Hi, I'm Susan, your blogger. But you all know me as Astros Fan in Exile. The blog, the website, the custom jerseys. Starting back in the early 2000’s, the miracle of the Internet meant that an out-of-town fan could get more than two sentences and a box score in the next day’s newspaper. First it was full game writeups, with pictures. Then pitch-by-pitch, with more and more stats every year. Then, in 2004, I got my first subscription to mlb.tv, with live video coverage of virtually every game. In 2005, I went to Spring Training for the first time, and sitting behind the bullpen, I had my epiphany — a vision of the Astros in the World Series. And then it turned out to be true, despite the naysayers. Astros Fan in Exile went online the following spring, and being an Astros fan-atic has eaten up a good deal of my waking hours, 7 to 8 months of every year since. It takes a lot of time to watch and write up nearly every game of the season. Despite the Astros' tumble into the major league gutter (a cellar is way too nice to describe their most recent season), I’ve tried to find reasons to stay the course — we’re rebuilding for the future, it’s fun to watch the young kids play, we get first pick next season…
And now, going into their 50th anniversary year, the Astros have been sold and banished to the American League.
And I’m thinking of becoming a Nationals fan.
I’m not jumping ship without thinking it through. I feel a bit like Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof: On the one hand… on the other hand…
Reasons for moving on: (1) I don’t like the designated hitter version of major league baseball. It ruins the strategy. Pitchers are professional atheletes — let them bat and run! (2) With the Astros in the AL West, a large proportion of their games will start so late at night (after 10:30 my time) that I won’t be able to watch live games and still get up in the morning for work. (3) I don’t know any of the players. The era of my beloved Bagwell and Biggio is long gone, and most of my more recent favorite players have already been traded. If I’m going to jump, this is the perfect time for it. (4) If I become a Nats fan, I can actually go to real live baseball games all summer long.
Reasons for staying: (1) All those great fans I’ve met in Kissimmee at Spring Training, who stay in touch in email and Facebook in the off season. (2) Fifty years of cheering for the Astros, from back when I went to my first baseball games in Colt Stadium as a little kid! It’s really hard to abandon a tradition like that.
I need to decide in the next couple of months. If I’m going to learn to cheer for the Nats this year, I really ought to go to Viera (near Cocoa Beach), not Kissimmee, for Spring Training, to get to know the team. Should I just do it? Or maybe, with the AL move still a year away, I should just give it one more season to decide?
Help me out! What should I do?
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18 comments:
Go Nats! My transition to the Nats was a little easier - I can still be a Brooklyn Dodgers fan without being disloyal - but still was a major leap. Just like my Brooklyn Dodgers, your Astros are moving - between leagues, not cities, but still, they are moving away from you.
And I fully agree about the designated hitter. I have thought it a travesty from the first day. Of course, Brooklyn had a couple of hard-hitting pitchers....
When I heard the news that the Astros were moving to the AL, the first person I thought of was you. Now you'll really be in exile. I wouldn't be so quick to jump to the Nats. What have they done for you lately? Shouldn't a team have to earn your fandom? I fell out of love with baseball about 10 years ago for a few reasons (crappy Phillies teams, drugs, etc.) and starting watching English soccer, and now I'm hooked on it. But with the Phils playing so well over the past few years, they sucked me back in. Go ahead and make the switch to the Nats, but make them earn your heart and soul.
Watching the Astros play the Dodgers and the Giants on the West Coast keeps me up till after 1 AM. But they only play one road series against each NL West team. But when they are in the AL West division, they'll be playing a LOT of their games out there! And with a DH.
The thing that I'll probably like about the Nats is that they're an underdog team -- at least for a while. It's not like becoming a Yankees fan! Growing up in Houston, I always cheered for the underdogs. The Astros were almost as stinky in their early years as they were in 2011!
