Author Topic: Friday, post-World Series, fandom thread. (Read 5150 times)

NeilT · « **on:** October 28, 2005, 12:31:10 pm »

Several years ago, somebody asked why people follow the Astros. Seems like a good time again.

I didn't follow baseball as a kid. Didn't play after I was 10, unless law school softball counts. They didn't have baseball at my high school. The only sport I ever followed before baseball was bike racing, the only sport I ever much participated in were horse shows and bike racing. I never went to a baseball game in college. Wasn't there a ridge in the old UT outfield? Why does no one mention that hill when the talk about Tal's Hill?

I liked the idea of baseball though. When I moved to Houston, I would go to a few games a year, though it would surprise me when people I was with knew who was pitching. I liked beer and peanuts, though. I liked that baseball could be romanticized a bit by guys like Ken Burns--I remember driving to Arkansas to fish the White River the weekend before the Ken Burns documentary, listening to the ads on the radio and thinking that I would watch it. You guys probably hated it. I thought it was spectacular.

I started reading a few books a year about baseball. I remember checking the McCarver book out of the library, and finding it mostly unreadable, but I still remember his discussion of pitch counts. I certainly didn't know there were advantages in any given at bat depending on the pitch count. Somewhere around 98 I bought a mini-package.

I also started going to lots of Little League games. I also started reading you guys. I once had an argument with HH about left-handed catchers. I'm still not convinced HH was right, and would refer HH to Bill James's discussion of left handed catchers in the last abstract. Just kidding.

We drove the 347 miles to the dome once when I was a kid, the first or second year it was open, to see a Phillies double header, but we were there as much to see the dome as the Astros. We left early, in the 7th inning of the second game. It's been an education to learn about a team rather than air conditioning. It's been an education to follow the baseball year, except when it isn't much fun, like when the Astros are 15-30. Still, all and all, there's that basic optimism that fandom requires: walking into the stadium Wednesday I was thinking we take this one, we take tomorrow night, then we go back to Chicago w/ Pettite and Oswalt on the mound . . . I never exactly thought we would, but I wouldn't have been surprised if we had.

Anyway, the whole point being, how'd you get here?

Fredia · « **Reply #1 on:** October 28, 2005, 12:40:26 pm »

my husband and i moved to houston in the 70s so he could find work. at that time you could go to montgomery ward and buy tickets which we did and attened some of the lesser attended games. anyhow my two older daughters got the advantage of season tickets and seeing biggio catch. i kinda remained a closet fan then when my baby (now 20) came along i felt i owed her the same expericnes my other daughters had.. the astros got into my blood and i was addicted ..games, fan fest, posting here all became a necessary part of my life. i came out of the closet and proudly proclaimed my astro fandom. wonder how many of the "astros fans" who signed up lately will stay on this site..btw kathy is a bigger fan than i am if that is possible..i am trying to talk her into posting here

Limey · « **Reply #2 on:** October 28, 2005, 12:45:19 pm »

I saw a promo for them being in the World Series during "Nanny 911". I watched the first game....they suck.

NeilT · « **Reply #3 on:** October 28, 2005, 12:46:51 pm »

They didn't play like major leaguers, did they? If they'd played like major leaguers they would have won.

Jacksonian · « **Reply #4 on:** October 28, 2005, 12:59:45 pm »

I was a sports loving kid from day 1. My dad was a collegiate hurdler, linebacker, and catcher. My parents moved me to Beaumont from Dodge City, KS when I was 5. I started playing organized baseball the next year and loved it. Despite always being the smallest kid on the team, I was generally one of if not the best on the team. Kept playing through high school despite tearing up my throwing shoulder as a junior. I'm paying for that now.

I picked up the Astros when I was 6 in 1973, and never let go. I'd want to know how they did no matter how good or bad they were that year. I'm still that way. As my parents moved around, I still followed the Astros. While living in Lake Charles in the late 70's I went to a month-long camp outside San Antonio, I believe, called La Junta during the summer. Every few days I'd get an "Astros Update" from my father including boxscore clipping from the local paper. All the kids in our cabin would gather around to find out how the Astros had done.

When we moved to Chicagoland in the early 80's I developed a deep sense of hate for Cubdom and Milo. Milo was clearly past his prime even then. Later, in 84 we moved to New Orleans. I was most upset to discover that Milo had moved on to Houston from Chicago. I'd thought I would never have to hear him again when he quit the Cubs.

