Once a punch line in majors, this team is no longer a joke
The Astros were a running joke for years.
This was one of the best — and easiest — ones you heard so many times: Who are these guys?
There was no one to sell and nothing to market. There was only the constant (nagging) promise of a better future and the endless reminder of maintaining faith in the process.
That faith wavered. Sometimes it came close to flickering out.
Brian Bogusevic. Brandon Barnes. Jesus Guzman.
Seriously: Who are these guys?
Just a few years after the Astros’ rebuild hit the lowest of lows, the best team in baseball in 2017 reached its midseason peak Sunday.
The team that just keeps winning — 56-27, taking a home series from the Yankees, 14½ games ahead in the division — dominated the American League’s All-Star Game starting roster.
Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and George Springer shared a national TV screen, showing off the chemistry that’s been so evident ever since the star trio became the new face of the new Astros. Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. were also selected, giving manager A.J. Hinch, general manager Jeff Luhnow and owner Jim Crane five All-Stars.
For the first time in franchise history, the Astros had three players voted into the Midsummer Classic. For only the second time since pro baseball began in this city in 1962, the Astros have five athletes in the All-Star Game.
How good are these Astros?
How much can you believe in this team?
Minute Maid Park sold out for the second consecutive day Sunday. The Astros are averaging 30,659 fans during home games this season, which is about 20,000 more than the amount of lost souls who showed up for some reason nightly in the early years of this decade.
Altuve, Correa, Springer, Keuchel and McCullers are all must-sees: Likable, friendly, devoted to their jobs and modern throwbacks.
You know who these guys are now. You’re proud to call them your own and increasingly passionate about everything they do. And if we needed any more proof that 2017 was the summer of the Astros, five young and marketable ’Stros in the All-Star Game sealed it.
The middle of Hinch’s infield are both All-Stars. The club’s Nos. 1 and 2 starters are clearly among the best starting arms in the game.
Springer is having a career year and only keeps getting better.
Chris Paul as a Rocket is huge. Deshaun Watson becoming a Texan was shocking. But there’s been no better sports story in this city since opening day and the tale isn’t stopping any time soon.
Is baseball’s All-Star Game all that it once was? No way. Not even close, and it never will be again.
But when Keuchel was named the AL’s starting pitcher in 2015, it marked a tipping point for the Astros’ turnaround. The team everyone used to love to make fun of had a Cy Young arm. The club that possessed Altuve, Springer and a stacked farm system had just called up Correa and was about to make the playoffs for the first time in 10 long years.
Just imagine the local pride July 11 when Altuve and Correa form the core of the AL’s infield defense before worldwide eyes in Miami. Understand how far the completely rebuilt Astros have come by thinking back to the daily depression of 2011-13, then picturing five players from the current local nine having their names called out on a field dedicated to baseball’s best. Altuve. Correa. Springer. Keuchel. McCullers. This should just be the start of everything that is to come.
This is the best team in MLB being recognized for everything that it has accomplished in 2017.
No one — and I mean no one — makes fun of the Astros anymore.
Baseball’s old running joke is loaded with All Stars.