How latest eye-opening Astros report hints at something special brewing

STONE COLD 'STROS

With the Astros arriving at spring training, fans are starting to get hyped for the upcoming season and the Opening Day matchup against the Yankees.

In fact, fans are so excited this season that Bob Nightengale is reporting the Astros have already hit a franchise-record for ticket sales (22,000).

Pretty incredible to think there's more anticipation for this season than last year, when the club was coming off a World Series win.

Which got us thinking, why is that?

Some fans may see this year as a last hurrah, with Alex Bregman likely to leave in free agency. Not to mention Kyle Tucker, Framber Valdez, and Justin Verlander could be gone the following year.

Which also means this could be the Astros best chance to seal their dynasty with a third championship.

Another reason fans may not have been as excited for the 2023 season could have to do with the revenge tour the Astros were on to win another championship after their 2017 title was called into question. The Astros finished the deal in 2022, so that could have taken some juice out of last offseason. They slayed the dragon.

One thing is for sure, fans have to be happy this offseason with Jim Crane going over the competitive balance tax threshold by signing Josh Hader to a 5-year $95 million contract. Locking up Jose Altuve for the rest of his career certainly plays a role too.

Certainly this is a better look from ownership, as last season Crane fired GM James Click after the World Series and operated without a GM for much of the offseason. Rumors of Brad Ausmus or Jeff Bagwell becoming the next GM also had fans concerned.

Finally, having a true villain in the division could be drawing more interest with a legit rivalry between the Astros and now World Series champion Texas Rangers.

Or could it be something else?

Be sure to watch the video above as we share more thoughts on why the Astros have seen a spike in ticket sales for 2024 and much more!

Don't miss Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel.


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Rockets defeat the Spurs 127-100. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet had 21 points each and the Houston Rockets built a huge lead early and coasted to a 127-100 win over the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night.

Houston never trailed and had built a 25-point lead by halftime. The Rockets were up by 27 points when coach Ime Udoka cleared the bench with about 6½ minutes remaining.

Alperen Sengun added 16 points for the Rockets, who won for the fourth time in five games. VanVleet had 10 assists and seven rebounds — both season-highs — to go with his top scoring effort of the season.

Victor Wembanyama had 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the Spurs, who lost a second straight game. They were playing a third consecutive game without coach Gregg Popovich, who is out indefinitely while recovering from an illness. Mitch Johnson is filling in as interim coach while the 75-year-old Popovich, who did not travel with the team on this road trip, is out.

Takeaways

Spurs: San Antonio’s defense suffered Wednesday in its first game without top on-ball defender Jeremy Sochan, who suffered a fractured left thumb that will require surgery in Monday’s game. Rookie Stephon Castle, who started in his place, will need to step up with Sochan likely out for an extended period.

Rockets: After failing to play consistently for four quarters in the last two games, Houston finally put together a complete game against the Spurs.

Key moment

The Rockets were up by 7 with about five minutes left in the first quarter before using a 7-0 run, with the first five points by VanVleet, to make it 22-8. The Spurs didn’t get closer than 10 points after that.

Key stat

The Rockets dominated inside, outscoring the Spurs 66-46 in the paint.

Up next

San Antonio hosts Portland on Thursday night and the Rockets visit Oklahoma City on Friday night.

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