Happy to Be an Astros Fan

Wave that flag, Orbit.

Finally, on the 17th day of September in the year 2017, the Houston Astros have won the American League West Division. They beat out the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, and in-state rival Texas Rangers after 149 games of the baseball regular season to do it.

What a ride it has been. Led by the perennial little man Jose Altuve, the hitter of dingers George Springer, and the indisputable #1 ace Dallas Keuchel, the team has achieved this thanks to their execution of out-of-this-world hitting, fielding, and pitching that's unlike anything we've ever seen in the franchise's history.

Team manager A.J. Hinch also played a part in the team's success in which he steered the ship throughout the long and grueling season that annually lasts for 7 months, all without even a single pint of rest within their systems. Injuries, skids, trades, call-ups, decisions on player rotations, and many other things were also present in the Astros' quest for the division crown, just like all the other teams in the Majors. Despite this, their tremendous play on the field week-in and week-out allowed them to be at the top of the baseball mountain for the majority of the season.

This has been awesome for a Houston Astros fan like myself to watch. Seeing them demolish teams this year at their will has never ceased to amaze me. This display of the team is a far cry compared to what it was just 4 years ago. Back then, starting in 2011, the Astros posted 3 consecutive seasons where they lost 100 games in each year.

In other words, we sucked. We sucked bad.

The fans knew it, the team's front office knew it, and even the players knew it too.


We were always in last place in the standings of our division, be it the National League Central or the American League West. We became the premier laughing stock in the baseball realm during this period. Jokes or catchphrases were made to describe tortured-inducing futility.


"Basement dwellers", "Laststros", "LOLstros", "Asstros", "Givers of easy Ws to the competitive teams"....


The list goes on and on.

Our rare highlights mostly came out of us being victims of perfect games, near no-hitters, and division clinchers. Our home ballpark would be consistently invaded by scores of visiting fans where they cheered much louder than the 20 of us who were actually there. On top of that, the team was moved from the National League, where they have been playing there since their founding for over 50 years, to the American League in regards to M.L.B. realigning their divisions to geographically fit 5 teams in their proper divisions. All of that history of being in the N.L. was brushed aside to make way for the new venture that is partaking in the A.L.

This move later proved to be fruitful, but that wasn't to be realized for us until after we went through seeing the dumpster fire that was our loathsome baseball team. This dark age of Astros history lasted until 2014, where we won 70 games and finally avoided the 100-games-lost mark. The year after that, we won the AL Wild Card Game against the New York Yankees in their famed Yankee Stadium and reached the postseason for the first time in 10 years. 2016 was a bit of a down year for us; but hey, we still finished with a winning record (84-78) and a respectable 3rd place in the A.L. West.

This great stretch has now lead us to right now, reader, where I'm relishing this victory in full force. This triumphed has allowed me to reflect on what it was like 5 years ago, where being an Astros fan was considered to be a joke. I went through all of this crap. Check that, I'm not the only one who experienced this period of ineptitude. We fans went through all of this.

It was bad.

It was so bad I became disinterested in watching baseball for a little while. Losing day after day after day eventually gets to a person, you know? I didn't know when it was going to end. I begged to the baseball gods up above for all of this to stop. Well, it is nearly 4 years too late, but I guess the gods have finally answered my prayer.



We're division champions for the first time in 16 years.


We're going to the postseason again.


The rebuilding process has finally paid off.


We're good again.


We don't suck anymore.


I'm glad to have always been an Astros fan. I went through the bad times. Now it's time for me to hopefully enjoy the good ones.


Go Astros.