle of Bud.  We'd talk about the game, talk about the players, talk about anything, really.

I remember towing dad's boat back from Trinity Bay on a hot summer day, freshly-filleted speckled trout in the cooler in the back - Milo on the radio.

I see the joy in my dad's eyes when he recounts the first game he took me to in the Dome, sitting on his shoulders and gasping the first time I saw the field.

I remember skipping a day of school in 1986 to catch Game 6 with a friend and his mom, getting home and finding out my parents bailed on work to do the same thing.

I remember Mike Scott's no-hitter, Craig Reynolds coming in to pitch in a blowout, Dickie Thon's left eye, Caminiti's rifle arm (Hidalgo's too), Biggio's uniform, Baggie's stance, Kent's walk-off, Bourn's wheels and 33 seasons of other memories.

Great memories.

To me, the Astros ARE baseball.  It's my game and they're my team.

Couldn't have said it better myself.  Great line, Ebby.

[headhunter]

Great memories.
Couldn't have said it better myself.  Great line, Ebby.

Ebby's line is awesome and I couldn't and didn't say it better either.
 
but what brought sweet JaneDoe to the Astros, if that is in fact your real pseudonym?

[Bench]

Like Ebby, I was born into it.  However, unlike Ebby my Dad was a diehard Astros fan.  He grew up in Houston, sweated and fed the mosquitoes at the erector set, and marveled at the construction of the dome.

Also similarly to Ebby, I skipped school to watch Game 6.  However, unlike Ebby, I just stayed home.  My dad and brother were at the game, but my mom couldn't get out of work.  She was interning for a federal judge and the judge "ordered" me to watch near a phone so he and my mom could get updates during breaks in whatever they had going on that day.

To me, the Astros ARE baseball.  It's my game and they're my team.

Like Ebby, this is my sentiment exactly.  There is no however.

[Ron Brand]

My family would take us to an Astro game pretty much once a year from 1965-1977 or so. Dad was a baseball player and that got passed down to us. He turned down a minor league deal with the Braves to marry my mom and start a family but he never lost that love for baseball.

One of my earliest memories is standing by him when he was watching TV, some black and white flickering image in my memory, and there was a game on. He asked me if I knew who that was on the screen and I said no.

"That's Yogi Berra." My dad was a catcher. My favorite childhood guard against evil was the stuffed Yogi Bear I had, probably in the crib, but I kept it around for years as a memory.

Baseball was always very strong in my family and I grew up following the Astros. I loved the Detroit Tigers for no good reason as a child, loved Al Kaline and the 1968 World Series is still my favorite because of how it hit me when I was young, but I am an Astro fan and I expect to always be an Astro fan.

[JaneDoe]

Ebby's line is awesome and I couldn't and didn't say it better either.
 
but what brought sweet JaneDoe to the Astros, if that is in fact your real pseudonym?

Jane is my middle name, Doe---well, we all wanna be somewhat anonymous on the internet.

As far as my Astros fandom goes, I wrote about that a long time ago, in a galaxy pHar, pHar away....

Phuck the Phillies
The pHillies hold a special degree of disdain in my heart. My earliest memories of watching the Astros were in the 1980 National League Championship Series. It was the first time I can remember my young heart being shattered at a loss by a sports team.

My dad had raised me to love football, his sport of choice. At the age of five, he would take me outside and show me how to throw the ball. As I grew older, he would even teach me particular player’s grips on the ball. When he took me to games, we would sit in the end zone so he could draw up plays and teach me defensive lineups. I became an avid fan and my Sundays (after church) and Monday nights were spent glued to the television, watching football. I did not watch baseball. Baseball seemed so boring and without action for me. One night when I couldn’t get to sleep, I turned on the radio and found the Astros game broadcast. Soon, I couldn’t sleep without the melodic drone of the announcers on the radio calling balls and strikes. Their soothing voices lulled me to sleep every night. I still was not a fan of the game, I just loved their voices.

In 1980, I was twelve years old and my family lived in Mont Belvieu, Texas, atop a salt dome, the largest natural gas storage facility in North America. I had heard rumblings of trouble in our town. The salt dome was leaking natural gas. Some of our neighbors had hammered pipes into their front yards and lit them–instant flares. Every evening, a man would come by our house with a handheld monitor and test to see if there were any natural gas fumes. One night, when my grandparents were visiting, the monitors pegged out as they passed by the dishwasher in the kitchen. It had happened to us. We were being moved out of our house.

At first we thought it would be temporary. My parents and my two brothers, the youngest only nine months old, were moved into a single hotel room. For six long weeks. It was unbearable as a child, I can only imagine how bad it was on my parents. The only good things I remember about that time was getting to eat anything I wanted in the hotel restaurant and watching the Astros on TV. Yes, my mom finally gave in. My dad convinced her to let me watch the playoffs. I would sit on the edge of the bed, living and dying with every pitch. As I look back on that series now, I don’t remember it for the great series it was. I was too young to understand. However, when the series finale was decided, my young little heart understood the passion with which one could follow a sports team and the disgust one could have for a rival. An Astros fan was born.

Oh yeah, did I say pHuck the pHillies?  Yeah, well pHuck’em.

[JimR]

as many of you know, as a kid i was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. except for 1955, my heart was broken annually in October by the damn Yankees. i could not follow the Dodgers to LA, however, and Roy Face's 18-1 year had me rooting for the Pirates in 1959. i was a Pirates fan from the first pitch of ST in 1960 to the moment Maz's homer cleared the wall, and that season remains my favorite season of all thus far.The Pirates were also my team in '61. when the Colt .45s came into the league in '62 i switched to them because it was a Texas team! i could hear every game on the radio and could go see a game occasionally. i am a one team guy and have been with them through thick and thin ever since.

[juliogotay]

Growing up in Corpus my dad would listen to the Colts .45s on the radio after dinner. I felt like Gene Elston was a family member. We would go to a game or two a year in Colt Stadium and later the Dome.
We would stay at a motel on south Main, the Surrey House. Nothing special by any means and long torn down. I remember being in their pool swimming one afternoon prior to a night game and a short fella with  crewcut and a cigar in his mouth walked past the pool and up to his room. My dad said it was Nellie Fox and that he lived there during the season.

[ValpoCory]

Was born in Houston, and lived there all but 4 years until I was 18.  My fandom stepped up in high school when I got my license and could drive myself and my friends to the Dome.  I would go to about 30 or more games each year from 1993-1995, and then as many as I could when home from college in the summer.  ~15-20 per year from 1995-1999.  I'll always root for the Astros.  I hope they win the World Series before I croak.

