Shinjobi posted:

The multitude of "real Astros fans" did not exist until they won the championship. I grew up in the area, i was a little kid who loving adored baseball, and my parents mostly thought I was just being a loveable dumb kid about me liking the Astros. Up until 2005, anyway. Then everyone and their dog had Astros fever and promptly got kicked in the dick in the World Series. This isn't to say there weren't Astros fans, mind you. There were plenty but I definitely remember more buzz for the Rockets at the time.

I honestly think I followed more Astros games when they were in their empty stadium phase of shittiness than most of my friends in Houston. Weren't they on the verge of losing a TV deal at the time due to awful ratings?

I started watching the Rangers more because I moved to DFW and at the time the possibility of an all Texas world series was still on the table, so I didn't think it was a huge problem. When the Stros came to the AL West I chose the Rangers and honestly I haven't regretted it. Thats not a backhanded jab at the Astros cheating at baseball, though. It's more that it would be hard for me to handle my childhood adoration of the team if I still followed them.

Anyway, as a fan you kinda have the luxury of the final say in who/what you root for. As a child I rooted for the Astros. As an adult I root for the Rangers. I have been miserable most of my life. Baseball is great.

Shinjobi posted:

To be fair, they weren't really until 2010?

Both teams were bridesmaids at best until the Astros finally brought it home. Even if they were cheating to do it.

Big Mean Jerk posted:

Whoa now, the Astros never enjoyed a Yankees-level popularity prior to 2017, but there was definitely a big fanbase during that mid 90s-to-early 00s Killer Bs run.

Shinjobi posted:

Mid to late 90s I still remember peeps riding the high of the Olajuwon Rockets. No denying the early to mid 00s up to that World Series appearance the team was on the rise, but I was in high school in 2005 and it went from no Astros gear seen aside from a hat here and there to Astros poo poo everywhere and nowhere was safe from rambling about the Killer Bs. Punks never tried to imitate Bagwell's stance like 8 year old me, though. Posers.

TMMadman posted:

Look if Cubs fans can live with the fact that our team winning the world series unleashed hell on earth, I'd think Astros fans could deal with their cheating team not admitting that they cheated or giving half assed apologies/excuses.

GalacticAcid posted:

It is quite simply time to embrace the Pittsburgh Pirates my friend. The act of rooting for them is itself a form of cosmic penance, a purifying gauntlet of suffering and defeat. Makes u strong.

Intruder posted:

They used to show a lot of Astros games on that Star network that most people didn't know existed, I think it was channel 52 or something over the air. It's been so long that I don't remember exactly though

Basketball was easy to watch because it was always on one of the major local networks. I want to say UPN?

Going to Astros games in the 90s SUCKED because the parking lot at the Astrodome was a nightmare to get in and out of and then you sit on Kirby for an hour. Basically the same experience as going to a Texans game now unless you use the light rail

MerklesBoner posted:

OMG the all star game was played at Candlestick the year I was born and I never found out until now (Dad, you never told me)?! I gotta check this out!

Looking it up, Carl “The Meal Ticket” Hubbell threw out the 1st pitch—50 years from his ’34 all-star appearance when he struck out five HOFers in a row, including Ruth and Gerhig—and it was a screwball!

habeasdorkus posted:

Really like RIckey and Bill Caudill standing out of order.

MerklesBoner posted:

This is rad. The lineups alone have got me so fired up. Hot drat, Huey Lewis and the News sang the SSB

Devils Avocado posted:

Yes, "Black Cotton" you have already made the entire internet aware of this. Good thing you cleared your conscience by jumping to franchises that:

A: Supply lethal amounts of opioids to their own players and and illegal substances to opposing ones.

B: Are about to be owned by Sheldon Anderson.

Edit: Here's a story about Altuve and Orbit reaching out to a teen fan with lymphoma https://abc13.com/make-a-wish-astros-surprise-foundation-make-a-wish-houston-lourdes-rodriguez/6318608/

Do you want to see if you can get in touch with the kid so you can lecture her for not having enough integrity to throw that cheatin' alien out of her hospital room?

Popete posted:

https://twitter.com/BaseballBros/status/1283566687388868608

"Am I at Wrigley or what?"

lol

more falafel please posted:

Casnorf posted:

the astros cheated in the world series and still lost

Popete posted:

Whose the Alan Turing of the Nationals that deciphered the Enigma Machine trash can?

STAC Goat posted:

The funniest thing about the Astros thing for me will always be Boone having that whistling meltdown earlier and basically calling out the open secret and the Astros laughing it off.

Kirios posted:

Being the heel of baseball loving owns bring it on losers.

The Astros cheated in the World Series and won.

slave to my cravings posted:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29476018/mets-bidder-alex-rodriguez-calls-players-accept-salary-cap-system




Lol

Devils Avocado posted:

Debunked rumor? When was that brought up in the thread? I just got a Dodgers Nation link from a buddy and thought it was weird that there was more than one Houston grown disillusioned Astros fan who wrote like they were raised on mediocre Anime (no judgment there) felt the need to post their emotional screed on multiple corners of the internet because no one would listen to them IRL, and jumped to the Mets?! That’s a hell of a coincidence!

