Pain, city comes together in show of strength

Mets were swept in the doubleheader. “They definitely did, especially at the start of the game, I talked to (Astros Jose) Altuve and (Marwin) Gonzalez and they said it was emotional and they wanted to give them something to cheer about.”

With a small crowd in the ballpark, though announced at 30,319 by the Astros, Houston mayor Sylvester Turner, who pushed the Astros and Major League Baseball to return to town as a way of getting back to everyday life, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The Astros and Mets took the field with first-responders and there was a moment of silence for those who were killed in the storm, including Houston Police Officer Steve Perez.

After the national anthem, Astros manager A.J. Hinch talked about how important it was for the team to return home and play the first game after the natural disaster in the city of Houston.

“We were all very fortunate to survive this storm and for those who didn’t our thought and prayers are with their families,” the Astros manager said. And then he thanked the Mets. The series was originally scheduled to begin on Friday and the Mets agreed to play their second doubleheader in a week, and come into what has basically become a ghost town, a nearly empty oasis in the middle of a disaster zone.

“I want to thank the Mets for allowing us to have a day off yesterday for a day of service,” Hinch said speaking to the small crowd from in front of home plate. “Not only did they give us a day off, they were out in the community working for a city they rarely come through. We appreciate that.”

Terry Collins, who spent Friday talking to first responders from across the country, said that the Mets were just trying to support the Astros and the community. He spent three years here as the manager of the Astros.

“Flying in, like I am sure you guys did, we saw a lot of water, certainly downtown was great and fine. We saw some remnants of what you would expect to see, piles of stuff,” the Mets manager said. “The hardest part is the ghost-town feel. I was in Houston in downtown for three years. Now, you can walk right down the middle of the street hardly. “That was tough.” And Collins compared this first step to when New York had to start to move on after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“If we can bring a distraction to what the town is going through, certainly we’re up for it,” Collins said. “We’ve been through it before in our city and we know what the feeling is like. Tough atmosphere to play in when you’re a visitor.” aturday the Mets tried to help the Astros and Houston get back to some semblance of normal. Playing the games was easy; what the area has ahead of them is what will really be tough.

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