If you were a Houston Astros fan at the beginning of the decade, you knew you were going to need some patience. The once-proud franchise suffered through six straight losing seasons, capped by an “unforgettable” 51-111 campaign in 2013. It was a rebuilding effort that never seemed to end, but the improvement was evident by 2015 and this year, the Astros won 101 … [Read more...]
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Astros Authentics Manager Living a Dream
For a few years, there were “plenty of good seats available”, but now that the Houston Astros have become a force in the American League, their game-worn and game-used memorabilia is popular enough to keep Mike Acosta busy. Acosta is working his dream job as the Authentication Manager for Astros Authentics, the club’s shop inside Minute Maid Park. He's been an Astros fan … [Read more...]
Eddie Mathews Baseball Cards Cross Two Eras
It had been ten years since the glory days of the Milwaukee Braves but Eddie Mathews, whose career began in the early 1950s when most teams still traveled by train, was still swinging on the night of July 14, 1967. In the Houston Astros lineup after a trade from the only franchise he’d ever known, Mathews climbed to a summit only six other players in history had reached at … [Read more...]
Waiting on George Springer Rookie Cards
Relevant question: what is the normal hobby reaction to a ball player who is brought to the major leagues and, in his first 40 games mashes 10 home runs while driving in 29 and hitting to a .268/.359/.523 slash line? A mad dash is made to gobble up his rookie cards, of course. But that is not always an easy thing to do as the current situation of one George Chelston … [Read more...]
Time for Teams to Stop Pretending Home Run Balls Have Little Value
Editor's Blog At the end of August, Chipper Jones hit his 450th home run. 450 isn't 500. Beyond Atlanta, there wasn't much of a countdown. Heck, even a lot of Braves fans didn't realize he was one home run away when he came to bat against the Houston Astros August 31. Ashantenay Cotton and members of her church group who were sitting in the bleachers that night apparently … [Read more...]
