Since the Astros road trip to play Milwaukee in the wake of Hurricane Ike, they're 0-5. That puts them five games out of the wild card, which might as well be 100 games out at this late point in the season. They're upset with Bud Selig, but until now they've done a good job keeping mostly silent. Now, though, the Houston Chronicle has spotted players wearing protest t-shirts. It's impossible to know what would've happened if the Cubs/Astros series had been moved somewhere closer to Houston or postponed until later in the year, but it's certainly understandable for the 'Stros' players to be upset. The storm was vicious, there are stil stories like this one coming out of the Houston area, and the league did very little to accomodate the Astros. I realize that there's not much the league can do, but it seems like they didn't even do that."We survived Ike," the back of the shirt read in red lettering atop a drawing of the radar impression of the eye of the storm.
On the front, it read: "Bud killed us," over a red drawing of the commissioner's bust.
The Astros, on the other hand, are doing their best to help out even in the face of the collapse of their playoff hopes. FanHouser and Houstonian Stephanie Stradley just e-mailed me today to tell me that the Astros have donated $1 miillion to the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund (a cause that could certainly use as much help as possible ... just sayin'). Because really, missing the playoffs isn't the end of the world and if anyone knows it, it's the Astros.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-19-2008 @ 1:26PM
MIKE said...
AS A FORM OF PROTEST THE ASTROS SHOULD NOT PLAY ANOTHER GAME THIS SEASON,PAY THE PLAYERS BUT TAKE ALL THE MONEY THEY WOULD HAVE SPENT ON TRAVEL AND DONATE IT TO HURICANE RELIEF EFFORTS,MY THINKING IS THAT ALL OF THE FANS THAT MISS OUT ON ALL THE REMAINING GAMES WILL HAVE A VERY VIVID REMINDER OF WHAT A POOR LEADER BUD IS EVERY TIME THEY SHOWUP AT A BALLPARK THAT HAS NO VISITING TEAM.
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9-19-2008 @ 2:19PM
John Royal said...
I'm sorry, but I've got to get in on this.
I don't like Bud Selig, but...
Selig, MLB, and the Cubs started trying to get this series moved early last week, when Ike hit the Gulf. Astros owner Drayton McLane didn't want to give up the gate, and refused every offer. McLane instead tried to force the Cubs and the umpires to fly to Houston on Thursday night/Friday morning, where they were to ride out a hurricane in a hotel in hopes of playing baseball.
McLane turned down a suggestion of playing the game in Toronto because he didn't want the headache of customs. Arlington was out because of rain from Hurricane Ike. There were also weather concerns in Atlanta and Miami. McLane also suggested a minor league ballpark in Austin, where there was a strong chance that Ike would also interfere with any games.
McLane convinced Selig that Houston would be in a position to play games. When the city wasn't, MLB was left to scramble for options. And MLB might not have had to scramble if not for McLane. And if you'll read some of the stuff in the Chronicle stories, you'll note that MLB offered up airplanes to fly the players and family out of Houston and to safety before the hurricane, but McLane refused the offer. And it's also been reported by ESPN that the Astros players also signed off on this little deal as player rep Mark Loretta gave his blessing.
This shouldn't have happened like it did. But Drayton McLane was too busy being a greedy bastard to really worry about his players, the families, or anything but his wallet. So if the Astros players want to blame anybody, the person they really ought to be blaming is Drayton McLane. He put the Astros in this position.
And for what it's worth, I don't remember this level of bitching when the Florida Marlins were forced to play the Montreal Expos in Chicago in 2004 when Hurricane Ivan was hitting Southern Florida, and I don't recall reading this kind of whining when Selig forced the Cleveland Indians to play the Angels in Milwaukee last season because snow made it impossible to play games in Cleveland.
The Houston Astros players really need to grow up. These whining babies need to realize that many of us in the Houston area are still without power, still without safe drinking water, and have destroyed houses. I think MLB acted appropriately. It's Drayton McLane that didn't.
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9-22-2008 @ 5:00PM
Mike said...
That is the first logical statement I have heard so far. While I am a Cubs Fan, I also feel for the people of Houston and all of South Texas. No one who has not gone through such devistation can comprehend what Houstonians are going through.
Not only did the owner of the Astro's not move quick enough, he also seems to forget that while Milwaukee may be Wrigley North in some peoples eyes, it is not Wrigley Field. If I remeber right, and I am sure I am since I was at one of the games, the Astro's came to Wrigley earlier in September and soundly swept the Cubs with 41,000 screaming Cub Fans, not 23,000 that were at Miller Park.