Astros: A prolonged culture of winning is key to success

As Houston Sports and Astros fans, dating all the way back to 1960 when the Oilers were founded, we’ve craved one thing, the goal of winning a championship.

Ever since most of us were children, we’ve dreamed, prayed, and begged anyone and everyone for just one thing. Having the pride in our hearts and minds of being able to exclaim, “My team is the best.” Along the way, some of our favorite organizations like the Astros have found that glory, that once in a lifetime opportunity to hold up that trophy.

Our Houston Astros finally experienced that feeling in 2017, after fifty-five arduous years of waiting. However, one thing has essentially eluded our hometown heroes, even in the midst of being on top of the mountain. A prolonged winning culture.

But what exactly is a winning culture?

The easiest definition for that particular question would be explained best by pointing a few fingers at teams who have exemplified the phrase. The New York Yankees. The Golden State Warriors. The St. Louis Cardinals. The New England Patriots. All of these teams exhibit a personality trait, if you will, that other teams do not. To quote a Houston Astros legend, Morgan Ensberg, “Winners win.”

But winning can’t be all it is, right?  

While winning is essential to creating that culture of constantly being at the top of the league, how do we get there? How do teams position themselves to be among the best every year?

You Can’t Have Baseball Without the Players

Being built from the very bottom of the ground up is what the Astros had to do to contend. An owner that doesn’t take mediocrity as the norm. A general manager that is savvy at every aspect of his profession, who drafts wisely and doesn’t give up his talent easy. A manager who is wise beyond his years, who trusts his players.

All three of those core pieces have one thing in common. Belief. A belief that by doing things the right way and not deviating from the original plan, you can build something incredible, and it slowly trickles down into the players’ mindsets.

You start seeing veterans mentoring other younger players. Carlos Beltran in 2017 was a player that many believe was consequential to winning the first World Series in franchise history. His leadership mentored younger players all season long, such as Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, and Carlos Correa.

It’s your aces sharing wisdom with your prospects. This spring training, Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers Jr. were busy not only getting ready for the season, but teaching J.B. Bukauskas some of their signature pitches, and other tips about pitching that in the long run will only make Bukauskas better.

It’s your star players making it known that the trust and belief that you’ve established has reached them. We’ve seen three major extensions in the past year and a half. It started with Jose Altuve, your cog to the entire engine. Alex Bregman then signed a massive five year, 100 million dollar extension.

Alex Bregman is not a player that enjoys losing. At every stage of his game, every facet of his brain is winning. He eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball, and being a winner in the sport he adores. For a star of this caliber to sign a contract that will keep him in Astros orange and blue for an extended period of time, means something that most fans don’t even realize.

Justin Verlander then gets an extension of his own and says, “I don’t want to be anywhere else.” This is a future Hall of Famer saying he believes we can win even more than we already have, and he’s going to be around and wants to be around to see it happen, and to contribute to a team that won’t have him around forever.

The Makings of a Dynasty

Winners win. It’s such a simple phrase, with such a deeper meaning. A winning culture breeds winning mindsets. Different winners will want to join, different winners will want to stay. It’s a concept in Houston sports that hasn’t truly been experienced in the entirety of its existence.

Jim Crane has brought not only a winning team to Houston. He hasn’t brought winning players to the Astros. He hasn’t built just a World Series Championship team. Jim Crane has brought an entire winning culture to Houston.

Winners win. And Houston, we’re going to be winning for a very long time. Let’s sit back and revel in what we’re experiencing. Not many cities get to.