This ballpark visit was a squeeze-in, and what a squeeze-in it was. We were in Houston because San Diego State had made the Final Four, the first Final Four appearance in school history, and we were staying at the Marriott right next to the convention center in the middle of all the NCAA madness. It was SO neat.
The Aztecs would eventually lose the championship to UConn, the first of their two straight national titles, but the whole experience was incredible. And somewhere in the middle of it all, we squeezed in an Astros game. And the highlight of the entire trip? We got to meet Dusty Baker, longtime manager of MY (used to be) San Francisco Giants.
The Setup
You have to understand the condition we were in. This game landed on the Sunday BETWEEN two of the biggest basketball games of our lives. The night before, we had watched San Diego State beat Florida Atlantic on a buzzer beater by Lamont Butler. A BUZZER BEATER. In the FINAL FOUR. It was, by a long shot, the nuttiest experience I have ever had as an Aztec fan.
Amy and I celebrated accordingly, with a fair share of cocktails. Oh, and looking back on it, we're pretty sure we all had Covid at the time. So between the cocktails, the (probable) Covid, and the emotional hangover of a Final Four buzzer beater, we were NOT fresh as daisies on Sunday morning. And the national championship game against UConn was the very next night. This Astros game was our little baseball breather in the eye of the hurricane.
Meeting Dusty Baker
We got to the stadium really early. My buddy Aaron Scheid was in town with us, but sadly he couldn't find a ticket, more on that later. None of us were feeling great, but we got in, started wandering, and for whatever reason ended up walking all the way down to the field. Naturally, we posted up right behind the Astros dugout, and the kids were angling for autographs as the team came out.
And then, there he was. Dusty Baker.
We got to actually MEET him. I said a few things to him, we took some pictures, and I'm telling you, it was one of the cooler experiences I've ever had in baseball. You have to understand what Dusty means to a Giants fan. Ten years managing my team, all those years watching him work from the dugout. And here's the kicker on timing: when we met him, he was fresh off FINALLY winning his first World Series as a manager, just a few months earlier with these Astros, after decades of chasing it. He'd retire after that very season. So we caught Dusty Baker in his victory lap year. What an honor.
So VERY Loud
Then we went to our seats, and here's where the wheels came off. The box score says it was 73 degrees. The box score is a liar. The roof was closed and it felt like 85 and humid in there. We were rundown, it was hot, and my goodness it was LOUD. Orbit, the Astros' little green alien mascot, came cruising through our section, which the kids got a kick out of. But somewhere along the way we all looked at each other and had the same thought: we came, we saw, we met Dusty Baker. Nothing the rest of this game could offer was going to top that. And with the national championship the next night, we shut it down early and headed out. For the record, the Astros lost to the White Sox 6-3, so we didn't miss a Houston comeback. No regrets.
One last note. It really was a shame Aaron couldn't get in with us. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't when you wait until the last minute to buy a ticket, and this was one of the times it didn't. Sorry, buddy. But what an experience. A Final Four, a buzzer beater, an Astros game, and a handshake with Dusty Baker, all in one Houston weekend. Glad we went and explored, even running on fumes.