[EasTexAstro]

I killed an Astro fan when I was a child. I took his cap and became a fan from that day on.


Or, I remember the first Astro game I went to with my father. It was the rainout at the dome. We were stuck there for hours, but I remember me and my brother curled up under blankets in the back seat of the Impala watching the Astros players playing in the knee deep water in the parking lot. I got to go to a few games after that, getting a Jose Cruz HR ball signed by him. I remember meeting Ryan a couple of times at BBQs in Angleton and Alvin.

The Astros were my first team.

[S.P. Rodriguez]

One name:  JOSE CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ

The Astros were as much a part of my childhood as impromptu neighborhood games, using mailboxes and the places where the asphalt lines crossed in the street as bases, and the ever present "ghost runner" rules! Astros fan, born and raised.  

[WakePhil]

My Mom.

She was an army brat, but grew up a Reds fan, or rather, a Johnny Bench fan. When she and my father moved to Houston she found a new favorite catcher in Alan Ashby. Mostly she was happy to have a steady hometown and a hometown team. She loved baseball and raised me to love the Astros. I was too young to remember '86, but she balled when they lost and could never tell me about game 6 without tearing up.

One of my earliest, fondest memories was her letting me stay up way later than normal to sort through all her baseball cards looking for Astros players.

In 2005 I went to Vegas for the first time as part of a long road trip around the country. I was trying to find things for each of my family members along the way but couldn't come up with anything for my mom. We were there in August, almost exactly when the Astros reached 15-30. Because my Mother never loses faith, I bought a $10 futures bet that the Astros would reach the World Series (I still don't know why I didn't bet them to win, it was equally ridiculous at that point) to give to her. That bet paid off $1500 in October. It pays to be positive.

[Fredia]

moved to houston, went t0 montgomery ward (we had a charge card ) and got tickets..went to one game then another then another and it bacame a love affair i have still not recovered from.  the dome used to have such magic i think it cast a spell..but now mmpus is like an old frined

[headhunter]

One name:  JOSE CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ

The Astros were as much a part of my childhood as impromptu neighborhood games, using mailboxes and the places where the asphalt lines crossed in the street as bases, and the ever present "ghost runner" rules! Astros fan, born and raised.  

ghost runner usually scored the most runs in our games. we had an additional rule: if you hit a runner with the ball while he's running the bases, he's out--except for ghost runner, being less tangible and all that. small town Mississippi was not always a gentle place.

[Astroholic]

ghost runner usually scored the most runs in our games. we had an additional rule: if you hit a runner with the ball while he's running the bases, he's out--except for ghost runner, being less tangible and all that. small town Mississippi was not always a gentle place.

did it in tejas as well.  don't think its regional.

[S.P. Rodriguez]

did it in tejas as well.  don't think its regional.

I believe it aided in my now lost skill to "tag the runner" at will!  Streetball was a beautiful game. 

[Clark in Denver]

Growing up, my dad wasn't a big fan, but he always got tickets through work. I was 8 in 1986, and I think that's when I really started paying attention. The Astros were really the first team in any sport I started following.

When I got a driver's license, I purchased a 20 game ticket pack and spent a lot of my summer evenings in high school at the Astrodome. I left for Boulder to go to CU in 1996, and continued to be an Astros fan. I really didn't like the Rockies when I got out here with players like Walker, Bichette, and my eventual hatred for the guy who was playing shortstop for them at the time who will remain nameless.

I've had the MLB extra innings package for the last 11 years now, so I've been able to watch the Astros almost every night.

If they switch leagues, I don't think I want to continue to support a guy who took the cash to send them to the AL. It might be different if I was still in Houston, but I live within three miles of Coors Field and I do like a lot of the players the Rockies have on their roster now. I cannot stand their tv guys though.

I'm not sure my passion for a team will ever equal what I have felt for the Astros though.

[OregonStrosFan]

Played baseball as a kid, and used to listen to Arkansas Travelers games on the radio with my grandpa (and also watch a lot of Gunsmoke ("Dillern" as grandpa would call Marshall Dillon).  Got to see a couple of Rangers games in 74-76 ish (loved Toby Harrah and Roy Smalley).  Moved to Houston in 77 and learned to love a man named Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz.  Eventually got hooked on a couple of fireballers named JR and Nolan, and have been an Astros fan since.  Mike Scott and the '86 season is still one of the most magical seasons I have ever seen. [And though the 86 stem game is on On Demand, I have never had the heart to watch it again, and have serious doubts that I ever will be able to watch it again].

I 'took a break' from baseball for a bit in the late 80s and early 90s. Strikes had taken away some of my passion for the game.  Also, my parents got divorced and dad got remarried.  With my 'dad-time' greatly diminished (pilot and new wife issues, not custody issues), we no longer played catch all the time like we used to - that, strikes, etc. severely injured my love of the game for a while. [I would still listen to Rangers games when Nolan was pitching though - loved that guy (until the whole 'Astros should move to the AL West thingie that is)].

Moved to the Northwest to go to law school in 1994 and for now other reason than it was there, went to the Kingdome (ugliest venue for a baseball game ever) to catch a Mariners game.  Saw this kid named Griffey in the outfield.  There, on that day, watching The Kid play the game brought back all the love I'd had for the game, and brought me the peace to 'forgive' MLB and my dad for what they'd 'taken away' from me.  Never really got into the Mariners much, but did start following 'my team' more again. 

Though I stayed in Portland after law school (never, ever, did I previously consider the notion of not returning to Houston, but it just kinda happened), I continue to think of myself (and call myself) a Texan (from Houston).  The Astros were my team though, and following them and claiming my 'allegiance' to them I think in some ways help me to keep my ties to Texas and my identity as a Texan in place.  Don't know that for sure, but think that has had something to do with it.

Though I'd continued to follow (and root for) the Astros in the mid 90s and early 2000s, 2004 was a complete and total game changer.  Yes, the 2004 season success had something to do with it.  Getting Clemens did as well (in that Houston was somehow close to relevant enough with Clemens pitching for them to occasionally merit mention on ESPN).  However, the 'game changer' for me was having access to the MLB Extra Innings package.  Having the opportunity to see the Astros on TV allowed me - living in the Northwest - to get to follow the Astros in a real way.  I've been a 'fanatic' since... 

