Houston Astros: The move to the American League was a good decision

At 60-29, the Houston Astros are currently the top team in the American League. And according to one Houston Chronicle columnist, the move to the AL has worked out.

In this article, Brian T. Smith addressed his feelings on the decision to move the Houston Astros to the American League West four years after. He describes his personal feelings on Bud Selig and the decision by mentioning that he doesn’t “like to spend my time on this planet saying Selig was right. But he was on this one.”

Like Smith, many Houstonians would probably tell you that they despised the move. Smith mentions a few emails he received from fans on the decision to swap leagues. One fan wrote back in 2013 that the “the Astros are dead to me. I will never go to a … game, even if the tickets were given to me.”

Then there was another fan who wrote this expressing his frustration saying that the move was “baloney” and that “Houston has always been a National League town. This was all about money and never about the fans.”

So the Houston Astros were moved to the American League. The obvious reason for that was that both leagues would have fifteen teams each. Remember, the Astros were part of the NL Central, that had five other teams up north mind you. The American League West had four teams while everyone else had five.

Besides, the Houston Astros were nearest to the Texas Rangers by about a four-hour drive. So, therefore, then commissioner Bud Selig decided to have the Houston Astros move to the American League West.

Smith also recalls what Selig said of his decision:

"I’m absolutely convinced that Houston’s … move will in the long run – even the medium run – be very, very healthy."

How does one explain the feelings of Astros fans about this? It certainly gives them a reminder of why they felt the way they were.

National League (1962-2012)

Let’s be honest here. Did Astros fans think Selig’s decision to move the team was crazy at first? In a way, yes because the Astros were always the National League. They were with the Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Pirates, and Reds. They even had battles with the Dodgers, Mets, Padres, Phillies, and Giants as well.

The Astros were all about competing in a league where pitchers could hit.

They were all about representing the West that involved California, Arizona, Colorado, and Missouri to name a few states.

The Astros were all about winning NL West Titles in 1980 and 1986.

Houston was all about winning NL Central titles from 1997-1999 and 2001.

An Astros fan was about reaching the Wild Card spots in 2004 and 2005 with the latter year seeing them in their first World Series.

To see all the accomplishments that the Astros achieved in the National League makes one picture a hall of honor room to a degree.

But Selig decided it was best for Houston to move to the American League in 2013. Goodbye to the senior circuit and hello American League.

American League (2013-present)

Any time a team would move to a new league, one would think that they would struggle in their first season. Sure enough, that was the case for the 2013 Astros, a team that finished 51-111.

Sure there were plenty of pros like facing the Yankees and Red Sox where you see the sights of Derek Jeter and David Ortiz, but the losses were bad to taste. Even more so since the Astros had already lost 100-plus games in their previous two seasons.

To make matters worse, they had to survive early rounds of being brutalized by their somewhat friendly rivals in Arlington. With the exception of 2014, when we won the Silver Boot by finishing with a better record, the Rangers seemed to have had the Astros’ number.

More from House of Houston

However, as Smith pointed out, the move on Selig’s part seems to have paid off. 2014 saw the Astros win 70 games, which was 19 games more than the year before. Then came the incredible 2015 season that saw Houston hold first place in the AL West for nearly the entire summer. It led to a wild-card berth and victory over the Yankees before losing a heartbreaking five-game series to the Kansas City Royals.

Although 2016 saw a disappointing season, expectations couldn’t have been any higher.

The present and what’s ahead

We all know about this 2017 team right now. The Astros currently hold the AL lead in wins and are one of five teams to have won fifty-plus games by the All-Star break. Amazingly, the other four are all in the National League.

Everyone also knows about our incredible lineup that seems to have fun scoring runs like a conga-line in a Looney Tunes cartoon. But as Smith describes, they have one distinct edge that their National League predecessors did not have:

"I grew up on NL ball. And if this were the Civil War Part II and I had to pick sides, I would be waving the National flag until my hands fell off. But the best part of the 2017 Astros is their overloaded lineup, and this team isn’t as dangerous if Brad Peacock is hitting instead of Carlos Beltran or Evan Gattis."

One can only imagine how the Astros offense would be in they were forced to have pitchers hitting in the American League. The DH rule is simply helping out the Astros not only get to the best record in the American League, but also to their best start ever.

Next: THREE tweaks the Astros need to make in the 2nd half

It’s still too early to say if the Astros are going to win a World Series this year or not. We tried our best as an NL team in 2005 but came up short. So perhaps this move can help the team win it all. If the question is not if it will happen, then when will it happen?

The Astros have always had great teams in the past in the National League. Of course, they’re only five years in the American League, so comparing successes is too early to tell.

Nevertheless, one thing remains certain. American League or National League, the Astros are having a season for the ages.

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