Houston Astros

[Sunstar]

Good win last night against last year's AL Cy Young award winner. Who got it started? None other than your AL Batting Champion Jose Altuve. Keuchel looked great with 7 strong innings. Naturally my expectations are heavily tempered again this year, but for once I think the Astros have really made some moves to be a competitive team. 

 

I'm still impatient for Correa and Appel to come up, but maybe they'll be promoted to triple A ball this summer. 

[Gator Purify]

Cosign to all of the above posts.  Last night was the first time I had watched an Astros opening night game in ages. 

 

This team feels special.  The '06-'14 Astros would've LOST last night's game late 2-0 instead of the other way around.  You didn't see the lapse in focus or concession to pressure that is typical of young or bad teams engaged in pitchers' duels.  The crowd was really into the game and the buzz in the stadium felt optimistic. 

 

What I really liked is that the media has predicted tons of homers and strikeouts, but we won last night with small ball.  Exciting times.

[Luminare]

I was at Opening Night yesterday. Was a beautiful evening for baseball. The pitching was really good on both sides. It seemed both teams were holding back the bats a bit, but the Astros really worked for the win. Good game overall.

[Telephoneroad]

I am a devout Astros fan and have a 10 game season ticket package .I like to pick up a game here and there and I hate to pay fees. For example a 65.00 ticket can cost 96.00 after fees through VividSeats, Stubhub etc. I am curious if anyone has a good outlet for ticket purchases with low fees? I tend to like high end seats around the dugout and close to the field or even Diamond club when I can get them. While I like high end seats and don't mind high end prices I hate fees. I know its a bit odd but I don't pay interest either, ever. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

[Ross]

I had good luck in the past buying from the guys hanging out near Minute Maid. I don't know if they are still there. I bought great tickets below face value right at game time. 

[gene]

i do that for every sold out concert i decide to go to last minute...always just have exactly what you can pay in your pocket because trying to bargain with them when you pull out a wad of cash wont help you any! haha! i usually get into HUGE high priced concerts for 20 to 40 bucks! the key is to wait until the event is about to start or is starting...they get super desperate to sell at that time! good luck!

 

Edited June 9, 2016 by gene

[nativehoustonion]

So sick of watching them.  They cannot never beat the Rangers!  Very close to make the wild card.

[Fringe]

It is very disappointing they cannot beat the Rangers. I mean the beck with winning a world series, the silver boot is all that matters. 

I'm afraid Stro's just don't have the pitching this year to compete against the top clubs. 

[nativehoustonion]

So sick of watching them.  They cannot never beat the Rangers!  They are on a skid looks like they will not make the playoffs this year. 

Edited September 13, 2016 by nativehoustonion

[corbs315]

6 minutes ago, nativehoustonion said:

So sick of watching them.  They cannot never beat the Rangers!  They are on a skid looks like they will make the playoffs this year. 

Not sure where to begin.

[Fringe]

Only one thing to do. Move back to the National League. 

[samagon]

At least we're not the Drayton McLane Lastros any longer.

[Hastings]

What will happen to the large plot of land at the corner of Interstate 45 and El Dorado Blvd? Something big should go here. Maybe a mixed-use development with multifamily, office, and retail? Maybe a big shopping center with a grocer as an anchor tenant? 

This area has a big presence with being right off the freeway.  I wonder when it will be developed into something grand? Only time will tell..

[nate4l1f3]

The owner Jim crane purchased some land recently around MMP, maybe he plans to construct a garage?? Although, I believe I remember reading that he bought the land to make sure future developments are in line with what's going up lately? Not sure. 

[cspwal]

I suspect that it will be a combination of "build a garage" and "let people figure it out"

Though I wonder if they could use the shiny brand new GRB garage?

[samagon]

they'll pay more for surface parking near the stadium. 

 

I remember back in the late 90s I'd pay $5 to park where disco green is now. 

[nativehoustonion]

When we go Downtown I take the 82 Westhiemer takes 10 minutes from Kirby. Some places want $40 to park which is crazy.  It is safe and $1.25 each way.

[bobruss]

So what was it like on opening day, with a standing room only crowd? Were people everywhere and for that matter the first three games around the stadium with all of the new construction and the fingers apartments. I bet it was a high level of energy and buzz around the stadium with people pouring in from all over. Was the GRBrown disco area overwhelmed and were people out eating dinner in all of the new restaurants. Also how was Biggios crowd?

