While games are in L.A., Houstonians will party downtown.
The center of the action in Houston, even with the team out of town, will be downtown’s Minute Maid Park, which will host free viewing parties Tuesday and Wednesday.
Fans have to claim a spot in the ballpark for the watch parties by going to www.astros.com/postseason to get a voucher that day, or picking one up at a park entrance, if available.
The games will show in the ballpark on the main scoreboard and various projection screens outside the ballpark.
Outside Minute Maid, the team will have activities along Crawford Street, including music, food trucks and inflatable bounce houses for children. Also expect a lot of activity in the team store and other spots hawking Astros AL championship swag.
People already are working on their own game plans, excited for this rare chance at a championship.
“I’ll be there every day, bro, cheering my Astros on,” said Gerardo Sandoval, 44, who watched Saturday’s win over the Yankees from a bar across the street.
He’ll head right back there for four nights, or however long it takes, he said.
He and others will see a similar setup in terms of crowd management. Street closings around the park include Avenida de las Americas from Capitol to Texas Street, Texas from Crawford to Hamilton and Crawford from Texas to Congress. Parking lots controlled by Minute Maid Park will be open.
The party, however, will spill well outside Minute Maid, with big crowds expected at nearby bars and restaurants, some of which got a dry run for the World Series with two league championship-clinching games in the past week.
“Downtown will be lit,” said Angie Bertinot, communications director for the Houston Downtown Management District. “Most all bars and restaurants will be have both home and away games on TV, plus lots of drink and food specials.”
All that excitement could make parking as high in demand as a Jose Altuve jersey — and possibly more expensive.
“The lots/garages west of Main (Street) will most likely be less than the lots/ garages east of Main,” Bertinot said.
She predicted parking spots in the lots adjacent to the ballpark could go as high as $100 — putting them in Beyoncé concert range — and possibly in the $40 range even around Main Street.
“My tip for folks is to park AWAY from Minute Maid Park,” Bertinot wrote in an email.
Officials urge those who can to avoid parking and consider transit. Metropolitan Transit Authority trains are free to anyone with a ticket to Minute Maid on game days. Bertinot said the free Orange Line of the Greenlink transit shuttles around downtown will run until midnight for home games. The shuttles are detoured for road closings, but still serve the ballpark, George R. Brown Convention Center and most of downtown north of Dallas.
Based on the American League Championship Series, there is some hope people are heeding the word.
“I’ve noticed tons of people taking the rail, which is great and highly recommended,” Bertinot said.