Farewell to the Beer Dude

The Beer Dude tends his Shiners and Michelob Ultras behind the lower deck along the third base line at Minute Maid Park. I used to go to him for yards of Michelob Ultras before common sense intervened, and I downshifted to pints.

Of all the vendors at Minute Maid, he is the one who has not moved, staying his post during the Miracle Run of '04, which was followed by the Miracle Run of '05, which was followed by one of the most exasperating seasons in memory.

I was wandering around the first deck, a few tiers below my actual seats, when I saw him standing his post.

"Sorry I couldn't give you any business tonight," I said. "Our seats are on the third deck and now I've had enough."

"No problem, man," he said.

We shook hands.

"See you next April," I said.

What else can one say about the Houston Astros, a team which stormed to the World Series last year, came back intact (except for what they added, namely Preston Wilson)--what else, except "monumental disappointment"? Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane backslid, Preston Wilson did nothing but strike out, Craig Biggio went into a catatonic slump in the second half, and Brad Lidge wandered through the season in a funk, seemingly still stunned by his post-season collapse of a year ago.

The young talent--and Houston is deep here, as deep as any team in baseball--never jelled with the aging veterans. The team's collective batting average with men in scoring position was (I know this without looking) had to be among the three worst in the league, at least among teams with realistic playoff hopes (exclude Pittsburgh). And even the thrill of this weekend (three wins in the teams' last at-bat, capped off by Luke Scott's twisting, walk-off, line-drive three-run homer) only engenders frustration. Where was this clutch hitting, this spirit, in June, July, August?

Tonight the Rocket takes the hill to try and pull them within 3 1/2 games with a week to play. So let's not count them out completely yet. But there was a reason I said goodbye to the Beer Dude last night: Don't know where, don't know when.