The other game changer at this time was my ability to find 'peace' from watching a baseball game.  I've had a lot happen in my life since that 2004 season, but through whatever I was going through, watching the Astros (or especially going to a game) were my 'refuge in the storm.'  It may have only lasted for a couple of hours, but for the most part when I was watching a baseball game, my soul was at peace.  Though such is a constant for me these days, it wasn't at the time...  Home games were especially great, as my friends JD and Brownie came to my home and shared the games with me.  Now that I get to watch them every game (via MLB.tv), they have become family...

As for will I continue to follow the Astros to the AL West, my answer is "I think it will happen." Honestly, and I've been thinking about it a lot lately, I am not sure what the ultimate answer will be.  Normally at this time of the year, I'd be checking winter ball stats daily, and reading whatever articles I could find regarding current or potential Astros.  However, for the past 6 or so weeks, I've simply hit the 'mark all as read' button on my Google Reader, and have ignored all but a few baseball or Astros baseball related stories.  My hope is that "this too shall pass," and I really think that it will, but a large part of me feels like it did before I saw The Kid play in that lone game in Seattle.  My heart is just not there right now. 

And the SOLE REASON that my heart is not there right now is that Bud Selig is going to force my team to become an AL team.  The thought of this honestly makes me angry, and yet disheartens me at the same time.  I cannot begin to describe the breadth and depth of my hatred of Bud Selig.  A home game in MIL was bad enough, and made me loathe him, but what he is doing now brings out pure hatred.  I find this odd, as I've never truly felt as though I've hated someone before, but I truly hate Bud Selig.  I'll get over it I'm sure... but... am fairly certain that if I saw him on the street here in Portland today, I'd run over and kick the shit out of him...  [I'd be okay though, as I would claim he was part of the "1%" and all would be forgiven here in Portland...].

Ultimately though, I'd imagine that my support of the Astros will be strong again next season and for the years to follow.  I'll see this kid named Altuve at 2B, or a kid named JD in LF, or Castro behind the dish, or Lyles on the mound, and I will be taken back to that day at the Kingdome watching a kid named Griffey play the game.  Not to the memory of The Kid per se, rather one of MY kids (Jose, JD, etc.) will step up and rekindle my passion for the game through his, and all will be right in the world again.

I will likely still chose to hate Bud Selig though...

[Ebby Calvin]

In 2005 I went to Vegas for the first time as part of a long road trip around the country. I was trying to find things for each of my family members along the way but couldn't come up with anything for my mom. We were there in August, almost exactly when the Astros reached 15-30. Because my Mother never loses faith, I bought a $10 futures bet that the Astros would reach the World Series (I still don't know why I didn't bet them to win, it was equally ridiculous at that point) to give to her. That bet paid off $1500 in October. It pays to be positive.

That's awesome.

[OregonStrosFan]

If they switch leagues, I don't think I want to continue to support a guy who took the cash to send them to the AL.

If I though it was solely about cash, I'd have a difficult time supporting him as well.  Right or wrong, I've come to the conclusion that cash isn't the issue however.  This is Jim Cranes last opportunity to be an owner of an MLB team.  If his only choices are to own an AL West baseball team, or own no MLB team at all, I can fault him too much for choosing the former (as I'd imagine I'd be tempted to do the same, as well as the fact that if he refuses to move to the AL, the next 'owner in waiting' certainly will not so refuse).  If he is going to be forced to agree to an AL move, however, I hope he gets so much money to do so that it makes Selig hurt inside...

That said, for the love of God Jim PLEASE STAND UP TO BUD SELIG.  Just say no!!!

[NeilT]

My father was an Astros fan.  We were coming out of a Phillies double header back in '65, when a madman ran up to my father, shot him through the heart, took his Astros cap and fled.  I vowed vengeance.  I've been going to games ever since, seeking the man with that cap.

[EasTexAstro]

My father was an Astros fan.  We were coming out of a Phillies double header back in '65, when a madman ran up to my father, shot him through the heart, took his Astros cap and fled.  I vowed vengeance.  I've been going to games ever since, seeking the man with that cap.

Oops..

[Ty in Tampa]

[reset]That’s a great question. When I was a kid, my parents ran away to a hippie nudist commune and left me with my mom’s parents who resented the hell out of me so they kept me locked in an upstairs room 21 hours of the day. The only time I got to spend out of the room was when the Astros were on TV so I kinda got to liking them then. When I stabbed my grandfather with a kitchen knife, that all ended but I still got to see the Astros at the juvenile detention center when I was on good behavior, which was not alot of the time. When my mom ran off with the yoga instructor, my dad came back and got me out of juvi and the first thing he did was take me to a bar, where the Astros game was on. That pretty much solidified my love of the Astros.[/reset]

[Mr. Happy]

I began following the Astros daily back in 1968 when my parents gave me a portable transistor radio, and I followed Gene Elston and Loell Passe every night. I've been with them ever since.

[chuck]

[reset]That’s a great question. When I was a kid, my parents ran away to a hippie nudist commune and left me with my mom’s parents who resented the hell out of me so they kept me locked in an upstairs room 21 hours of the day. The only time I got to spend out of the room was when the Astros were on TV so I kinda got to liking them then. When I stabbed my grandfather with a kitchen knife, that all ended but I still got to see the Astros at the juvenile detention center when I was on good behavior, which was not alot of the time. When my mom ran off with the yoga instructor, my dad came back and got me out of juvi and the first thing he did was take me to a bar, where the Astros game was on. That pretty much solidified my love of the Astros.[/reset]

Thank you. I was starting to fear I was going to have to do this myself.

[subnuclear]

My family moved from Florida to Houston when I was 2. In my neighborhood, everyone was from somewhere else so Houston sports were an important social event where people would get together and watch the Earl Campbell Oilers, the Ryan/Richards/Neikro Astros and the Malone/Murphy Rockets. Great era of Houston sports. My family also got both the Post (morning) and the Chronicle (evening) and would read the sports sections of both them everyday.

My dad's company also would give out tickets once a year to go see the Astros and that's pretty much the only games I went to, but I still have the programs and scorecards from almost everyone.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

I liked to watch the Jetsons on TV and they had a dog named Astro, I thought it was weird when they changed the name of the team from a gun to a dog, but I became a fan anyway.

[drew corleone]

My dad was an Astros fan, so I became an Astros fan. It was one of the few things we had in common.

I love baseball, but I really only care about watching the Astros.

[JimR]

Thank you. I was starting to fear I was going to have to do this myself.

do what? not answer the question seriously?

[believin]

I was a born Astros fan, attending games at the 'Dome from my earliest days.