At LSU, in 86, I took considerable pleasure in antogonizing my fellow classmates who were Dodger fans. Not only did they not win the West, but Fernando was trumped by Scott for the Cy Young. A couple of years later, I took a Euro history class. The professor, about 2/3 of the way through the semester, began talking about fate. His example was the 86 NLCS. He was a Mets fan. I hated that guy.

Now in 2005, I've managed to get my 4 year old son hooked on the Astros. For some reason, he's had to apply people in our family to the Astros players. My son takes on the role of Biggio. When he hits on his plastic tee-ball, he calls himself Biggio. His cousins and other family members round out the rest of the starting 8. He would ask every evening if baseball was on. Every time he asked, I'd smile. Thank God his first sports love is baseball. I'm just waiting for my daughter to get old enough, she's 1, for me to get her hooked too.

WulawHorn · « **Reply #5 on:** October 28, 2005, 02:51:42 pm »

my dad took me to the stick in SF from the time I was 9 months old. All of my most positive memories as a kid involved playing/watching sports, and baseball was always my favorite. Moved to h-town when I was 12 and after 2 or 3 years switched my allegience from my old hometown team (giants) to the new one. I guess the giants would still be my second favorite team, but I really don't care about them at all anymore- you can't really have more than 1 team in my mind.

BudGirl · « **Reply #6 on:** October 28, 2005, 02:54:20 pm »

reason

Tralfaz · « **Reply #7 on:** October 28, 2005, 03:00:41 pm »

Quote:

I saw a promo for them being in the World Series during "Nanny 911". I watched the first game....they suck.

HoF

Phil_in_CS · « **Reply #8 on:** October 28, 2005, 03:37:56 pm »

I played LL, pony colt and so forth, went to summer camps at Baylor (early 70's). I didn't really start following pro ball until the late 70's, when I was in HS.

Dad was a doctor, and took Wednesday afternoons off. We started driving to the Dome from Orange summer days a couple times a month in 1979. Beaumont had a Texas League team for a while and we went to some of those, too.

In College (A&M) I met up with some real baseball nuts, in SABR, fantasy league and so forth. I never got into all that, but they were fun to go to the Dome with.

Until the late 90's, the Astros were not on the TV regurarly here, so I watched the Brave and Cubs often just to see some ball, although I never felt they were my team. I'm not real sure why I picked the Astros as 'my' team, they weren't all that good when I started following them.

As to how I got here, meaning AC/BFT/OWA, I wandered in during that memorable 2000 season. A friend who grew up in Chicago found it while searching for info on where good seats were at the new Enron park, since we were going down to see a cubs game together. (He's since returned to Chicago by the way, and is more unhappy with the outcome of the series than I am. Cubs fans hate to see the Sox win it)

Anyway, I realized pretty quick that the main posters here knew ball very well, and not in the SABR/fantasy manner. I'm here reading and learning daily, or more often.

JimR · « **Reply #11 on:** October 28, 2005, 05:22:48 pm »

no, no, no...they lost=they suck. wives could have done better, doncha know.

The Third Man · « **Reply #12 on:** October 28, 2005, 05:39:08 pm »

I picked the Astros because I was born in Baytown and grew up Channelview. I loved playing baseball moving from shortstop to center field to catcher in my teens. My father was a catcher. I have always thought that baseball is the best sport not only to play and watch, but also because of its rich history. I probably read every baseball biography at my elementary and middle schools. My favorite show was "This Week in Baseball" when I was growing up. What I'm trying to say is that I was a disturbed and lonely child. Pathetic, really. But, I really, really loved baseball.
Initially, I think I feel in love with the Astrodome more than the Astros. I just remember how incredibly green the field looked, how high the roof seemed and how long George Foster could hit the ball. My grandparents got season tickets in 1979 and 1980 and I went to dozens of games, including game five of the 1980 NLCS against the Phillies. I vividly remember chanting Art Howe's name until I was horse when he came up to bat in that game.
I have lived in Alaska, Colorado and now New Zealand and the Astros will always be my team. The 90's and 00's Astros are even more memorable than my childhood teams and I am glad I have been able to catch several games at Minute Maid. I look forward to coming back and catching some minor league ball at Round Rock.

Astros Brat · « **Reply #13 on:** October 28, 2005, 07:00:59 pm »

Because I grew up when organized sports for "ladies" (OK, guys, don't start or I'll have to kick your butts) didn't exist, I didn't play baseball at all unless you count messing around on the playground in junior high. I didn't start following baseball with any consistency until college at UT in '79. My parttime job was as a secretary for one one of the football team's strength coaches, Charlie Craven. He loved baseball and there were plenty of others hanging around that did, too. Listening to them, I became captivated myself and started going to games at Disch-Falk. I loved those Horns!

