Minute Maid Park or Houston Public Library crowds?

This is normally when the crowd wakes up. Last year I went to my first Astros playoff game and it was insane.

 

Get low, get low keep that ass on the flo.

 

Our fun base is generally reactive. It would be nice to see MMP rocking before we got guys on base. How about being loud every time we had 2 strikes on a hitter? They'll be loud after strike 3 or when one of our players gets a hit.

 

There has definitely been a change in the fan base at MMP since 2017, and to an extent it is understandable. I’ve been to a bunch of games each year. In the beginning, it was raucous from first pitch, standing with two strikes, you name it. A fan base desperate for success. 2018 and 2019 it was still fresh enough, thoughts of repeat, plenty of energy in crowds. I’m a huge fan and I can see my own demeanor has changed.

I attended game 2 vs the twins because I was lucky and friend had extra ticket. I wasn’t going to buy a ticket for the DS, I mean this is the Astros we are talking about. At the game, I was plenty loud, but not a raving lunatic like in the earlier years.

Last night, after we advanced, my wife asked me if we should try to get tickets for the ALCS. My gut response was, let’s wait for the World Series. Like WTF, but that was my honest response. Totally ridiculous, but it’s how I feel. I was at Game 6 of the World Series last year. How does it ever get better than that? I don’t know if it can. Yordan turning the game upside down, confetti, trophy presentation, it was everything. Going b2b, placing a claim to all time greatest baseball dynasty, that could be a different level of greatness.

So back to the topic, I am the screaming lunatic fan at the games. Hi 5 strangers, rally caps, cross fingers and toes, scream crap at umps and opposing teams, you name it. But even for me, I’m less raucous in the DS.

I do expect the CS versus the rangers to be loud and fun as hell because of the rivalry and bad blood. I’m rethinking whether to go, but if I do, I expect the atmosphere will dial back up to the early days.

 

I ask this respectfully: who cares? Really and truly? Three of our last four series (Seattle. Philadelphia, Minnesota), our opponents and their fans have bragged about how loud their stadium is going to be and.... we've gone 4-1. We're going to hear the same thing from folks up in Arlington. And it doesn't matter. @Madmanmetz is right: ours is a mostly reactive crowd that will get loud when the situation merits it. Otherwise...

And that's OK. Yeah, some of it is rooted in been-there-/done-that. I do think Texas will heighten the intensity a little bit. But I wouldn't worry about crowd noise. Honestly. It doesn't matter.

 

I agree it doesn’t impact player performance on our side. I think a more raucous crowd could impact the visiting team. It certainly improves the collective fan experience. And I think our players deserve a passionate fan base. They might not say it, but I’m sure each of them would rather the fans in attendance be screaming their faces off. They’ll perform no matter what, but it’s only human for them to enjoy fans going nuts,

 

I agree. It would be fun to have a raucous crowd - and I think we did in '17-'19. And there was definitely a buzz/energy in game 6 last year. I think some of this is Houston fans tend to be pessimists, and just don't give themselves over. So they wait....

Eh, it's all good. No one hangs banners for crowd noise. Well, Seattle might - they're losers.

 

Already discussed this previously this post-season. Having been to fair share of playoff games since 04… yes, there has been a decline but it was inevitable once this fan base got used to a certain level of success.

2004… when this team finished 36-10 and had a bunch of big names and a fan base that was DESEPERATE for a playoff series win, and finally got one… was still the peak to me as far as both noise level at MMP and the impact it had on the opponent. It was literally a football game atmosphere for a baseball game. Noise constantly. Tony LaRussa complaining about how the weather outside was nice enough to open the roof and they were getting annoyed/impacted by all of it (especially the buzzing noise).

2015 and 2017 were special for a multitude of reasons.

I still feel the crowds for Astros games are infinitely better than anything you’ll get at Toyota Center or NRG when all teams are good…. But will they be as desperate as they once were, of course not.

 

This.

I think it's just a biproduct of having a winning team and the fanbase getting used to it. I think some of the loudest stadiums/arenas are in the cities that are new to the playoff game.

All that being said, I think MMP is plenty loud when it's time to be loud. That may not be every inning of every playoff game, but that's okay.

 

It's TIX prices for real, pricing out the crazies. I was lucky enough to go to (2) WS, (4) CS, and a dozens of DS games over the last (7) years. It's gotten very very expensive as success has gone on. I'm going to try again this CS but not holding my breath.

 

We've become like the Braves fans were in the 90s. It used to bother the hell out of me watching the Braves about the knock the Astros out again in the playoffs while not even having a sellout crowd to the NLDS. Thought they were spoiled and didn't know how good they have it. Now Astros fans are exactly like that, but still better because at least the games are sellouts. The ALDS is like a regular season game to us.

 

They’ve always been relatively more expensive compared to regular season prices… dating back to 2004. In 2001 tickets were so expensive they didn’t even sell out their two NLDS games.

I actually found playoff tickets this year to be cheaper (again relatively) compared to open market prices in 2017 or 2019. Also as was mentioned above, a lot of fans who’ve spent a lot of money going to these games over the years are deciding to possibly sit them out or wait till the next round or deciding games if there is one.

I agree, after going to game 6 World Series last year… every game is going to pale in comparison unless there’s another game 6 clinching opporutnity or a game 7 clinching opportunity (but I’ll be there Sunday night…).

 

I'm curious to see how the ALCS prices market with in state rival

 

They have more seats… but also more population and should be somewhat hungrier. Also Houston fans will travel and buy a lot of those tickets at premium prices.

They pack 90000 plus easily every Sunday at the stadium next door so demand shouldn’t be an issue. I also don’t see them coming down here because it seems beneath them.