The Astros landed in Houston on Thursday evening as World Series Champs. On Friday afternoon the city of Houston came out to greet them. Getting out to City Hall for the Astros Parade was no easy task, but 100’s of thousands made it. It was a fight to get to the front. Through the sea of orange…..strollers, wheelchairs, bikes, lawn chairs, people of all ages screaming “Let’s Go Astros.”

It was then that I realized this moment was not just for Astros fans, it was for the city of Houston. A city where almost two months ago, the streets of the parade route sat under water. After everything this city has been through, there was nothing that was going to stop people  from getting to this parade. This team brought Houston back together and this city was going to be there for them  to welcome them home.  Bosses let their employees out of work early, HISD cancelled school, Metro busses & rails were free. We live in one of the largest cities in America and today it felt like every single person who calls Houston home was downtown at 2 p.m.

People sat in traffic, parked miles away from the route, walked for 30 minutes through tons of sweaty people in hopes to get a glimpse of the World Champions. No one complained and people just kept cheering through the streets because how often do you get to witness your hometown team win a Championship? The last major championship parade this city has seen was in ‘94, ‘95 when the Rockets won it all. We will talk about this parade for years to come because this time it was the Astros we get to call World Champions.

It took a lot of time to get downtown and only seconds for the boys in orange to ride by on a fire truck. We did it for the experience. To say we were there when the World Champs came home. Those were the faces we stayed up late watching all week.  Those were the guys we talked about at work, we all heard about on the radio and tv, and now they’re home. We won’t remember the traffic, or the heat. We will remember the moment.

Thank you to all the people who worked overtime to create this memory for our city. Streets were blocked off and there was increased security so families, friends, co-workers, and fans were all safe in the streets. A lot of people made a ton of sacrifices to make our safety a priority. It is an honor to call Houston home.  We have the world champions!

Sports Illustrated predicted your 2017 Champs, and now Ben Reiter is predicting it again. Back to back championships for the Houston Astros.

See you all next season at the ballpark.