Does anyone else remember the not so distant seasons where the Rangers would not make the playoffs and play in the shadow of the Houston Astros? In 2005, Houston won the National League pennant for the first time in their long history. They have had a lot of teams that were talented enough to win it all but this team has yet to find the promised land.
Despite Carlos Beltran's efforts, the Astros were swept by the White Sox leaving the city of Houston upset but hopeful for the future. Fast forward to 2012, and the owner is thinking about a complete overhaul of a team who's struggles on the field have led to a decline in ticket sales. This correlation is not uncommon...play bad baseball, have poor attendance. Simple math.
The Astros haven't made the playoffs since that historic run in 2005 despite having talent on all of the rosters in the past 6 seasons. If they were searching for rock bottom, I believe they found it last year. They are in complete rebuild mode shipping off Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn for a plethora of young talent to playoff competing teams. They are struggling and although 2012, 2013, 2014 don't look promising, they should not change the team's complete identity after this road block. As the team starts its 50th anniversary, they should look fondly back on their history not with disdain. By changing the Astros. name, they are choosing to forget their years of futility and inability to win a championship while ignoring the greatness that took place in both the Astrodome and Minute Maid Park.
Houston's fan base has only been able to see their team make the playoffs 9 times since their inception in 1962 as the Colt .45s. Since 1965, they have donned and played under the title of Astros and to me that means something. Despite their struggles, and no championship to show for their years in the league, there is GREAT history that comes with that name. Changing the Houston Astros name robs the city and franchise of a chance to add some names of future greats to names such as Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Jimmy Wynn, Jose Cruz, Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott and more! In baseball there is a certain lore that comes with a franchises name.
While this possible name change has been chalked up by some people as a publicity stunt by Astros' management to get the fans involved this year, I still see it as an attack of the historic nature of the Houston Astros franchise. This is a tough time to be fan of or be involved in the Astros organization as they watch their once futile neighbor prosper with two straight American League pennants. But they should not panic and start over from scratch.
Championships are not everything, you cannot ignore the great history that goes with the Astros' name. If championships were the be all, end all...Dan Marino would not be looked upon as great as he is. I have faith that this franchise will return to relevance sooner than later. This team will jump into a talented and deep American League West in 2013 but by then, they should be on the tail end of their rebuild. Competition breeds excellence and just being in the same division as those teams will force the Astros to be better than they ever had to be.
If they want to change their uniforms, do it. In fact, they should follow the trend that the Orioles and Blue Jays have taken to by going back to their old uniforms. If they want to update the old yellow and orange threads, I'd be okay with that. Do what you must to rebuild the team and get the fans back in the seats but please leave the name alone though. The city of Houston deserves it. What's in a name? A LOT. In baseball, history is valuable and it should be respected.
I'm kinda on the fence about this topic. I like the idea of a complete overhaul. New ownership, they're changing leagues, I think the new uniforms are a great idea. I mean everything is different, shouldn't a name change only be natural? I understand why they're considering it, and I wouldn't hate it. But I have a great respect for the history of the game so that's why I'm not 100% behind keeping the Astros name.
ReplyDeleteI think ultimately championships are the be all, end all but I do appreciate the history of player accomplishments as much as the next guy so that's the only reason why I'm not all in on the new name. But like you said, it took 43 years...43...to win the division. Only 9 playoff berths in 50 years and of course, the big goose egg, 0 championships. This is not a rich franchise history besides the fellas that you named. Then again, you can make the same argument for the Cubbies who are largely regarded as one of the great franchises.
The best move for them in my eyes, go back to the Colt .45s name. That a name change, new look, cool name, and you are staying in, and respecting the franchise history.
Who knows, it did work for the Rays ;)