I followed the Astros, but not seriously until I moved here in '89. That's when my love affair with this team began (So, I missed the 1980 and '86 letdowns, for which I am eternally grateful). I only went to a few games here and there until 1998, when finally I could afford season tickets. I was just going through all the memorabilia I've collected since then and came across a picture of Bags, Biggio, and Cami. That made me sad. What a team that was.

As for this site, I registered after you guys called Roeder's and I'm glad I did! What a hoot. Wish I had found you sooner, but you gotta start somewhere!

Astros Brat · « **Reply #14 on:** October 28, 2005, 07:07:28 pm »

May I add that at I probably miss only about 4 or 5 games a year. I'm either at the ballpark or in front of a TV, much to the annoyance of certain people in my life who would like me to be doing something else. I have friends who try to drag me to art shows or football games because they think my horizons need to be broadened. I tell them my horizons are plenty broad. I've been through, what, 4 or 5 different uniforms with this team?

Taras Bulba · « **Reply #15 on:** October 28, 2005, 07:17:30 pm »

I first became aware of it, Neil, during the physical act of love. Yes, a profound sense of fatigue, a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily, I was able to interpret these feelings correctly: loss of essence.

NeilT · « **Reply #16 on:** October 28, 2005, 07:19:34 pm »

So you follow baseball to restore your essence? Or you post on the OWA to restore your essence? Or does one or the other re-create the profundity of the loss of essence for you? And quit talking about that girl's profundities.

NeilT · « **Reply #18 on:** October 28, 2005, 07:31:16 pm »

I think you're some kind of deviated prevert. I think general Ripper found out about your prevertion, and you were organizing some kind of mutiny of preverts.

UpTooLate · « **Reply #19 on:** October 28, 2005, 07:59:14 pm »

I was born and raised in El Paso, which in the 70's was about 800 miles away from any major league baseball. Now the Rockies are about 500 miles away. Anyway, El Paso does have a minor league team called the Diablos. They were the AA team for Milwaukee at the time. My father would take me to a few games every summer because the tickets were cheap. Those were good times. My memory is of the smell of stale beer, smoke, and the crazy between inning promotions. Since I was young at the time I don't recall much of the converastions that we had at the games, but I do remember one. My father said that to truly appreciate baseball, you have to pick a team and follow them daily throughout the entire season.

I moved to Houston in 1990 after graduating college. I followed the Astros somewhat during the 90's, but did not become hooked until the 2001 season. That was the first season that I followed the team daily. Baseball is truly a fascinating game when you follow the trades, injuries, batting orders, and player stats of your favorite team. Reading the postings on OWA have made this an enjoyable season. The regular posters have increased my knowlege of baseball, the Astros, and given me many good laughs. Thanks to all those that stuck it out all season and were part of a memorable year.

MMPUS is an awesome stadium IMHO. I like the hill. I like the flagpole. I like the Crawfish boxes. As stated previously, they may not be perfect, but they are OURS. Now if only it had the stale beer and smoke smell of an old minor league park, it would be perfect.

Japooka · « **Reply #20 on:** October 28, 2005, 08:03:38 pm »

This is my first post (I?m shy) but I?ve been a TZ reader (I fucking hate the word lurker) ever since I found astrosconnection.com in the fall 1997. This is one of very few topics to which I can contribute something to the discussion: How?d I become an Astros fan?

As a result of a fanciful family court ruling, when I was a kid, I spent my summers in the custody of my grandparents in Corsicana, TX, where Grandpa was an engineer at a candy facotry. Corsicana is a little town about - what? - maybe 3 hours north of H-town. Granddad was an Irish immigrant, spent his first dozen or so years in this country living on the south side in Chicago. He liked the White Sox fine, but he loved the Astros. We used to listen to the games on the radio together and read the box scores in the paper the next day. I couldn?t play Little League, because I was a kid before girls were allowed, but there was an all-summer-long sandlot game near my house in Corsicana and I wasn?t a terrible catcher. I couldn?t hit dirt if I fell out of a haywagon, though.

