Home games...Perhaps an overrated thing, but then again, maybe not. But maybe we got a definitive answer this week when the Astros had to go play at Wrigley North against the Cubbies. The Commish says there were no other options, but I beg to differ. There were lots of other options. And pulling these guys away from their families and loved ones hours after a devestating disaster...was NOT the answer.
The Commish says he had to do it. But Brad Ausmus, who lives in West U, had other things on his mind. He had a few of his teammates at his house when the storm rolled in. The water got so close to his front door, that he was afraid he was going to have to wake his sleeping friends to ask them to move all his furniture up to the second floor.
Lance Berkman luckily has a home near his home town of New Braunfels, in San Marcos. Or maybe that's not so lucky. Since he got a call at 4 a.m. to leave his family, and get back to Houston for a 10 a.m. flight to Milwaukee.
And all this while, what are the Cubbies doing? Just relaxing in their homes, and then getting on a bus a couple hours before BP and riding the 80 miles to Miller Park from Wrigley. Man, that sounds so fair.
It was an incredibly difficult situation for ALL involved. There is no doubt about that. Would I want to be in Selig's shoes to make that decision? No, not at all. Did he make the right decision? No, not at all. Baseball is a business, everyone gets that...But there are about what, 8 gajillion other business in the Houston area? And all of them understood the importance of family after this storm, all except Major League Baseball.
The games had to get played, and sooner, rather than later, no doubt about that one. And could MMP have hosted a game on Sunday? Yes, it could have. Should it have? No, probably not. But making the Houston Astros go to Milwaukee to play the Cubs? That is about like asking a team on the west coast to play a "home game" against the Yankees at Shea.
So why not put the onus on the Cubs to have crappy conditions? Maybe play the games in Round Rock? No, that wouldn't have drawn much, but hey, so what? At least it would have almost been like a home game for the Astros, at least more so than the Cubs right? And just play one there on Sunday, and then back at MMP on Monday, which would have been perfectly fine. This city was ready for a game on Monday. It would have been a really nice distraction. And then just play the last game, if needed, on the Monday after the season is finished.
But instead, the Commish thought it would be more fun to completely ruin the Astros emotional state. Is he the reason the Astros got 1 hit in 2 games? No, not exactly. They are professionals, and should have been ready to play mentally. But can we blame them for not being ready to play?
Chris Sampson said that he didn't even want to get on the plane because he hadn't heard from some of his friends and family yet. Is that not more important than a freaking baseball game? The way that tv runs the world is a great thing in some ways...but in others...it is just stupid. And this is one of those moments. Couldn't the playoff tv schedule have been slightly adjusted if needed? And hell, we don't even know if it would have needed to be. The Astros may have been no hit, and one hit no matter where they played. But that doesn't seem too likely does it? Given that they are the best team in baseball in the second half, it seems like had things gone a little closer to their way, it might have been a bit better for them.
But now it's finished. They have lost 3 straight, but luckily, the Brewers are just awful and have lost everything lately. So it is still up to the Astros to go out there and take it! They have only games left against crap teams, and have no one to blame anymore. Rally around your city and make us proud. But I will be honest. In this bloggers opinion, it doesn't matter how it turns out, they have done me very proud. They have continued to fight, and play hard, and that is all we can really ask for. But they are the best team of the 3 in the fight for the Wild Card, so hopefully they will go and take it!
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