2:39 PM Mon, Apr 07, 2008 | Permalink
Butch Alsandor
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I went to Minute Maid Park before the chickens got up for a cameo on
"Great Day Houston" to talk about the Astros. When we were done I ventured out to the Astros "Street Party" to celebrate the home opener.
This always reminds me of a line from the movie "Field of Dreams". "If you build it, they will come". Where the street party is concerned, its more like , "If the food is free they will come" and the pizza and nachos were free.
Several hundred Astros die-hards showed up to eat, drink, and be merry.
Some even came for tonight's game vs the Cardinals . But the "Street Party" has become an event all to itself. There was a live band and lots of fun and games.
The thing I really enjoy is seeing was all the Astros jerseys. I saw the old "rainbow" jerseys , "the semi-rainbow ", and a couple from the Jimmy Wynn, and Larry Dierker eras.
The other thing that was pretty cool was seeing families passing on the tradition of
the home opener to young kids. Of course the kids thought it was pretty cool just skipping school ,but they were really forming a relationship with a sports team
that could last a lifetime.
The highlight of the event was a pep rally lead by Astros owner Drayton McLane .
As only he can do , Drayton got the crowd pumped up. He brought some of the new
players with him. Guys like Michael Bourn, Jose Valverde, Migel Tejada, were on hand.
But the biggest cheers were reserved for Houston native Jose Cruz Jr. .
Of course his dad is the Astros first base coach and its been their dream to be on the
same team together , and listen to the fans chant Cruzzzzzzzz.
I talked to Jose Jr. after the rally. He told me he's been to maybe 10 or 13 Astros
home openers as a kid, but this will be the first time as a player . Young Cruz is hoping to give Astro fans some new memories of a Cruz in an Astros uniform.
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