World Series trophy tour keeps celebration going
Fans young and old flock for photos with hardware, Marisnick
Two baseball-loving sisters stirred with excitement at the front of the line. Grinning, glancing, getting giddier that the wait was about to be over.
More than 56 years after their inaugural season, the Astros have begun a tour of 100 stops to show off their 2017 World Series trophy, the franchise’ first, around Texas and surrounding states.
Joanne Shaffer, 73, and Beverly Ryan, 62, were the first among dozens of fans who spent Friday at an Academy Sports + Outdoors in Katy jockeying for position well before the trophy arrived at 5 p.m. for an hour-long appearance.
They have rooted for baseball in Houston longer than lifelong Astros fans. They cheered on the Buffs, which competed from 1888 until 1961, when they became the Colt 45s, who became the Astros in 1965.
The two retirees went decades without witnessing a championship to call their own, but on Friday they sat, frigid, in lawn chairs outside the store nearly for five hours for the sake of a more intimate experience.
Once inside, Shaffer craned over a rope barrier and Ryan leaned over her walker, neither sister able to contain her eagerness, like schoolgirls stealing glances at her crush.
They were not searching for the trophy, which fans could pose beside for photos but were forbidden to touch. It attracted them far less than another Astros arrival.
Some tour stops include additional photo opportunities with players. Jake Marisnick, a backup outfielder, settled into an autograph table near the trophy stand. Shaffer cooed. “Jake was our No. 1 reason,” she said. “We didn’t know about the trophy until yesterday. We knew about Jake Monday.”
At 6-4, with dark tresses and a seemingly permanent fiveo’clock shadow, Marisnick likely has the largest base of admirers of any bench player in baseball. “Eye candy,” Shaffer said. After some long, guilty laughs, Ryan added: “His smile when he plays lights us up.”
‘Life-changing happiness’
About 100 people showed up for the first of two tour stops in Katy on Friday. They represented a broad spectrum of diehards seizing another opportunity to celebrate the crowning achievement of their favorite team.
Marisnick, who appeared with catcher Max Stassi and radio broadcaster Steve Sparks, has sensed gratitude from fans intensify because of Hurricane Harvey and the World Series title.
“It’s like a life-changing happiness,” Marisnick said.
“It was amazing,” Chris Walters said of the World Series run. “I lived up every moment. Hell, at Game 5, I waited outside (the ballpark) just to see if tickets would go on sale, so I could get in.”
The tickets were sold out that night. Walters, 30, who runs his own maritime security business, has sacrificed countless hours for opportunities to experience all things Astros.
He crowed that he had been first to arrive at the store: “Got here at 9 a.m., passed out in my car, ate some Jack-In-The-Box.”
Walters had changed his approach to such events, after he had showed up for a Jose Altuve autograph session two hours early to discover 400 people already waiting.
“I wasn’t gonna be denied today,” he said.
His devoted hours Friday led to about three minutes of handshakes with Stassi, Sparks and Marisnick, and a photo of himself posing with the trophy.
“It’s a good feeling,” Walters said of earning the photo. “Not everybody gets to do that. Rangers fans ain’t getting to do it.”
Walters, a fan since 1993, waited 25 seasons to gloat. Liam Pearson gravitated to baseball last year. At 9 years old, Liam’s baseball innocence is incubated, detached from the 100-loss seasons and stingy ownership that had suppressed the Astros. He knows only what it feels like to cheer for a champion. He got to skip his last period of school to see the trophy.
“Because it’s rare, I guess,” Liam said.
“You wouldn’t know that,” chimed his father, Keith, a New Hampshire-born engineer, who suffered through the Red Sox’ curse of 86 years without a title.
Youthful spirits
Liam does not share the grim pride of fans committed to losing teams, but he learns quickly. He was informed the trophy is the first belonging to a Texas franchise.
“Oh,” he said. “I don’t really like the Rangers.”
The boy still has decades to go before he can feel as gratified as Shaffer and Ryan. But the event seemed to bring out a youthful spirit in everyone who lined up.
Marisnick’s smile and stare distracted Shaffer. She forgot to pick up an autograph from him.
“I was so nervous!” Shaffer said.
The sisters had photos with the trophy and Marisnick, plus autographs they intend to frame, but they lingered. They did not want the enchantment to end.
After the Academy stop, the promotion traveled to The Central Green Park at LaCenterra in Cinco Ranch, where dozens of children and parents gathered around Marisnick on a stage. He led them in singing karaoke of Taylor Swift’s “Our Song.”
A trophy can symbolize victory. For Astros fans, it is an excuse to keep their celebration going.