When I moved to Singapore and later China, I brought the Astros with me.  Many of my friends in China and Singapore have a nice wardrobe of Astros gear that they wear proudly, claiming to be Astros fans themselves.  I've followed the team from Asia for the past 20 years.  First, it was newspaper clippings my parents would send (baseball rarely showing up in the news in Singapore and all).  On my first trip home after I'd moved to Singapore, I was in the airport in LA waiting to make the transfer to Houston when they announced the strike.  I was so disappointed.  When I got home, the tickets my dad had bought for a a group of us to go to a game were sitting displayed on the mantle.

Ever since the internet made it possible to keep up with baseball on a daily basis again, I have followed the Astros as ardently as anyone, I think.  The thought of them going to the AL makes me sick.  I don't know what I will do when that happens.

[headhunter]

do what? not answer the question seriously?

http://www.spikesnstars.com/forums/index.php?action=printpage;topic=71869.0

Ty's telling the truth. or at least he's a model of consistency. gave the same reply here June 25, 2006. Kind that he didn't cabrera the whole thread.

[Jose Cruz III]

I grew up in rural Alabama where there was no cable TV. We got to watch the Saturday game of the week on NBC with Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek, and ABC's Monday Night Baseball with Howard Cosell and "Dandy" Don Drysdale. Mostly it was Dodgers or Yankees so I started out a Yankees fan. An older friend of mine lived in the city and had cable and was a big Cubs fan. I also had a friend that was a Reds fan and we would listen the Marty Brennamen and Joe Nuxhall on WLW on summer nights. So I flip flopped between those 4 teams for 2 or 3 years.

Then in 1980, at the ripe old age of 11, the playoffs began. That was my favorite time of the year because when I got home on the school bus baseball was coming on in the afternoon. I ran into the house to watch the game that afternoon and there was this team with bright orange uniforms. They didn't hit home runs much but they ran and bunted and hit balls into the gap and manufactured runs. I was mesmerized. Then a man came to the plate and held his bat straight up in the air and was a hitting machine. I watched him like it was the last time I would ever get to see baseball. He became my favorite player that day. That is still the best series I ever watched.

I memorized each Astros batting stance and copied it at the end of my driveway when I would bat rocks across the road with an axe handle. My dad would buy me a new axe handle at Trade Day every month to occupy me for hours at a time. The Astros always won at the end of the driveway. The next year on NBC's Saturday Game of the Week, the Astros were on as the game against the Dodgers. I was blessed to watch my first ever No-Hitter that day as Nolan Ryan no hit the Dodgers. I still remember how I felt when Dusty Baker grounded to Enos Cabell and the players went nuts. I went nuts too. My older brother was mad because the game ran over and he missed the first part of BJ and The Bear, but I had witnessed history and was smart enough to realize it at the age of 12.

I still listened to the Reds games on WLW with my friend. My fondest memory of those games was the night the Reds celebrated "Johnny Bench Night". My buddy was Johnny Bench's biggest fan and on that night our moms agreed to let us stay at his house for the night so we could listen to the whole game. I beamed with pride when Jose Cruz hit a home run to beat the Reds on Johnny Bench night. My buddy was not so happy about it.

It has been a 30 year affair of the heart for me. So many memories to count. My steel supplier is in Houston and he scored me an autographed ball inscribed to me from Jose Cruz. When he would call on me we would talk about the Astros more than buying steel. He said he met him at a Cuban restaurant that Cheo frequents in Houston and got me the ball. It sits on my desk in its case for all to see. Thanks to jackelwein, I got to see game 1 of the 2005 playoffs at Turner Field when Pettitte beat Hudson and Ensberg drove in 5 runs. Bagwell pinch hit that day. I have never been to Houston but it is on my bucket list to enjoy a weekend at MMPUS.

People ask me all the time how a farm boy from the sticks in Alabama became an Astros fan. I can't explain it, it just happened. I never got to watch them growing up, the joke in the city was that where we lived we didn't get the Sunday Night Movie until Tuesday, but I checked the boxscore every day when the paper arrived in the afternoon. I have been blessed.

 

[tbone421998]

I started listening to Astros games with my grandfather in the late 60s.  You could always find Grandpa Zierger with his little hand held transistor radio held up to his left ear listening to  Gene Elston and Loell Passe every night.  I been a fan ever since.  One of the best years was the 1980 NLDS series.  I worked for a company in Houston and our headquarters was in Philly.  We lost the series but it was some fun banter back and forth.   I have one team in sports from high school to college to pro.  I never stop suppporting my team and I never jump on any other team.   

[ValpoCory]

Very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a fifteen year old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize, he would drink, he would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Some times he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy, the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical, summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds, pretty standard really. At the age of 12 I received my first scribe. At the age of fourteen, a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum, it's breathtaking, I suggest you try it.  I also pissed on my hands, so the Astros were a natural fit.

[JimR]

http://www.spikesnstars.com/forums/index.php?action=printpage;topic=71869.0

Ty's telling the truth. or at least he's a model of consistency. gave the same reply here June 25, 2006. Kind that he didn't cabrera the whole thread.

Ty is nothing but consistent, in my experience.

[Texifornia]

My earliest Astro memory is my cousin and I laughing hysterically as the P.A. announced "Nellie Fox". We were walking into Colt "Stadium" with our parents at about age 4 or so and the name sounded so funny to us we couldn't help ourselves.

Papaw used to take us to the games on Saturday or Sunday. We would sit in the CF bleachers for $0.50 and get there well before batting practice. Once, my cousin wrote something on his chair. The next day Papaw had him there with cleanser and a scrub brush to clean it.

I have a framed pennant that my parents got at the Astrodome in 1965 denoting them as the "2 Millionth fan at the Astrodome". I didn't get to go to the game, but I remember being disappointed that they didn't get me John Glenn's autograph when they said they saw him. At the time, the pennant was small solace, now its one of my prized possessions. I've never seen another like it.

I was at Game Six. I've never seen another sporting event that compares.

I saw Nolan Ryan beat Orel Hersheiser in Dodger Stadium 2-1 shortly after I moved to Cali. in 1988.

The idea of the Astros moving the the A.L. makes me want to vomit.

[juliogotay]

My dad went to high school with Jim Busby the Colts/Astros long-time 3rd base coach and he took me into the dugout during batting practice one afternoon at Colt Stadium to get a few autographs.

[VirtualBob]

I was still getting used to the concept of franchise relocation.  Why did last year's cards say "Brooklyn" Dodgers?  And who were the New York GIANTS?  Then they combined relocation with expansion.  Wait --- the Washington Senators are somewhere in the midwest now?  And there is a brand new team called the Washington Senators that is even worse than the old one??  Oh ... I get it ... _Boston_ Braves ... even St. Louis Browns ... cool.