I loved to go to Astroworld, which we did every summer. We went to the Dome for a game every year for my birthday. I loved the big scoreboard and the loud rainbow unis. I was 14 in 1980 when I was convinced that the Astros would play the Royals in the World Series (I?m from Kansas City, where I lived when I wasn?t with my grandparents). I worried myself so sick about the NLCS that my mom wouldn?t let me watch any of the games.

I went off to college, got married, and in 1991 moved into a tiny D.C. apartment It had free cable TV. I discovered ESPN. Astros highlights every day! I was able for the first time in years to follow my team. They weren?t all that great that year, but I was real impressed with their new (new to me anyway) catcher and I thought the third baseman was kind of hot. When they announced the NL ROY in 91, I remember thinking, ?That guy?s a rookie??

This is longer than I intended, but I just want to add that I owe a lot of gratitude to every TZ contributor. I may be 853 miles from my home team (846 if I?m at the office - who?s counting?), but I never feel very far away. So, thanks.

Astros Fan in Big D · « **Reply #22 on:** October 28, 2005, 08:22:16 pm »

First major league game was the home opener in '81 at age 9.
Some highlights:
1. Unveiled the 1980 Division banner
2. Live rendition of 'Here Come the Astros' (still know the words)
3. Me: "Why are they booing?"
Dad: "They'r not booing. They're saying Cruuuuz."
(Cheo is still my absolute favorite athlete, any sport)
4. The scoreboard

Later got a pair of Cesar Cedeno pajamas (complete with # on the leg).

God bless 'em, I love the Astros.

cc · « **Reply #23 on:** October 28, 2005, 08:47:59 pm »

It was built into the family structure from birth. I picked Joe Morgan as my Astros Buddy. After they traded him, I fell in love with SuperBaby, Cesar Cedeno. A great role model he was not. But I also followed Fred Gladding, Norm Miller, Sonny Jackson, Jesus Alou, Don Wilson, Larry Dierker. Pretty much everyone from the late 60s to today. I was/am so nuts about the Astros I wanted to follow them for a living.

[Digression] A few years after I graduated from college I had to get the thought that I wanted to be a sportscaster out of my system, so I landed a 6-month stint as an intern for KLOL with the Sports Mouth, Barry Warner, in 1990. It didn't take me long to realize I didn't want to starve for the next 5 years while asking losing pitchers why they threw that hanging slider.

That was not a banner year, as you may recall. Gerald Young was sent back to the minors after he had decided he needed to be hitting the ball in the air. Some guy named Ortiz was a 30-year old call-up who had a flash of success as an outfielder. My main memories, though, were of the trips to the locker room. Ken Caminiti and Mark Portugal were about the most cordial, approachable guys there were. I also remember the shock of seeing Dave Smith and Larry Andersen pulling on heaters after a game. Then came the Bagwell trade, but I was long gone from radio by then. [Digression over]

I'm happy to say I have infected my 16-year old son in recent years with this same disease. Yes, I am afraid he has drunk deep from the chalice of rich, refreshing orange whoopass. But he'll never know how much I envy the fact that he got to see our team reach the World Series -- THE WORLD SERIES -- twenty-eight years sooner in his fan life than I did. These kids today -- you kids out there reading this -- you can never know the depths of suffering, anguish, despair to which many of us have sunk lo these many years, nor the unbridled joy, rapture, release we experienced when that Yadier Molina fly ball landed securely in Jason Lane's glove. I had to hesitate just a second - did he catch it? - before I hurled myself off my son's bed and sped down the stairs in a spontaneous victory lap. I woke my other son up, who couldn't figure out what I was doing making noise so late at night.

I called my dad, my 84-year old fellow-suffering Astro fan/addict of a dad, and asked him if he ever thought he'd see this day come. He said no. I said, neither did I. My older brother, also unswervingly devoted to this team for the past four decades, called me a little later that night. Before I could say anything, he blurts out "I just wanted to tell you I love you." We laughed. What a night.

But it did happen, didn't it? It wasn't all a dream? Clearly, many of us in here are lifers and there's no cure.

