The patio area is a very popular spot at Moontower Saloon. Photo by Courtney Sellers
Ask anyone who knows me where my favorite place on earth is, and they will tell you it’s the Texas Hill Country. There’s nothing like it. Sure, people migrate to Houston for the opportunity, the culture, and the aggressive melting pot that is this diverse city; but they go to the hill country to get away from everything that makes Houston Houston.
A “day trip” to Austin is difficult — it’s easily three hours away from central Houston and traffic is never good going in or out of our fair city or Austin, so just getting there can be a struggle. Generally, I would take I10 to Highway 71, but on this trip we decided to take 290. Additionally, this post serves less as an appeal for you to visit Austin the city (because truly there are thousands of articles that do this very thing), as it does to implore you to go to Moontower Saloon while you’re there.
Moontower Saloon was so unique that we spent several hours on the way home trying to figure out if we’ve ever been to a bar anything like it in Houston. First of all, they’ve completely changed the game by checking your ID BEFORE you even pull into the parking lot. That’s right; they have you pull it out when you are coming in. This is genius — four to five guys’ sole job is to ensure everyone in a car is 21, instead of the bartender or one single bouncer having this responsibility so the flow isn’t interrupted at any point. There isn’t a huge line of people getting their ID checked by a single, apathetic bouncer and it removes the burden from an already busy bartender. I love it.
Once you park you start to realize how utterly immense this bar is, but it isn’t until you’re inside that it actually hits you. Moontower Saloon is humongous. As you walk up, there are people sort of milling about enjoying drinks. A bar inside has the familiar feel. People are playing pool or sitting at tables enjoying pitchers of beer. They’ve got a wide range of domestic, imports and craft beers — I was happy to see several Houston beers on tap! We ordered a pitcher, and started looking for a table to sit at. There were no available tables inside, despite it being enormous, so we ventured to the immense outdoor patio. The patio area is what sets Moontower Saloon apart. There was a folksy band playing acoustic covers of familiar songs. Several large fire pits were occupied by young people chatting. At a large open space with no tables, a group of about 25 people were having a conversation in sign language. “The people watching here is glorious” I thought as we walked around looking for a place to sit. Two food trucks offered tacos or burgers and, shockingly the lines weren’t too long. We ordered burgers, fried pickle spears, and loaded chili/cheese fries and posted up shop at the one remaining picnic table. Despite how busy it was, the vibe at Moontower was still relaxed. No need to shout to hear people, and we could still hear the soft humming of the music.
We stayed at the bar for about three hours and spent probably $40 on pitchers of beer and food together. The cost wasn’t too high that you wouldn’t go back, perfectly on par with what you’d expect for a casual night out. I recommend this bar to anyone visiting Austin!
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A.J. Hinch led Houston to a championship in 2017, and the last time he managed a postseason game it was the Astros’ loss in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series.
The following January he was suspended for a year by Major League Baseball and fired the same day for his role in Houston’s sign-stealing scandal.
Hinch returns to the playoffs Tuesday with the Detroit Tigers in their first postseason appearance in a decade when they face the AL West champion Astros in Game 1 of a best-of-three Wild Card Series. Detroit ace Tarik Skubal (18-4, 2.39 ERA) opposes fellow left-hander Framber Valdez (15-7, 2.91) in the opener.
Hinch, who has managed the Tigers since 2021, insists this series is not about his redemption.
“I’m not proud of the story to get here,” Hinch said Monday before the Tigers worked out at Minute Maid Park. “I’ve owned up to that and I will continue to do that. I’m very sorry for how it all went down. But all I had was the next opportunity to try to make it better and try to do my part to make this happen as fast as possible for the Detroit Tigers.”
“And that group that’s in the clubhouse over there waiting to go work out has worked tirelessly to get to feel this feeling,” he continued.
The Tigers were 10 games out of the last AL wild-card spot on Aug. 10 before going 31-13 the rest of the way to punch their ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Now, they’ll face a playoff-tested Houston team that's in the postseason for an eighth straight year. Detroit outfielder Riley Greene believes the Tigers' path to this point will help them this week.
“I feel like we’ve been playing playoff baseball since August,” he said. “We’re young and all we really want to do is win and we’re doing whatever we can to win.”
The Astros also had a difficult path to the playoffs this season. Houston overcame a 7-19 start to win its fourth straight AL West title and its seventh in eight years, only falling short during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Hinch and Astros manager Joe Espada share a close bond after Hinch hired Espada as his bench coach in Houston before the 2018 season. Espada is in his first season as manager after Dusty Baker’s retirement.
“I’m actually looking forward to it,” Espada said. “He’s a good friend. We have spent a lot of time together. I’ve learned a ton from A.J., but I think this series is about the Astros against the Tigers.”
Valdez’s Mental Growth
Valdez is looking for a much better postseason this year after he lost each of his three playoff starts last season while giving up a combined 19 hits and 12 earned runs.
The 30-year-old has worked on improving his mental toughness over the past few years with the help of Dr. Andy Nunez, a psychologist in the Astros organization.
“With Dr. Andy, I’ve talked to him almost every day, whether it’s on the phone, whether before a game, after a game, even if I’m not playing, I try to take the moment and talk to him,” Valdez said in Spanish through a translator. “We talk about life, try to talk about the mental aspect of it, how to handle certain situations … (and) I try to take that advice and make the most of it.”
Espada has been impressed with the growth of Valdez since his rookie season in 2018.
“I’ve seen this young kid that got up here in the big leagues a long time ago really mature both personally and on the mound,” Espada said.
Skubal’s Crown
Skubal, who had 228 strikeouts to go with his 18 wins and 2.39 ERA, became the first American Leaguer to win the pitching Triple Crown since Cleveland’s Shane Bieber did it in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and the first in a full season since Justin Verlander in 2011.
The likely AL Cy Young Award winner is looking forward to his playoff debut.
“It means a lot to have the confidence from A.J. and the organization, and I’m going to roll out there (Tuesday) and do my best to put our team in position to win,” he said.
The 27-year-old Skubal has faced Houston twice this season with a win and a loss. But both starts were early in the season, with the last one coming on June 14.
After the Tigers use their ace in Game 1, don’t expect to see any Detroit pitcher for more than two or three innings for the rest of the series.
“Our plan, to give you a brief overview, is Tarik Skubal (on Tuesday) and pitching chaos the rest of the way, which is kind of how it’s been the last two months,” Hinch said.
Availability of Alvarez
The Astros are waiting to see if outfielder/designated hitter Yordan Alvarez can play this week. He’s been out since spraining his right knee on a slide Sept. 22.
Espada said Monday that Alvarez would hit in the cage and run on the field and the team would determine his availability after that.
Alvarez led the Astros with a .305 batting average, 35 homers and 86 RBIs this season.