Then there was this new team somewhere down south named after a six-shooter.  WAY cool.  Maybe John Wayne can pitch for them?  Oh wait ... Nellie Fox plays there?  I have his All Star card from last year!!  And the Tigers stink (again).  And I like the Pirates -- Elroy Face (whom my grandfather insists is "Leroy") and Dick Groat and Bill Mazeroski and Dick "Dr. Strangeglove" Stuart and Vern law and Bob Friend and even the recently traded Vinegar Bend Mizell are all favorites, and I did see them this spring in Ft. Myers -- but they are really my Dad's team.  And besides, Bill Virdon was one of the guys who went to yet another New  York team (yeah ... by now I figured out that Brooklyn was really New York by another name or something).  So anyway ... I became a Houston Colt 45 fan.  (Who were those guys anyway?  Nobody knew, but at least they beat Casey Stengal and the Mets.  And if you can't beat the Yankees, then beating Casey Stengal and some other team from New York is almost as good.

Then a couple of years later I actually moved to Texas proving my fandom to be prescient.  I did toy with being a Rangers fan briefly after the new-and-anything-but-improved Senators abandoned Washington and moved to Dallas, but I really had no use for the American League after they adopted the DH.  1968 was magical (for me, even better than 1960) but even when the Tigers had brief flashes of glory I had trouble giving them my loyalty back.  It's hard to predict what will happen if the Astros do move to the AL.  On the one hand, I know their entire system and I have been a fan since before they were the Astros.  On the other hand, I really have no use whatever for Houston (sorry, guys) and the local minor league club is no longer an affiliate.  And if the Alstros start competing directly with the Tigers for anything, I suspect that I will have at least mixed loyalties.  

I guess I will burn that bridge when I come to it.

[HudsonHawk]

Growing up in Florida, I was a Braves fan, as they were th closest team, and that's who we got on the radio (Milo back when he was pretty damn good). Moved to Houston in '83 and figured I ought to be an Astros fan. They've been my team since. It was pretty simple actually.

[Noe]

Didn't care about professional baseball at all growing up.  Cared a ton for the semi-pro league my Dad played in and all the players who I got to meet.  Many of them were trying to work their way back into some sort of professional league, and all the others were just baseball playing loving guys.  I liked them all.  A lot of them spoke of the St. Louis Cardinals players too for some reason, and it never dawned on me it was because they were basically talking about Houston Buff players trying to become Cardinal players. Didn't matter, didn't really care that much.  Even when the Houston Colt 45s started to play in town, didn't really care about them either.

Then one day my Dad told me we were going to see the Houston Astros play in the brand spankin' new Houston Astrodome.  He took my brother and me and we sat where we were to sit for almost every game we ever went to with my Dad... right center field pavilion.  My Dad told my brother and me he was a Mickey Mantle fan (my brother's name is Miguel, but we all called him Mickey because my Dad did... I realized then that my Dad was using his favorite ballplayer's name for my brother).  But when we started to follow the Houston Astros... Doug Rader, Jimmy Wynn, and Hector Torres Jr.... well, we became fans for life.

I used to listen to Loell Passe and Gene Elston all the time and still remember what it was like to sit on the porch on summer nights, eat watermelon with my Dad and brother and hear the "now you chunkin' in there Dierk!" call from Loell.  Good times.

[jester9450]

Born and raised in Houston .

[JimR]

Born and raised in Houston .

born, maybe. then it stopped.

[Waldo]

I wasn't a baseball fan until I was in little league in elementary school.  I went to my first baseball game at the Dome vs the Pirates (in 1992 I believe), and I remember being scared of going inside since the Dome looked so ominous from the parking lot.  I don't remember a whole lot except that the Astros won and I didn't believe my dad when he said that those old DiamondVision screens were made up of only red green and blue lights.

Naturally living in Austin my dad took me to both Astros and Rangers games since they were about the same drive.  But sometime in the mid-90s my allegiance gravitated solely toward the Astros.  Seeing my first baseball game at the Dome probably had a lot to do with it.  I remember following the 1994 season and being disappointed that the Astros didn't finish in 1st place before the strike (I was naive and hoping that they would avoid the strike).  In later years having access to the Internet, following the construction of MMPUS, and finding the official Astros forum (an EZboard at the time) and AstrosConnection only solidified my fandom.

[Jose Cruz III]

Didn't care about professional baseball at all growing up.  Cared a ton for the semi-pro league my Dad played in and all the players who I got to meet.  Many of them were trying to work their way back into some sort of professional league, and all the others were just baseball playing loving guys.  I liked them all.  A lot of them spoke of the St. Louis Cardinals players too for some reason, and it never dawned on me it was because they were basically talking about Houston Buff players trying to become Cardinal players. Didn't matter, didn't really care that much.  Even when the Houston Colt 45s started to play in town, didn't really care about them either.

Then one day my Dad told me we were going to see the Houston Astros play in the brand spankin' new Houston Astrodome.  He took my brother and me and we sat where we were to sit for almost every game we ever went to with my Dad... right center field pavilion.  My Dad told my brother and me he was a Mickey Mantle fan (my brother's name is Miguel, but we all called him Mickey because my Dad did... I realized then that my Dad was using his favorite ballplayer's name for my brother).  But when we started to follow the Houston Astros... Doug Rader, Jimmy Wynn, and Hector Torres Jr.... well, we became fans for life.

I used to listen to Loell Passe and Gene Elston all the time and still remember what it was like to sit on the porch on summer nights, eat watermelon with my Dad and brother and hear the "now you chunkin' in there Dierk!" call from Loell.  Good times.

I would have never dreamed I would have a longer post than you. The Astros just might make the playoffs next year.

[Astros Fan in Big D]

I went to my first Astros game in 1981.  It was the home opener and they raised the 1980 Division Banner (lost 2-1 in 10 innings to the Braves).  Every game I've gone to since then I've enjoyed looking at that thing.

I'm sure I knew of the Astros and was a fan before that game, but afterwards it was off the charts.  They remain my favorite sports team across the board.  When they won the pennant, the days that followed prior to the Series were the happiest I can remember being.  Not just the happiest as it relates to sports, but the happiest ever. 

If they move to the AL I won't like it but it won't change that they're my favorite team. 

[Fredia]

well said

[jwhudson]

I was born in Houston.  I was raised in east Texas, the radio was our connection to the Astros.  Everybody knew who Gene Elston was, and I never understood why Rusty Staub was traded.