Susan -- Perhaps you remember me. I'm an old friend of your dad's, from back in our Malden, Mass. days. And my wife, Eugenia, and I have visited you & your family in Potomac a couple of times. I truly understand your predicament. Although I'm mainly an AL fan, I detest the DH. It is a perversion of the game of baseball. I'm a Red Sox fan; it's in my DNA. So I had to live in New York City for 39 years amid all those Yankee fans. Eventually, the Mets became my NL team, if only to rile my Yankee fan acquaintances. And Eugenia saw her first game at Shea Stadium, so she roots for the Mets. Now that I'm living in Maryland I'm slowly converting to the Nats as my 2nd team, after the Red Sox. So maybe you should stick with the AL Astros and adopt the NL Nats. As your father pointed out, it was he who designed the realignment a couple of years ago, so it's all his fault.
All the best to you and your family.
-- Alan Koblin
Of course I remember you - we had a wonderful time with you and Eugenia at our seder a few years ago. Yes, you're right -- it's my dad's fault. The sale went through today. I guess the Astros will just have to be my favorite AL team. But I think I'm going to put the blog and all aside and try to adjust to baseball in a stadium, not just on the computer!
Hey, Susan. I kind of know how you feel. I felt betrayed when the Boston Braves won the NL pennant in1948, then deserted Boston 3 years later, But, at least I had the Red Sox. By the way, Jeffrey and I went to the Astros last home game this past season . Great stadium, great food... the game? pfft!
Ed
Hi Ed - I actually did see the Astros once this season -- when they played the Nats up here. I barely recognized the players, even having seen them on the televised games. It's not the same as having gotten used to them in Spring Training before the season. Some of the newbies weren't at Spring Training (at least, not at ours!). I'm sure I can decide something before Spring Training -- at least whether to go to Kissimmee or to Viera or (as my mother suggests) to Brooklyn to see that other great team -- the TWINS!
Hey Susan, I am with you 100% - I HATE the thought of the Astros in the AL, mainly because of the DH. It goes against everything I love about baseball, strategy, double switches, steals, bunting the runners over, etc. I wrote letters to both McLane and Selig when the rumors started about a potential move. got a nice reply from Drayton, and not a peep from Selig - why am I not surprised. Just seems like Bud has always had it out for us: not allowing us to close the roof during playoff games, having to play home games against the Cubs in Milwakee after Ike - and I'm sure there are lots more. But what can we do at this point? I have not renewed my season tickets yet - after 4+ years - most of the people I split them with bailed on me this year, and finding replacements is next to impossible. So I likely will not renew - maybe my one and only way of protest. And I am sure I am not alone. What's sad is I was really enjoying the young players last year - they have a lot to learn, but played with enthusiasm and looked like they were having a great time. But it will be a while before they are to be competitive. I also hate we have to suffer through another year with this hanging over our heads - if we have to move - just do it and get it over with. Will be sad this year celebrating 50 years in the NL knowing that's all there will be in the NL. So whatever you decide - I know it will be the right oen for you. But I'll miss you at spring training, but will keep in touch!!
Carole
Correction - make that 14+ years of season tickets!
I feel your pain. Ditto to all of the above comments! I hate the DH - not real baseball, hate west coast games - some of us have to work for a living, rotating roster - who's on first?
Sometimes change is good and sometimes it is necessary. I think this qualifies as necessary. I will probably stay a casual Astros fan (I live near Houston) but I think I may not see the inside of Minute Maid again.
Best strategy the Astros could employ is to win the World Series in 2012. Then they'd be the Defending Champions. Forever.
Second best: Change the name of the team. This way the Astros will always be our beloved NL team, with 50 years of history, undiluted by future fortunes. I would be much more likely to follow an American League team in Houston not names the Astros.
not *named* the Astros
That's an idea. If they changed the name of the team to something else -- maybe the Oilers or the Spoilers or the Ship Channel Scum -- it might be easier for me to let go. No Astrodome. No Killer Bs. No Astros. Time to move on...
Susan....I love this pic of Bags and Biggio.
I am going to have the opportunity to get Biggio's autograph during Flashback Friday this month, and was hoping if I begged you, to see if I could get a digital copy of it???
It would mean the world to me. Pleases email me...bainchris72@yahoo.com
Much like you, I am an exile too. I live deep in Tx Ranger country and have a 4 hr trek to see my beloved Astros. Thank you so much,
Chris
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