Well, the Astros will shortly begin their first World Series game. I'm not a "passionate" sports fan, really, but it's nice to see them finally make the Series. It's been a long roller coaster ride, for Astros fans in general and for me personally.

For some unknown reason, I suddenly developed an interest in the Astros at the beginning of the 1972 season, at age 9. I soon became more of a hockey fan, nevertheless, which was a good thing since the WHA Aeros in the mid-70s, with Gordie Howe and crew, were a winning combination. It wasn't until I was a senior in high school that the Astros finally made the playoffs for the first time.

The funny thing is that when a team finally makes the playoffs, it's easy to assume they've steadily improved and so will be back the next year. With all the dealing in sports nowadays, a team can change radically in just a year, but back then I really didn't expect I'd already be out of college before the Astros got another chance to go to the World Series, in 1986, when they came very close.

I followed them somewhat for a few years more, but was really, really, REALLY upset when talk of a second strike emerged, and as the rhetoric grew increasingly self-righteous. It was such a turn-off that I totally lost interest in the game for most all the 90s, when the Astros were starting to make the playoffs again, though still never winning. I was so tuned out, in fact, that one time I ran into a couple of them in a store and didn't recognize them at all, which seemed to kind of put them out of sorts. I recognized the names from listening to the radio news, but that was it. I'm sure it was good for them; every celebrity should have that happen to them every so often!

Over the years, I have gradually gotten desensitized to the outrageous salaries; I suppose nowadays I'm more amazed that shareholders haven't put the hammer down on CEOs (such as in that ridiculous Gillette deal). CEOs seem to have "levelled the playing field" vs. entertainers in recent years (since Jay Leno's boss Jack Welch, GE's outstanding former CEO, went on the Tonight Show and laughed about how Leno made more than him).

A second big peeve I had with baseball came later in the 90s, when Houston leaders were pushing to build a new ballpark. The problem I had was not with the need, but rather the way a baseball stadium was presented as a "very deserving" charity. The Astrodome is a neat building which will hopefully succeed in finding a new life, but it was never very good for baseball, football or any other event, really (e.g. the acoustics were terrible). Minute Maid Park (originally Enron Field) is a huge improvement which you can see as soon as you walk in the door (in itself a huge departure from the Dome architecture).

With the outrageous salaries being doled out in baseball, and the astronomical prices sports teams were commanding, I just couldn't, and still don't, see pro sports as some sort of charity. The idea of pro teams with all their media exposure trying to nudge out deserving, struggling charities for a handout still totally turns me off (in Houston there was actually a big controversy between the ball park and a new homeless shelter being built nearby, by an outstanding local ministry).

Despite all that background from the 90s, I figured I would probably get over it eventually and re-develop a mild interest in the sport. This did in fact come about in several steps. The first came when I turned on the radio one afternoon and realized the Astros were playing what could be their last game in the Dome. This was a nostalgic moment even for me, and I went and turned the game on TV to see the last couple of innings.

I really wasn't prepared for what happened next. The kids were pretty shocked. They had heard me remark (and perhaps even gripe) for pretty much their whole lifetime about baseball, and I guess to them it was as if I had turned on a Communist Party convention or something. I don't think they could grasp how ending baseball at the Dome would affect someone old enough to remember it as a kid, which is I guess similar to how the St. Louis fans are feeling right now (sorry, Ben. OK, sorry two times!).

While our boys began learning how to play baseball in the neighborhood around that time (we don't have anywhere near enough time to be involved in organized sports), it wasn't until the beginning of 2004 that they suddenly developed an interest in pro baseball, in a way that reminded me of my own experience. Nevertheless, once interested, all 6 seem to have become VERY interested. Most have baseball card collections, and in no time at all learned way more about the game than I ever knew.

Amazingly, they seem to have had the singular fortune of becoming fans at just the right time. After 43 years, the Astros finally won a playoff series last fall, but managed for the third and fourth times to fail to win a game that would have advanced them to the World Series. For the fifth straight time Monday, they failed to win, even more spectacularly, an NLCS clinching game. As one journalist commented, the loss was so ghastly that they just had to win in St. Louis.

Thankfully, they did win, so that loss has become just a blip in the record books. Nevertheless, I can't help but wonder if it served its purpose. Despite watching them for just two years, after Monday's loss my kids are already grizzled Astros fans! If it ever starts to wear off, I'll have to get a tape from 1986.

Despite my mixed feelings about pro baseball, the Astros do seem to be one of the classier teams today. Roger Clemens has been an amazing example of sportsmanship and team spirit this year, always staying positive despite many frustrating losses. I don't think there's any way they would be where they are now without that. The Astros have managed to play their best and to maintain confidence in many young players this year. It would be great if they could pull together that winning combination four more times this fall.