A Life of Words

In baseball, they say hitting’s contagious. If that’s true, the Houston Astros collectively spent three sick days in Arlington this week. And to take it a step further, if you’re familiar with the slang usage of that word, they played some sick baseball – according to Merriam-Webster online, “outstandingly or amazingly good or impressive.”

After the Astros came off a forgettable home series last weekend, during which they were swept by the last-place Yankees and looked sluggish, no one expected them to walk into Globe Life Field and dominate the Texas Rangers. It was a critical series between two franchises that have become bitter rivals – in front of loud, emotional fans who’ve come to despise each other’s teams – with playoff berths and first place in the American League West at stake.

Just before their dud against the Yankees, the Astros had gone into Fenway Park and thumped Boston in a three-game sweep, outscoring the Red Sox 26-11. That continued a trend that has now seen Houston compile a 45-27 road record while managing a mediocre 35-34 mark at Minute Maid Park, where they usually have a huge advantage.

So perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising to see the Astros block out the cascading boos and take care of business when they arrived in Arlington, starting with Monday’s Labor Day afternoon matchup with the Rangers. My friend Roger Pinckney and I watched from the upper deck down the left-field line as our team fell behind 3-0 and, by the fifth inning, we feared the malaise from the sweep against the Yankees had carried over.

But the Astros’ bats woke up in the fifth against starter Andrew Heaney as they scored three to tie it up. Houston plated eight more runs over the next two innings and ran away, 13-6, setting the tone for the rest of, arguably, the most lopsided series in Astros history.

I decided at the last minute to attend Tuesday night’s game by myself (thanks for the $6.50 ticket, TickPick!) and watched in utter amazement, as second baseman Jose Altuve hit three home runs in the first three innings – the Astros had six on the night – and Houston cruised, 14-1.

And Roger, his son Andy, old newspaper colleagues John Gandy, Kevin Lueb and I got together for Wednesday night’s anticipated matchup of future Hall of Fame hurlers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, expecting a pitchers’ duel. It didn’t happen.

The Astros greeted Mad Max – whom they’ve always struggled against – with Yordan Alvarez’s two-run homer in the first inning, his second in two nights. Houston then scored five more runs over the next two innings, stunning the home fans with a 7-1 lead after they’d gloriously celebrated Marcus Semien’s crushed first-pitch home run off Verlander in the bottom of the first.

Meanwhile, as in the first two games, the large contingent of Astros faithful proved up to the task of making its presence felt in another team’s ballpark. Fans in orange jerseys, white jerseys, throwback 1980s Nolan Ryan rainbow jerseys, 1960-’70s-era jerseys, and every kind of Astros-Colt .45s gear you can imagine were in attendance to support their team.

It’s become a common sight when the Rangers host the Astros, and I can only shake my head at the comments I’ve seen Rangers fans make on Facebook – including about most of the Astros’ supporters being “bandwagon” fans and “insufferable.”

First of all, insufferable? Because we’re cheering for our team in a visiting ballpark? What would you expect us to do, sit on our hands and root silently? I’ve got to think there’s just a bit of jealousy at work when one team’s fans call those of another that’s been on the kind of run the Astros have put together the past seven years “insufferable.”

And as far as the description of bandwagoners – sure, there may be Astros fans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who’ve jumped aboard since the most recent successful stretch began in 2017 – not long after three straight 100-loss seasons (2011-2013). But I feel certain that most cheering for the Astros at these games are like me – they probably moved here from the Houston area or other parts of Texas where the Astros are popular like San Antonio and other points east, central and south.

As for me, at 62 years and six months, I’ve been a diehard fan of this team since I was a young boy and my family lived just 5 miles from the Astrodome. That means I’ve stuck with the Astros through a lot of losing years and never gave up on them.

Yes, I did go through a period being extremely disillusioned (OK, pissed off) after the sign-stealing scandal broke in early 2020. But it was difficult to abandon the only team I’ve loved, lived and died with my entire life. Besides, the pandemic arrived and there was still baseball to be played. And anyone who says they’d walk away from a team they’ve supported for so long after an incident like that – especially when athletes and teams have cheated to a much worse degree and not been demonized like the Astros have been (many just haven’t been caught) – isn’t being truthful.

But back to the Astros-Rangers series. By the time Game 3 mercifully ended with four more Astros runs in the ninth inning – on homers by Jose Abreu, who’d hit a grand slam earlier, and Chas McCormick – it was another runaway victory for the visitors. The Rangers, who’ve spent most of the season in first place, had fallen three games back in the AL West, and the Astros, who hadn’t spent a day alone atop the division all year, were in first – for now. There’s three-plus weeks of regular-season baseball left, and anything can – and likely will – happen.

Some of the ugly (for the Rangers) and beautiful (for the Astros) series numbers:

• Houston had 50 hits and 16 home runs, both major-league records for a three-game series. The 16 homers were also a team record for a three-gamer.
• The Astros hit at least five homers in all three games, tying an MLB record.
• The Astros outscored the Rangers 39-10 and outhit them 50-22.

Now the Astros return home to face the San Diego Padres and ace Blake Snell in Friday night’s opener. He’s been almost unhittable lately, posting a 1.31 ERA in his last 19 starts, so it’s unlikely the Astros will keep bashing against him – and at home, where they’ve struggled to score.

In fact, the Astros are on a historic – historically bad, that is – pace when it comes to scoring at home vs. on the road. They’ve outscored opponents by a remarkable 129 runs away from Minute Maid Park, but at home, they’ve scored seven fewer runs than visiting teams. That’s an astounding stat, and they rank with the 1908 Pittsburgh Pirates and 1948 Brooklyn Dodgers in leading that ignominious category.

Houston (80-61) has 21 games left in the regular season – 12 at home and nine on the road. Facing facts, they’re NOT going to win 100 games. The Astros ARE going to be in a dogfight not only to win the division but just to make the playoffs, because Seattle, Texas and Toronto are jammed up with them – and even the Red Sox and Yankees are within range.

The Astros have three games left against baseball’s worst team, Oakland, and six against MLB’s second-worst, Kansas City, so they can’t afford to be ambushed. They also have three at home against Baltimore, which has the AL’s best record.

But it’ll all probably come down to Houston’s last two series of the season: Six on the road at Seattle and Arizona. It’s probably a good thing the Astros have been so good away from home. May that success continue.

Keep the momentum you built against the Rangers going, Astros!!!