The Pecan Park Eagle

With two games down in July 2013, the score stands a little lopsided:

Tampa Bay Rays 20 – Houston Astros o.

Playing out the string for “reality” in behalf of themselves and the 28 other Houston foes in Major League Baseball, the Rays are averaging 10.0 runs per game this month though July 2nd, while holding the Astros to that most sparse of all average figures, 0.00. Reverse those figures on the pitching side, and Tampa hurlers have an unblemished 0.00 E.R.A against the Astros while Houston hurlers have a ballooning 10.00 E.R.A working against anything positive one might say about their performances.

The Rays (29/80) are batting .366 for July; the Astros ((6/56) are hitting only .107.

The Rays are averaging 14.5 hits per game; the Astros are averaging 3.0 hits per game.

Of the Rays’ 29 hits, 2 were doubles and 3 were home runs. Of the Astros’ 6 hits, all were singles.

One shared positive: Neither club made any errors that count in the box scores for the first two games played on the first two days of July 2013. Some might give the Astros an “E” for showing up to play each scheduled major league game disguised as a major league talented club.

This is a dismal season for fans. Fans who attend most or all of the home games this season are the ones who should qualify for something equivalent to baseball’s version of the Purple Heart. It is downright injurious to the spirit and one’s ongoing interest in the team to go out and watch the kind of baseball this club has played these past two days and for most of the season. It’s just one bad taste of losing piled upon another and, no matter how much you think you understand the long-term rebuilding plan, it’s hard to keep watching this kind of baseball played out on a regular basis.

It’s too bad the Astros and Comcast picked this season to shut out 60% of the fan base from even watching the games on TV. TV is the medium that allows fans to stay connected in digestible doses without feeling as though they are paying through the nose for a potion of poison. If you don’t like the way the Astros plan is unfolding on TV, you can always switch the channel and watch something like “Criminal Minds”. – That’s different, isn’t it?

The missing TV hook is going to cost the Astros some fans who completely lose interest. It’s probably already happened, and, when you add those losses to the numbers who truly will not be back because of the American League move, we are talking about a significant number that is probably still considered by the club as recoverable with an Astros return to contention by 2015.

Don’t count on it, Astros! The behavioral rules of sports fan addiction don’t work that way. If winning, easy-to-watch-on-TV ball returns to the Astros, some fans will renew their Astros addiction; others will have replaced it already with another addictive pursuit; and still others will have moved on to giving themselves by choice to more meaningful uses of their time, resources, and energy.

One more thing: Through the first two days of July, the Houston Astros have now taken over as the team with the worst record in Major League Baseball. The Astros are now 30-54, .357 a full game worse than the Miami Marlins at 30-52. .366.