My dad taught me what baseball was about in the late 50s early 60s, I remember him admiring Whitey Ford's ability to make a pitch when he needed to.  I was a Mantle fan and when I heard he was coming to Houston I wanted to see him play in that new stadium.  Alas, we didn't get to go that first game, but this was the only place where you could see the Dodgers, the Cardinals, the Pirates and the Giants.  I didn't see the Astros lose at home for seven years!  Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, I didn't get to go as often as I wanted.

Our little and pony league teams made the trip every year we ran wild around the Astrodome.  It was a free tour, just had to be back by the bottom of the eighth.

I love the intricacy of the National League game, and do not respect the DH.  I talked the Missus into being an Astro fan and she loves the game.  Told me the other day she doesn't like that "Pussy Baseball".

I've since learned that I have basically no tolerance for any other teams and I've been watching the Astros all those years.  I guess I will always have soft spot for the Astros, but I will not follow them the AL.  They really should realign both leagues.

[Veritas]

Hello all.  I've been reading for a long while.

I grew up in a town of about 3,000 in East Texas.  My sister married a Houstonian and he took me to see a double-header in '75 (I think).  They were playing the Padres that day, but I don't remember much of the games.  I was too awe-struck by the Dome.  The thing was bigger than my hometown.

I do remember Roger Metzger was playing shortstop and he hit a triple that day.  I listened to them on the radio religiously after that because they were hardly ever on TV (we only got 3 channels AND you had to get up and walk to the TV to change stations).  I got really into the Cabell/Watson/Cedeno Astros.  I saw Terry Puhl play his first game.  I learned to hate Philly after losing the '80 series to them.  I hated the Mets after the '86 NLCS.  The 90's Braves drew special ire from me because they both beat the 'Stros and benefitted from an ultra-wide strike zone.  Don't like the Cards and absolutely loathe the Cubs.

That's enough for now.     

[VirtualBob]

//unnecessary filler eliminated///

.. absolutely loathe the Cubs.
     

Pretty good first post, Clark.  Welcome.

[Fredia]

a town of 3000 in east Tx? amazing..welcomne

[geezerdonk]

No real loyalties generated from living in Waco -Pirates had a minor league team, sometimes you could get White Sox games on the radio during the day and Cardinal games at night. Moved to West Point June 1, 1955. Not only did they have TV but baseball on TV - almost every day. Became an instant Dodger fan. Saw the win in 55 and the defeat in 56. Ran home from school every day during the series to catch the last few innings. Was out of the country for a few years - baseball news was very limited. Back to Waco the summer of 62. First night turned on the transistor radio looking for the Cardinal game and got Elston and Passe. Fan ever since. A year later married Mrs. G in Waco at 10.00 and we were in the stands at Colt Stadium by 7:00. 

[Ty in Tampa]

Jim's right, I didn't answer seriously so...I grew up in Galveston but was only a passing fan of the Astros, baseball and sports in general. More of a music nerd/dork. As a freshman, I marched with my high school band at halftime during an Oilers game and caught Oilers fever. I started paying more attention to the Astros as well. JR, Niekro, Cruz, Puhl, etc and then Ryan in 1980. I bit the hook then but it wasn't truly set until 1986. I absolutely loved that team and felt I died a little bit after Game 6. Since then I've been a complete Astros nut. I still don't feel I know much about the game but I do my best to enjoy it just the same.

[JimR]

Jim's right, I didn't answer seriously so...I grew up in Galveston but was only a passing fan of the Astros, baseball and sports in general. More of a music nerd/dork. As a freshman, I marched with my high school band at halftime during an Oilers game and caught Oilers fever. I started paying more attention to the Astros as well. JR, Niekro, Cruz, Puhl, etc and then Ryan in 1980. I bit the hook then but it wasn't truly set until 1986. I absolutely loved that team and felt I died a little bit after Game 6. Since then I've been a complete Astros nut. I still don't feel I know much about the game but I do my best to enjoy it just the same.

i still am not emotionally capable of discussing that game rationally.

[Noe]

i still am not emotionally capable of discussing that game rationally.

I get a tick in my right eye whenever someone says "Brocklander" out loud.  Lucky for me, it's not a common occurence for someone to say "Brocklander".

[austro]

I get a tick in my right eye whenever someone says "Brocklander" out loud.  Lucky for me, it's not a common occurence for someone to say "Brocklander".

[/horses whinny]

[strosrays]

I get a tick in my right eye whenever someone says "Brocklander" out loud.  Lucky for me, it's not a common occurence for someone to say "Brocklander".

Probably a good thing you don't live here, then.  You would be a Brocklander.

[headhunter]

Hello all.  I've been reading for a long while.

I grew up in a town of about 3,000 in East Texas.  My sister married a Houstonian and he took me to see a double-header in '75 (I think).  They were playing the Padres that day, but I don't remember much of the games.  I was too awe-struck by the Dome.  The thing was bigger than my hometown.

I do remember Roger Metzger was playing shortstop and he hit a triple that day.  I listened to them on the radio religiously after that because they were hardly ever on TV (we only got 3 channels AND you had to get up and walk to the TV to change stations).  I got really into the Cabell/Watson/Cedeno Astros.  I saw Terry Puhl play his first game.  I learned to hate Philly after losing the '80 series to them.  I hated the Mets after the '86 NLCS.  The 90's Braves drew special ire from me because they both beat the 'Stros and benefitted from an ultra-wide strike zone.  Don't like the Cards and absolutely loathe the Cubs.

That's enough for now.     

That wasn't clark at all--it's at least pre-adjustment Jimmy Paredes.

 The Dome really impressed me too. My Folks are from towns of 600 and 3000 (on Christmas) and it was amazing to be in a place so freaking big. Funny thing was I had been to stadiums that held more people in Mexico City, but they were open air and didn't feel as vast as being in the dome. Not knocking MMPUS--it kept the Astros in Houston and for that it has my gratitude, but I really loved the dome.
 

[Waldo]

Not knocking MMPUS--it kept the Astros in Houston and for that it has my gratitude, but I really loved the dome.

Agreed.

[VirtualBob]

[/horses whinny]

Could be worse.  Could be raining.

[VirtualBob]

Could be worse.  Could be raining.

And right on cue ... http://www.kvue.com/weather/radar?radar=64449872&img=4&c=y

[headhunter]

Could be worse.  Could be raining.

you wonderful weather witch you! please do whatever you did more often. THANKS!

