For Houston Astros fans, winning cures all evils from the past

The Houston Astros’ 2017 win total has brought back many fans who lost interest in the team during the six-year span (2009-2014) in which they finished every season with a winning percentage below .500. The Astros are currently 69-37 and have the best record in the American League.

In the 2011 season, the Astros won the fewest games (56) in franchise history. The team dropped out of the top 10 in the National League (the team moved to the American League in 2013) in tickets sold per home game. This marked the first time since 1992 that the team was not in the top 10, and they finished dead last in fan attendance in 2012.

“I’m not going to lie, I didn’t go to any games from 2010 to 2014,” said Astros fan Randy Summers. “I’ve been to over 10 games in the last 2.5 seasons. Does that make me a bandwagon fan? Maybe. Do I care? Not really. Winning is fun and losing is not.”

Many Astros fans understand the idea behind rebuilding – a process that many professional sports teams go through at some point. Once a team’s best players are older and past their prime, the team must often trade those players for younger prospects in order to prepare for the future. These players are not yet ready to contribute to a winning baseball team and the team’s record often suffers as a result.

The Astros took the rebuilding method to the extreme. After trading away key veteran players Lance Berkman, Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn, the team hired Jeff Luhnow as its general manager in 2012. Luhnow embraced rebuilding from 2012-2014 by opting to play young, unproven players instead of veterans in order to lose as many games as possible to obtain higher picks in the draft, a process known in sports as “tanking.”

“Tanking does piss off the fans, and nobody wants to come watch a terrible product on the field,” said Astros fan John Hall. “But, since the team has actually become good because of [tanking] like we have, I’ve already mostly forgotten about all of those losing seasons. Losing can be good as long as you don’t stay garbage forever.”

Tanking and successful prospect development of players like Jose Altuve, George Springer, Dallas Keuchel, Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers Jr. has allowed the Astros to build a roster of young talent. This has attracted star free agents from around the league such as Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran, who both signed with the team in 2017.

The Astros were back to winning in 2015 when the team advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2005. After a slight regression in 2016, in which the team narrowly missed the postseason, they are currently on pace to have the most single season wins in franchise history.

“The anticipation of what this team can do this year has brought the fans back out to the ballpark,” said Eric Huysman, writer for Climbing Tal’s Hill and host of “Talking Stros” on SportsTalk 790. “Whether or not the Astros make a trade tomorrow, this team is built to win now and tomorrow.”

The Astros may also have a better chance at longevity than other teams in the league. They were the only team in baseball to have five All-Stars selected who are all under the age of 30 – an age that is considered to be the peak of a player’s career.

However, all of these players are currently on contracts that pay them well below their market value. Astros Owner Jim Crane will have to decide how much money he is willing to spend in order to keep the core of his team together over a long period of time.

“I was all in for the 2005 World Series run,” said Jared Turner, creator of the Facebook page Space City Sports. “That wrecked me, and I’ve been craving for that feeling for the last decade, and I feel like we are close again. The energy in the city for this team is electric, from sports talk radio to conversations at work to the crowds at Minute Maid.”

As the wins begin to pile up, so have the fans. The Astros currently rank sixth in the American League in tickets sold per home game in 2017 – the highest ranking they have achieved since 2006.

The Astros hope to carry their regular season success into the postseason in September and October, as they look to reach the World Series for the first time since 2005 and win their first championship.