Yes, I live in the middle of the DFW metroplex and yes I like the Texas Rangers and enjoy going to their games. However, my first major league baseball game to ever attend was a Houston Astros game at the old Astrodome! Bill went to high school in Humble which is North of Houston and his dad worked at the Deer Park Shell plant. They were really Houstonians. After we married we moved to Missouri City, a suburb of Houston where Bill was a minister and I started my career as a speech language pathologist. We attended Astro games occasionally with his dad and sometimes his brother Keith accompanied us. I was wide eyed and amazed with the Dome itself, the Astro's huge bright scoreboard that ostentatiously displayed a snorting snarling longhorn when the Astros scored a run! It was truly a sensory experience like nothing I had ever seen out in West Texas where I grew up! The wonderful smells of hot dogs and nachos and the give aways on different nights drew the crowds in as if they were giving away gold bars! If it was hat night there was a frenzy of fans in droves to jockey to be the first thousand to enter and claim a coveted Orange Astros cap! I loved listening to the sports announcer as he called out the names of players coming up to bat! My favorite was when he'd introduce Jose Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuz!!!!! It was hilarious and yet respectful at the same time! Jose was so beloved and a great player! He became a coach for the Astros and his son came to play as an Astro. We lived around Houston for 15 years so the news and sports we watched every night featured all the latest about our home team, the Astros! We identified ourselves with this team and took pride in their success as well as sticking with them in the tough times too.
After we moved to Grand Prairie in 1999, we met a precious, lovely lady, named Joann. She was an active member at the church Bill was the new pastor of and she just happens to be a sister of Drayton McClain, the owner of the Astos! When she learned that we love baseball and the Astros she offered to send us once a year to enjoy a weekend of Astros games on the Diamond level, meet her brother, and her son who was at that time the president of the Astros operations. Her son is a successful lawyer, investor, businessman, and a fine Christian man and was a deacon at 2nd Baptist Houston. We have enjoyed our Astros weekends over the past 10 years. Sometimes Joann and her son Bob and his family would be there with us. Early on we got to meet Nolan Ryan and get his autograph and a photo! We always get to visit with Drayton McClain at the games. Mr. McClain is an amazing Christian man, a deacon at First Baptist Temple, a Baylor graduate, a brilliant business man, and a family man. He admits he is a workaholic and yet he is very personable and humble. He is gregarious and will walk right up, offer you his hand, and ask all about you and your family. He will get up from his prime seats during a game and go out and walk the dugout level among the fans and greet them stop and answer questions and pause for photos and autographs. He is truly a kind, smart, famous, and giving man of God. We are so thankful that we have been able to enjoy his Astros annually and grow to love them more and more every year. Minute Maid Park is air conditioned and beautiful! It is a fantastic experience to be in the park and partake of all the sights, food, sounds, and game! Does this help explain why we love the Astros so?
After we moved to Grand Prairie in 1999, we met a precious, lovely lady, named Joann. She was an active member at the church Bill was the new pastor of and she just happens to be a sister of Drayton McClain, the owner of the Astos! When she learned that we love baseball and the Astros she offered to send us once a year to enjoy a weekend of Astros games on the Diamond level, meet her brother, and her son who was at that time the president of the Astros operations. Her son is a successful lawyer, investor, businessman, and a fine Christian man and was a deacon at 2nd Baptist Houston. We have enjoyed our Astros weekends over the past 10 years. Sometimes Joann and her son Bob and his family would be there with us. Early on we got to meet Nolan Ryan and get his autograph and a photo! We always get to visit with Drayton McClain at the games. Mr. McClain is an amazing Christian man, a deacon at First Baptist Temple, a Baylor graduate, a brilliant business man, and a family man. He admits he is a workaholic and yet he is very personable and humble. He is gregarious and will walk right up, offer you his hand, and ask all about you and your family. He will get up from his prime seats during a game and go out and walk the dugout level among the fans and greet them stop and answer questions and pause for photos and autographs. He is truly a kind, smart, famous, and giving man of God. We are so thankful that we have been able to enjoy his Astros annually and grow to love them more and more every year. Minute Maid Park is air conditioned and beautiful! It is a fantastic experience to be in the park and partake of all the sights, food, sounds, and game! Does this help explain why we love the Astros so?
great story and blog
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