My Home Team Sucks

By Brett Neal 

My experience as an Astros fan:

May 11, 2013 - I'm on my way to my second Astros game of the season. Yu Darvish vs. Eric Bedard, seems fair. The last time the Astros faced Darvish, our only highlight was the single that broke up the Ranger's no-hitter in the bottom of the 9th. This day felt different though, as if payback was inevitable. As I walked into the stadium, I realized quickly that I was part of the minority. A sea of Ranger blue and red stood before me, many of which could've been lifelong fans, but all I could smell were traitors. At least the food vendors do their best to help ease the season's pain, slipping you some grated cheese from the baked potato stand to put on your star-dog, maybe slapping on an extra scoop of chocolate to your helmet sundae. As I sat in my nosebleed seat, it was already 1-0 Rangers. In the bottom of the 3rd, Matt Dominguez cranks one to deep left to tie the game at one a piece. This easily could've been the highlight of the day with Darvish on the mound, but the Astros continued to make him uncomfortable. In the bottom of the 5th with a runner on first, Dominguez does the unthinkable; he smacks one down the 3rd baseline right off the Chick-fil-a "fowl pole," his second homer of the night. The stadium erupted, maybe because the Astros took a 3-1 lead, but probably more so because everyone was going home with a free chicken sandwich. 




The Rangers went on to score 6 runs in the 6th. Spoiler alert: we didn't win.

#NotWinning:

New uniforms, new owner, new league, new manager, new players, same 'ol Astros. The Astros rolled into the All Star break with a 33-61 record, the worst in the Majors. They are on pace to finish last for the 3rd season in a row. The Houston club has hit hard times since their run at the championship in '05, finishing with a winning record only once in the past 6 years. The Astros are obviously in a rebuilding stage, but consecutive seasons with over 100 losses is pathetic. Bo Porter knows if results don't improve over the next year, he could be the 6th Astros manager to be relieved of duty since 2007.