CJM · « **Reply #24 on:** October 29, 2005, 01:51:18 am »

I have been a baseball fan since I can remember. My dad has played and coached all of my life, along with my uncles, grandfather , and my brother I played at LSU (88,91,92). I had a attitude back then that I guess can be blamed on my youth. I had some disapointments when it came to my draft positions (or lack of after my senior year). I allowed that to rob me of the joy that can only be felt by being a "baseball fan". I gave up playing baseball in 1992 after 39 games in Peoria with the Cubs organization (yea I know). For 3 summers after that I lived with a empty feeling that could not be described. In 1996 I finally understood that pretending not to love the game just because I didn't accomplish the things I thought I should have was one of the dumbest things I could have done (and I've done quite a few). I went back to the team I loved as a kid. The team I always dreamed of playing for. If it's possible to fall in love with something twice, I did it. I am now able to have some of the same feelings I had when I was a kid, clipping every Astros boxscore out of the paper and saving them every season. We didn't have many games on TV in Baton Rouge, but we had the games on the radio, and for that I was thankful. When that rare Saturday game of the week that involved the Astros came around I felt like my birthday had come early. The few times the astros were on Monday night baseball were like a extra Christmas. I found those feelings again after being without them for so long. A friend of mine told me about the BFT in 99, and I then found out there were others that "get" the Astros just like me. I didn't post, just lots of reading. It was nice to find people that understood how hard this game is. I always wanted a place to get more information on the ballclub than the media provided. I found many boards on the net, but they were all populated with "fans" that turned on the very team they claimed to love after every loss. They were always able to figure out what "should" have been done after the fact, and were quick with a "I told you so" when players would struggle. I have found on this site, just like the BFT, fans that understand how complex the game is. They understand that not just anybody can be a GM, and that Brad Ausmus shouldn't be judged by his batting average alone. For that I thank you all.

Now we wait for pitchers and catchers to report. We wait for the 2006 Houston Astros to take the field on opening day. The National League Champion Houston Astros...wow.

Astros Brat · « **Reply #25 on:** October 29, 2005, 08:27:52 pm »

Good Lord, CJM. These are all pretty touching, but you brought tears to my eyes. You win. (Wait...except maybe for Leslie. Girl!) Whatever. Lovely.

Aussie Astro · « **Reply #26 on:** October 29, 2005, 09:19:57 pm »

As a youngster I played a few years but did not get to see a lot of MLB and never any live stuff (surprise surprise). I loved the early Astros uniforms, that plus being a Rockets fan made the Astros the obvious choice,

Col. Sphinx Drummond · « **Reply #28 on:** October 30, 2005, 11:24:01 am »

We moved from Ft. Worth to Houston the summer of 1960. I mwas 4 1/2 years old. The next summer,'61, we moved to 11510 Ashcroft and stayed there for 10 years before moving to San Antonio. It's amazing how much of an impact those 11 years made on my life. I think I first became aware of baseball sitting in the stands at old Colt Stadium, football at Jeppessen Stadium, basketball at Sam Houston Colliseum; my father was a sports fan and took me along to see the Cougars, Astros, and the Oilers. He mostly dug on the Oliers, had season tickets, my brother and I were in the Jr. Quarterback Club. Back then I didn't care who won, I was just a tag-along. According to my dad, I saw Don Nottebart pitch a no-hitter and confused by all the excitement but still not understanding the game, I asked him afterward, "what's the difference between a no header and a double header." He had to explain to me it was a no-hitter not a no-header.

I don't know when it happened but sometme between then and the time I was 13 I had become obsessed with sports. I just couldn't get enough. I went to countless games on summer nights with some neighbor kids whose parents did a pick-up and drop-off shuffle with my parents. My obsession ebbed a bit when I started liking girls and rock-n-roll but I always stayed faithful following my Astros.

Living out of the state from '76 to '94 made it difficult at time to keep current. I guess in '89 I got my first computer and a prodigy dial-up, there was an old Houston Astros group on that. Anyway, the internet has been a great way to keep-up with the team, even more so for people who live out of the area. Anymore, I don't much follow sports other than baseball. I just can't kick the baseball habit.

ghostofshadowman · « **Reply #29 on:** October 30, 2005, 12:07:23 pm »

I am an old guy, 58. Saw my first game at Colt Stadium in 1964. I won't bore you with the details.

Several years ago I decided the Astros ownership was not doing enough to put a winning team on the field and said the hell with baseball.

But...stuff happens. About the same time my wife and I had to assume guardianship of my two grandsons. At that time they were about 7 and 8. They had no background in baseball whatsoever.

All of a sudden I realized that if they were going to know anything about baseball I was going to have to teach them. So I put aside my differences with the Astros and began taking them to games and making them watch them with me on TV. They are now Astros fans for life.

I also realized that I had been wrong about the Astros. I made my peace with Drayton and came back into the fold.

drew corleone · « **Reply #30 on:** October 31, 2005, 11:12:50 am »

My dad was an Astros fan.