[ybbodeus]

The unedumacated fan's perspective: 

I grew up in Tennessee and had grandparents both in Memphis (Father's side) and Texas (Mother's side).  The Memphis grandparents were Cardinal fans, the Texas grandset Colt 45/Astro fans  Since the two teams were in different divisions, it was easy to pull for both, but the Redbirds were truly my team. 

My first MLB ball game was at the Dome in August of '70 with my Grandfather, my Mother and my brothers.  A month later I was at Busch Stadium with my 6th grade classmates on a father/son weekend retreat in the gateway city.

When I moved here in '89, the Astro leanings became stronger year after year, particularly with the young guns they were developing.  When the two teams ended up in the same division five years later, the Astros won out--didn't necessarily want to be a contrarian like all those damned Cub fans and Dodger fans who liked to show up from West U sporting their Sosa/Garvey jerseys.  Having my kids grow up Houston fans made it an even easier progression. 

Of course, by the time I started reading more (and posting less) here, I had damn near made the journey to truly loathing my childhood team from Busch Stadium.  For Taras--fortunately, I was able to interpret those previous feelings of loyalty correctly. 

It was a tough way to go last month, watching the NL vs AL World Series:  On the one hand I didn't want the metroplex to get a title; but on the other I didn't want LaGenius to get another one, either.  In the end I had to go with NL and the team of my youth and of my hometown family's leanings.  Beyond that, though, the AL just bugs me. 

If Houston were to get strongarmed into the AL, it would initially bug the shite out of me to have to watch a bunch of games against teams I don't give a flying rat's ass about watching--Seattle, Los Angeles/Anaheim/Laguna/et al, Oakland.  However, I know I couldn't tune out baseball, and I sure as heck wouldn't try to get my kids to do so.  I'm come around, just not as quickly as P.T. Barnum would suggest.

[OldBlevins]

I grew up in OKC when they were a Colt .45s, then Astros farm team the first time.  So that started it.  Then many years later I moved to Houston for a while, then I started watching the Bagwell/Biggio Astros when they were first starting out.  I don't want the Astros to move to the AL (which sucks), but I'm not going to stop watching them and rooting for them.  I'd still root for them if they moved to the Mexican League.

[Noe]

Probably a good thing you don't live here, then.  You would be a Brocklander.

Now I have a tick in both eyes.  Thanks a lot.

[AstroFrog]

Astro Buddy.  Mid-1980s.  Cried when they were eliminated in 1986 (at age 6).

That about did it.

My baseball fandom faded a bit in the early-to-mid 1990s, coinciding with both the baseball strike and the Rockets' championships.  But I remember attending the division clincher in 1997, which felt like "coming home" and being a round a bunch of happy people who never left.  At that point I recommitted, just in time for a hell of run that culminated in the 2005 WS.

I hope like hell they don't end up in the AL.  I talk a big game about not being able to follow an AL team, but I know I will.

[AstroFrog]

Astro Buddy.  Mid-1980s.  Cried when they were eliminated in 1986 (at age 6).

That about did it.

My baseball fandom faded a bit in the early-to-mid 1990s, coinciding with both the baseball strike and the Rockets' championships.  But I remember attending the division clincher in 1997, which felt like "coming home" and joining a party with a bunch of happy people who never left.  At that point I recommitted, just in time for a hell of run that culminated in the 2005 WS.

I hope like hell they don't end up in the AL.  I talk a big game about not being able to follow an AL team, but I know I will.

[JackAstro]

http://www.spikesnstars.com/forums/index.php?action=printpage;topic=71869.0

Ty's telling the truth. or at least he's a model of consistency. gave the same reply here June 25, 2006. Kind that he didn't cabrera the whole thread.

I stand by my answer.

[citizenmilton]

In 1979 I hated the Houston Astros because their games would interrupt "The Amazing Spider-Man" afternoon cartoon. Spidey could vanquish the likes of Doctor Octopus and Electro with ease, but those dreaded Astros would make him disappear. The web-slinger would sometimes be gone for three days in a row if the Astros had a series in Wrigley Field. Three whole days. An eternity for an eight-year-old.

I tried watching a game. It was more boring than church. So I'd just go pop wheelies and find obstacles to jump on my bike.

Then I got sick.

After the long days in the hospital, strict doctor's orders: take it easy and rest for a couple weeks. Trapped on a sofa for two weeks with three VHF and two UHF channels. When those damned Astros knocked Spidey off my screen again, I was too weak to get up off the sofa and turn the dial to another channel.

Terry Puhl led off the game with a home run. I dozed off. I woke later to see a high fly ball in the corner look like a home run. But this tall Astro jumped into the sky and somehow caught it. Then the announcer said that player had gone the whole season without making an error. A whole season of doing stuff like that without making an error? It was Terry Puhl again. That guy was amazing.

The next day, I wasn't so mad about Spidey being gone. Before the game started, the announcers explained that the Astros pitcher that day had a special way of pitching a baseball. Unlike everyone else, he would grip it with his fingernails. And when he threw it, the ball would dance in the air. This guy, Joe Niekro, he didn't look like an athlete. He looked like an old man. But much like Spider-Man, this guy had quirky abilities and seemed to win all the time.

After the end of my weeks of hospital and home rest, the family wanted to do anything for me as a special treat. I surprised them as much as myself when I said the only thing I wanted was an autographed baseball by Joe Niekro.

I started going to games. And over the next two years, I saw about fifteen of them. Those red box seats. Those orange mezzanine. Sometimes, if we didn't plan far enough ahead or it was a popular opponent, we'd go up in the nosebleed golden seats. And the funniest thing started happening. They won every single game I attended in person.

I wish we'd kept all the ticket stubs so I could know for sure how long my streak was going. It wasn't a Joe Dimaggio hit streak kind of number, but it was probably in the teens. By the end of the 1980 season, we were claiming it was twenty-seven games. Who knows, it might have been in that vicinity, but my father was a serial exaggerator. So I suspect it was more like fifteen.

There were some close calls. The Willie Stargell "We Are Family" Pirates were scary. They won the World Series in 1979. But, that year, I saw the Astros beat them. The mightily impressive Andre Dawson almost ended my streak by hitting a homerun late in a game and sending it to extra innings. But, those classic 80's Astros would always find a way to win. Enos Cabell, Jeff Leonard, Terry Puhl, Alan Ashby, Craig Reynolds, Art Howe, Denny Walling, Cesar Cedeno, and of course Jose Cruz.

Or, more accurately, Jose Cruuuuuuuz. Another Astro with what I perceived as a baseball version of super-powers. His primary attributes that contributed to this eight-year-old's awe was the fact that he ran so fast his baseball cap would fly off his head. And that he had the coolest batting stance routine in the league (well, second-coolest, after Stargell's signature helicopter-pump).