I wish I could have been down there to soak it in.

If someone spent the evening downtown give us a report please.

 

[samagon]

I can't speak to the evening crowd, but on opening day at lunch there were people who were sight-seeing in astros gear. I left the office at 4:30ish, and there were already a lot of people downtown for the game, walking towards the stadium. Parking on the street in east end was pretty heavy. Not more than I'd expect for an opening day crowd though. 

 

There was a big block party at Lucky's pub that probably caused most of the east end street parking though.

 

The following 2 games were not as busy in the late afternoon. 

 

Granted, this was 2 and a half hours before the first pitch, so I'm sure on opening day it got even more active.

Edited April 6, 2017 by samagon

[cspwal]

Opening day report:

 

Rode in from work on the purple line; I don't remember seeing any Astros fans on the train, but it was also ~4.  Went to Biggio's first - it wasn't packed, but it was busy - no open tables, and ordering from the bar took a few minutes just from the number of people.  St. Arnold's was there with a "tap takeover" and gave out free samples of Summer Pils.  Every single person there was wearing Astros gear (though one person may have been wearing a Cubs jersey)

 

Going to the park, every entrance to MMP was crowded.  You needed to go through the metal detectors and show you had a ticket to get into the street festival on Crawford, but once there, there were food trucks, a bouncy castle, rockwall - why do kids get all the cool stuff?

 

Once inside, we hit up shake shack (4/5 stars, faster service than I expected) and then headed up to Torchy's to checkout the view from the new centerfield.  They did a good job with it, and those terrace seats actually have a better view than I thought they would.

 

Up on the second deck, they have picnic tables setup outside Torchy's, so you can eat your food not at your seat (before first pitch if you're me).  They were packed for opening day, but I bet that it will be pretty nice during most games.

 

Back downstairs, there was a "market" that I didn't go in that seemed to sell small takeaway things, including bananas.

 

Total walking around the whole stadium, I think I saw 6 Mariner's fans, and 1 person wearing an Astros sombrero, poncho, and socks.

 

I've been to the last 3 opening days, and this one seemed to be both more packed, and to have a better flow to the crowd.  During the game itself, you barely could see any open seats, even in the upper decks, and there were lots of people standing at the railings.

 

After the game, the streets were just one big party - Texas wasn't fully shut down, but still had a bunch of people in the street.  We walked south through disco green, and there were plenty of fans down there but not packed anymore.

[houstontexasjack]

After 56 seasons, they did it. THE ASTROS ARE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!!!!  Now, they can redesign the Crawford St wall once more to include a place of honor for the World Series banner.

[brijonmang]

6 hours ago, houstontexasjack said:

After 56 seasons, they did it. THE ASTROS ARE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!!!!  Now, they can redesign the Crawford St wall once more to include a place of honor for the World Series banner.

 

Better leave space for some more, this team has the chops to make a run for a few years! So happy for the team and the city, we've been waiting a loooong time for this!

[samagon]

since I was on a self imposed world series watch ban, I snapped this last night around the 7th inning.

 

[IronTiger]

It's like something has to be counterbalanced with these things. There was one tweet I read where someone was like "Wow, the Cubs won the World Series. I guess Donald Trump will be elected President, then", whereas in Houston, the Astros winning the World Series is compensation for Hurricane Harvey.

[H-Town Man]

It was the year of the two Harveys. We had ours, L.A. had theirs. Ours awakened more sympathy.

 

[H-Town Man]

Anyone downtown for the celebrations? What were Discovery Green, Main Street, etc. like?

 

[kbates2]

Main Street was nuts.

[HoustonMidtown]

4 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

Anyone downtown for the celebrations? What were Discovery Green, Main Street, etc. like?

 

 

Crazy Crazy Crazy - but in a fun, non-descructive way which was very refreshing - no burning trash cans, burning cars, etc (at least none that I saw !!)

 

EDIT:  I just read there were 4 arrests, still not too bad

Edited November 2, 2017 by HoustonMidtown

[Ross]

I saw my first Astros game in June 1967 - it only took 50 years for me to see a World Series win.

 

I was somewhat surpised (not sure why) to hear that Dodger Stadium is the third oldest venue in MLB after Fenway and Wrigley. That's the best indicator yet of how many old stadiums were replaced, some a couple of times.

[Twinsanity02]

Waited a long time for this, but how sweet it is! First NYC and then LA. Hard fought series. Perfect!