HOUSTON — Minute Maid Park is a playoff opponent’s playground, a place now hosting more celebrations for its visitors than the vaunted team that calls it home. The Detroit Tigers launched the latest one at 4:28 on Wednesday afternoon, after the seventh consecutive October game an opponent has won inside this ballpark.
Few inside the first-base dugout moved while it unfolded. Arms hung over the top rail and emotionless faces watched a trade deadline seller finish its two-day dethroning of an American League dynasty. Seven consecutive American League Championship Series appearances have conditioned this city and clubhouse for prolonged postseason runs.
“When we get to the playoffs, you’re thinking long term,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “We obviously couldn’t win against the Tigers. It’s tough. We’re heartbroken right now.”
After this anonymous bunch of Tigers turned his home into their own hootenanny, Altuve left the dugout and descended the steps toward the clubhouse. En route, he found Alex Bregman, the latest free-agent cornerstone for a franchise that rarely retains them. “I told him as soon as the game was over that he’s coming back,” Altuve said following the 5-2 defeat.
No two men in Houston Astros history have appeared in more postseason games. Bregman had never played a full major-league season that ended before the American League Championship Series. Wednesday gave him a glimpse of how the other half lives, those franchises that don’t make a complex sport seem so simple.
“I haven’t even really had the chance to process this,” Bregman said. “I was planning on being here tomorrow.”
Nothing in this franchise’s past suggests he will, so Bregman stood before the clubhouse for one final address. First-year manager Joe Espada preceded him, praising this club for its resilience from a 12-24 start before promising they’d return to the postseason next year. Bregman followed.
“He said he loved playing with us,” outfielder Chas McCormick said. “He loved how resilient we were. That was our leader, so I’m happy he was able to talk to us. He’s been a huge part of this team obviously. He just talked about how much he loved playing with us and how much we fought this year. Said it was an honor.”