But anyway you root for whoever you want to and talk as much poo poo as you want. That’s (American) baseball. After all, no one is going to stop me from posting vids of Kershaw asking God why he isn’t good enough or speculating which shallow fly ball is going to be the end of Aaron Judge’s gangly career. Or even contemplating which is worse; banging a trash can to win the World Series or facilitating a young man choking to death on his own vomit? (Mike Trout is so fun!) But you seem to have your undies in a genuine bunch that every Houstonian hasn’t burned their jerseys and euthanized all the kittens named Springer. (And I think it’s a good time to point out that Houston fans have never beaten an opposing fan into a coma.). And I think you are just going to have to learn to live with disappointment. This is sports. the fact that most people here are ready to blow a CHUD like Bauer because he wears a pun-y T-shirt speaks volumes if you ask me, but I digress.

Now I wish we would just get rid Osuna, (because no other contender has a beater on the team) and I’m glad that douche Taubman (who I had never heard of) got fired. And I’m even glad Luhnow was sent packing (after we incorporated his trade secrets). But Yuli was raised in Communist Cuba and didn’t know it was culturally insensitive to make the slanty eyes gesture to pitchers with ERAs over 20 in the World Series. And he tipped his hat to Yu in Game 7 shortly before he was pulled!

In conclusion (I grow bored and distracted) I know that the regular Astros posters don’t want to alienate their forum buds. But the rest of us are united in that we don’t feel shame, we’re not sorry, flags fly forever, and you can all suck our collective throbbing Altuve.

To quote a famous American poet:

gently caress ya’ll, I’m from Texas.

Edit: Also we're gonna beat your asses this year.

Edit: Edit: If there is a year. Everyone stay safe.

Inspector_666 posted:

I keep thinking about the type of stuff that Spring Training coverage can learn from Summer Camp and it's half "Let more random people suit up" and half "Baseball fans will watch loving anything right after the offseason ends."

Devils Avocado posted:

Rebuttal:

Point 1: Houston no longer has an inferiority complex, please refer to the Texas politics thread in DnD

Point 2: I really appreciate the ET landfill reference. But players were not going to be suspended. The league had no actionable evidence to suspend players. They could have tried to do it just with the Fiers testimony/Jomboy tapes but the players union, to which the Astros players still belong, would have been bound to contest such a move and they would have won. I cannot imagine that Fiers, whatever his motivations, would have been excited to appear before a tribunal and testify against his fellow union members. In order to get testimony the Commissioner had to agree with the Union that the players would not face sanctions for their truthful statements. To renege on such an agreement just because the "Astros deserved it" would have created a huge labor problem which would infect every facet of negotiations going forward.

3. Ruined Baseball is strong language. Here is an article compiled by our shared hometown newspaper detailing confirmed and alleged baseball cheating (looking at you Boston Braves fans) going back to the founding of the game https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/slideshow/Cheating-history-every-Major-League-Baseball-team-200267.php.

4. So you admit you made that Reddit post! ha ha!

Devils Avocado posted:

Here is an article compiled by our shared hometown newspaper detailing confirmed and alleged baseball cheating (looking at you Boston Braves fans) going back to the founding of the game https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/slideshow/Cheating-history-every-Major-League-Baseball-team-200267.php.

Intruder posted:

If I buy you both PMs will you take this to them

Sydin posted:

I hate the Astros for cheating as much as any other fanbase besides maybe the Dodgers, and I think you're taking this too personally. Even ignoring the cheating, it's impossible to take a moral stance in liking an MLB team because they are to a team owned by old, white, racist, sexist, transphobic, homophobic, classist fucks who don't care about anything besides their personal wealth going up, even if dozens/hundres/thousands/millions of people have to die to make it happen.

You cannot take an honest to god moral stance and also like professional baseball. It's just not feasible in our current environment.

Like gently caress, I and many others still root for the Cubs despite the ownership group being a bunch of billionaire Trump bootlickers who are spearheading his re-election campaign, which is way more detrimental to society as a whole than the Astros hitting a trashcan with a bat to cheat. Not to false-dichotomy, but honestly you either need to seriously temper your expectations or just give up on baseball entirely, because all 30 teams are bad, owned by bad people, or both.

pigz posted:

Got to see some baseball yesterday and it was pretty werid. Watched a few batters of the CIN intrasquad game.

https://www.mlb.com/video/aristides-aquino-s-home-run

Got to see this and it was pretty cool, my favorite part is how long they lingered on the stands. Just found that so amusing.

quote:

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“This season more than ever, we’re so happy to bring back free MLB.TV and give both T-Mobile and Sprint fans another way to connect to the game they love while they’re away from the park,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile. “MLB.TV is hands down one of our most popular T-Mobile Tuesdays offers — last year, our customers streamed over 17 MILLION hours of MLB.TV! We know you can’t get to a game this season, so we’re bringing the games to you!”

Android and iOS users can grab their free subscriptions to MLB.TV and The Athletic for two weeks, starting Tuesday, July 21 at 5 a.m. ET through Tuesday, August 4 at 4:59 a.m. ET. All customers have to do is head to T-Mobile Tuesdays for details on how to redeem.

Sydin posted:

I was trying to say that you cannot say because you like [insert MLB team], you are are morally superior to others who like [insert other MLB team] because they're all owned by ghouls.

Intruder posted:

I already have The Athletic would it be silly of me to hope they'll tack a free year on?

blossommirage posted:

Pretty sure the Tigers are since I saw someone post a line up card with Tork on it.

wide stance posted:

Man gently caress the fake crowd noise. We have once in a lifetime chance to hear the full sound of MLB action so let's god drat hear it.