I was thrilled that the Astros road to the World Series went through Boston and New York. They are great teams with a national fan base full of history and tradition. The national market noticed when the Astros won game seven against the Yankees, which would not have been much of a story if the Astros beat Cleveland. Sorry Cleveland, but the country is accustomed to you loosing.
And I am delighted that the Astros are playing the Dodgers. It is easy to say, beat L.A., and mean it. And L.A. and the Dodgers are another big market, big payroll, long history team. People are finally getting to see what Springer, and Altuve, and Correa are all about. And Houston too. A lot of people think of Houston as a backwater submerged trump loving swamp, most likely underwater and in need of pity. I am so proud of the city and hope the national attention helps to frame how awesome and resilient this region and this team are.
More than national recognition, I hope this team can turn Houston into a baseball town. I love seeing all the Astros gear that people are wearing. I love when neighbors ask me the score. I love when someone is a real baseball fan and gets excited about the Astros. Because that's what bothered me the most about the AL move--most of the market was oblivious or indifferent. There is no tradition of loving the home team. I don't have hate for any baseball fan, not even Yankee fan when he's pouring beer on the family of the visiting manager. Sure, he's a classless shit, but he's stupid, and a yankee, and doesn't know any better. And he loves baseball and his team so all right. But someday I'd like Houston to have a lot of people who grew up loyal to the Astros and know the stories of the old greats who played and maybe don't pay so much attention to the Texans until after the home team is done for the year.
