Houston mayor firmly placed his foot in his mouth with unnecessary Astros criticism

For the Houston Astros and their fans, the recent devastation brought by Hurricane Beryl has brought the real world right to their doorstep. The Astros themselves were fortunate to avoid any real damage and never lost power, but there is no denying that the Houston area is dealing with a really difficult moment in time right now.

To the Astros credit, they have been trying to do their part. Houston offered $5 tickets to a game earlier this week that also happened to be $1 hot dog night, and a lot of Astros fans were just thankful to have a relatively inexpensive escape from the difficulties that the natural disaster has brought their way. Houston also teamed up with the Rockets to help get food and supplies to those impacted by the hurricane.

However, don't tell that Houston mayor John Whitmire ,who not only criticized the Astros for playing this week, but had a bizarre take regarding the stadium having power while other areas in Houston did not.

Astros News: Houston faces unjustified criticism from mayor in wake of Hurricane Beryl

While some certainly questioned the wisdom in the Astros playing from a safety perspective, given the damage to the surrounding area, Whitmire's stance here doesn't make a ton of sense. The Astros weren't monetizing fans' suffering with hurricane t-shirts, and the damage from Beryl wasn't as extensive as it was when Hurricane Harvey came through in 2017. The Astros have been helping fans get through a tough time and are trying to be a part of the solution.

The even weirder part of his criticism is that Whitmire seemed to fault the Astros for not losing power while others close by did. Electricity just doesn't work that way. It isn't like power is rationed out in buckets and the Astros were given preferential treatment while others went without. Their lines just weren't damaged, and those in charge of fixing the damage are doing their level best to get everyone power again, which is easier said than done. Also, it sounds like his assertion that a nearby convention center serving as a shelter was without power may be categorically untrue, as tweets have circulated featuring said convention center very much having power and serving those displaced.

All of that said, fans should cut Whitmire some slack here. He is a running a city that is dealing with widespread devastation and is the face of the recovery efforts. Based on his response to the backlash from his comments, he was simply trying to highlight his frustration that there are still people without power, and in situations like this with such a massive scale, specific information is spotty at best sometimes. Whitmire was wrong to target the Astros, but it came from a place of simply wanting things to get back to normal for everyone in the Houston area.

That is something we can all agree on.

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