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Houston Astros: The Players Need Fans’ Support, Be Loud!

By Eric Huysman |

The Houston Astros need fans support during the stretch drive. I know this winning thing is new to most Astros fans and hasn’t really been experienced since the 2005 season that included the World Series run. To the younger generation of Astros fans, it’s okay to get off your phone and cheer for the Astros. To the 25+ year-old fans, cheering is like riding a bike, get up and cheer at a critical moment of the ball game. You have done it before, remember the playoffs in 2005 where the opposing teams wanted the roof open during Astros home games.

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Why would opposing teams care about the roof being open or closed because Minute Maid Park was rocking during the games, which gave the Astros the true home field advantage that the Texans have? The Astros and the Train guy tries to get you to get loud during home games with graphics and hand motions. Now, Eric, you can’t tell me that whether I scream loud or not really has an impact on professional athletes’ ability to play the game.

During the Astros Legends Weekend press conference on Saturday, some of the former Astros players who witnessed the fans support while the 2005 season spoke about the impact of the fans and noise in the playoffs. Let’s see what they had to say.

Jeff Bagwell “I wanted to thank all of you who believed in us, and to see all of you wearing Astros jerseys at Cooperstown supporting Craig, it overwhelmed everyone.”

Morgan Ensberg “I wanted to answer the real that no one has asked. The real question is, when the roof is closed when everyone is so loud, does it make a difference? The answer is yes when the crowd is so loud we just feel good. There is something about the acoustics here at Minute Maid Park that makes the crowd louder, plus the amount of Red Bull consumed. We want this the current group of Astros players to experience this, we want them to receive the same support. I can’t explain how it helps, it just makes you feel good. It’s a weapon that can be used to help slam the door on a victory. We were a much better team in the ninth inning when we couldn’t hear anything. Cheer on the current generations and drink plenty of caffeinated and sugar filled drinks.”

Jeff Bagwell – “Morgan is right, it does make a difference, but you guys made it better for us. It was crazy during that stretch, I was in the dugout all broke down, it was good. You gave us the energy, but we still had to go hit the ball, it was really cool to be part of that.”

Morgan Ensberg – “Close the roof!”

While you’re cheering will not make a double turn into a home run, what it can do is give the player a little bit of confidence to do their best. My first post ever with CTH addressed the atmosphere of those playoff games, so take a second to read it here: Favorite Astros Moment: Game 4 of 2005 NLDS. During that game 4 of that series, the crowd was really into it, and one lady, in particular, stood up the entire game waving her arms up and down screaming “support.” We supported the Astros with all our might that game. If we didn’t, we knew that lady would get onto us. Finally, we were rewarded with Chris Burke‘s game-winning home run.

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    • Could the crowd’s noise have caused Brad Ausmus to hit that game-tying homer in the ninth inning of that Game 4? Adam Everett said during the press conference that might have been the only ball that Ausmus had pulled all year long. The opposing teams pushed Bud Selig to make sure the Astros kept the roof open in the playoffs because they couldn’t compete with the fan noise. As Ensberg said, we can be a powerful weapon for the current Astros as well.

    I have seen moments this year where the crowd was in it all game long, and it felt like a playoff games. That game, in particular, was Scott Kazmir‘s first home start with the Astros in front of a loud crowd. Everything that Kazmir did right, the fans were on their feet supporting him. After the game, I was informed that there were only 27,598 fans in attendance that night. However, these fans must have loaded up on Red Bull, because they made it feel like a packed house and were loud.

    I’m going to do my best to get tickets to a potential playoff series, and we need to support Crush City to give them the energy necessary to win the division. If the Astros have home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and the fans drink plenty of Red Bull, we might have the advantage.

    Next: Keeping up with the Astros Prospects: RHP Chris Devenski

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