On gamedays, I felt like I was wearing a cloak of invincibility. Although I only went to one or two games a month, I talked about the streak every day for two years. And there was a miraculous phenomenon that fueled my confidence - James Rodney Richard.

A few months after my illness, the Astros finally managed for me to get an autographed photo of Joe Niekro and I got to meet him after a game. It was scary to see these players up close. I was afraid of them.

But the other major leaguers were afraid of James Rodney Richard.

J.R. Richard was six foot eight and threw a million miles of fire. When you're eight years old, you don't really understand everything about baseball. But I could see the fear in the opposing players' eyes. Especially the Los Angeles Dodgers, our primary rival.

J.R. had his own unbeaten streak. He never lost to the Dodgers. Those Dodgers were a classic team in baseball history, with matchups for the ages against the Reggie Jackson Yankees. They would even go on to win a World Series against those Yanks.

But they never beat J.R.

So I kept believing the impossible: that the Astros would always win when I went to see a game in person.

On July 30th, 1980, the mighty James Rodney Richard  suffered a stroke and collapsed while practicing. A blood clot near the brain. He nearly died. His career was effectively ended.

The cloak of invincibility was gone.

But I kept going to games. And they kept winning.

In spite of the loss of the mighty J.R., they kept winning, and made it to the final game of the National League Championship series. One game away from going to the World Series.

I entered the Astrodome on October 12th, 1980. My streak was still intact. If it could only go one more game, we'd make it to the franchise's first World Series.

The game was a classic, and remained tied 7-7 after nine innings.

All-time major league hit leader Pete Rose said during the game, "It's a shame someone has to win this one."

In what is widely regarded as one of the most hard-fought National League Championships, with a majority of games being decided in extra innings, with a cumulative run total over the entire series of 20-19, in the tenth inning of a game that would send them to the World Series, I finally saw the Astros lose in person.

And that's when I became a true Astros fan.

[austro]

They won every single game I attended in person.

I for one welcome our new anti-das overlord.

[Lurch]

Fantastic!  Welcome!

[Aussie Astro]

This is easy – mid 70’s to mid 80’s uniforms.  Bold?

Living a long way off and with very little access to information about big league baseball, I just liked that they dared to be so different.  That and the crazy idea of indoor baseball...

[pots]

Growing up, my best friend was a Mets fan.  Naturally I rooted for the other team.  Following the Astros in the 80s amounted to a 1 inch by 2 inch section in the paper.  Ocasionally they would get a short paragraph in front of the box score.  Oh the dreaded (n), which meant it was a late game and they didn't get done earlier enough to make the next day's paper.  Was a gauranteed (n) when playing the west coast. 

[astros76]

My dad got sick at school, came home and listened to the Colt .45s beat the cubs in their first game ever and was feeling better just in time for baseball practice later on that day. I've been a fan in the making ever since.

An Astros fan is an Astros fan regardless of what league we are forced into, right? Here's hoping we draft well, develop well and have a playoff caliber team by the time my son is a little older and can really enjoy it. My only consolation is that I now live in DFW and will get to see more Astros games in person... man they need a retractable roof, though.

[Guinness]

For me it was opening day 2013 against the Tigers...


too soon?

[rpntex]

Grew up in Lubbock, which believe it or not, is a big baseball town.  My high school coach, Bobby Moegle, is a legend in the coaching circles. 

My dad had played service ball in WWII.  One of his teammates was Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg.  It was Dad's stories about playing, and about conversations he had with Greenberg, that really piqued my interest in the game.  Baseball was a bondong agent for my dad and I.  Even during my long-haired teenage rebellious years, I still spent Saturday afternoons at home, watching NBC's game of the week (with Curt Gowdy and Joe Garagiola). 

When I was six, I saw my first MLB game at Wrigley Field.  I was hooked.  I knew that Texas had a team in Houston (Still the Colt 45s at that time), so I started following them.  Lubbock radio didn't carry the games until '65, when they moived to the dome and became the Astros.  For the next several years I listened every night to KFYO radio's broadcasts, to Gene Elston, Lowell Passe (sp?), and Harry Calas.

In 1967 I decided to keep a scrapbook of the season.  It's still in my mom's cedar chest at home.  I have clippings from Don Wilson's first no-no (against Atlanta), Jimmy Wynn's 3-HR game in SF, and just about every other game of the season. 

There were some good teams in all these years, and some absolutely terrible teams.  The memories, however, are the finest kind.

[SoonerJim]

I began following the Astros daily back in 1968 when my parents gave me a portable transistor radio, and I followed Gene Elston and Loell Passe every night. I've been with them ever since.

Me too in 1968. I wa born and raised in New Orleans, where Rusty Staub came from. My father played semi-pro at 2B and followed Staub from his days at Jesuit High. He listened to their games on the radio, there in the kitchen corner with his beer, racing form, and cigars. I got interested in 1968, and have lived and died with that franchise ever since.

When Spec Richardson traded Morgan, et al, I came home and my father looked like he'd just found his dog shot. He predicted three WS for Cincinatti. That was the last of numerous bad trades he committed.

It was in 1986 when it dawned on me that the Mets were satanic. I beleive we squandered our best teams during the Dierker era, never solving the mystery of Atlanta's pitching. I was, strangely, never enamored of Nolan Ryan, thinking he was never really one of us. My fears have been born out.

This is extraordinarily difficult. I prided myself on my National Leaue affiliation and never dreamt we'd be forced to join the AL.

[Frobie]

In 1997 I was living in Charleston, SC.  A girl I was dating at the time moved to Houston for work.  I took a job up the road in Columbia, SC and we did the distance thing.  I visited Texas regularly, probably every 4-6 weeks.

Around the middle of 1998 it became clear that we were going to end up together and that Houston would be a better fit for us for the time being than Columbia.  So, I decided that if I was going to be moving to Houston, I would need to start following the local baseball concern.  Besides, as a life-long Indians fan, I figured that having an NL team to root for for the first time would be a good thing. 

During 1998, I mostly listed to the radio broadcasts over the new-fangled Internet while starting to learn about the team and the city.  We went to a handful of games in the Dome that season and in the first part of 1999.

In September 1999, I moved to Houston for what we thought would be "a couple of years".  (We're still here.)  We went to a few additional games, including both of the playoff games against Atlanta.

Been an Astros fan ever since.  It's a little different path than most of y'all took, but that's my story.