u need to be a stros fan bcz. we r the best team…we are the smallest big market team…we are always underated and keep things interesting…we have lots of talent, a great offense and always play with pride and never give up…we r known for being down in august and go on ridiculous treaks to make it to the playoffs or just barely miss…

Don’t be a Cubs, Yankees, Sox fan. It’s too easy, too cliché. Just because you’re in an area that doesn’t have a home town team, it doesn’t mean that you automatically have to jump to one of the three biggest teams in the MLB.

I don’t know that I can talk anyone into becoming an Astros fan. It’s just something I grew up, but I’ve never thought about the reason’s I’d give to an outsider looking in.

Up until a few seasons ago, the Astros prided themselves on being an organization who did things the right way, with the kind of players you’d feel comfortable having kids look up too. Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio were the heart and soul of the organization for a decade and they were the kind of heroes who met and dealt with adversity in ways that inspired. The Astros have never achieved a ton of success, but they always felt just a step away from greatness; and even though they never achieved it, you’d always forgive them because of Bags and Bidge.

Recently, things haven’t gone so hot. We have an owner who isn’t quite sure where he wants to spend his money—if he even wants to spend it at all, that is—but we’ve got a GM with a reputation for building homegrown talent and that’s exciting.

I don’t know if that was convincing, and that’s fine. I’m not sure that if I were a tabula rasa right now that i’d pick the Astros as my team. Whomever you end up rooting for, just don’t let it be solely because the team is flashy (the Yankees), has a lot of recent success (the Red Sox), or is legendary, but for different reasons (the Cubs). It should be because that’s the team you can stay with through good times and bad—which can’t come from those skin deep appeals of the Yanks, Sox, and Cubs.

This Ain’t Brain Surgery: How to Win a Pennant Without Losing Your Mind.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Hlzt_qfNId8C&dq=larry+dierker+book&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=fBPaPRZ039&sig=OU0Mxq3U0NlWxNEr9mxJwWUmgoI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#PPP1,M1

It’s by former Astros manager and player Larry Dierker. You might feel like becoming an Astros fan after you read. Or maybe not. But either way, it’s an enjoyable baseball book.

my dad is from houston, so that could be a plus.

Are like Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Lots of money, lots of fans, sometimes dominate the league (or aspire to).

The Astros are like Everton. Less glamorous than the big clubs, but always up for a scrap and have a lot of heart. The best Astros players are often like cult figures in the way that Astros fans revere them, even if they don’t have a lot of national exposure (like, say, Bill Doran or Mike Scott).

If you want to support a team that always (or almost always) wins, then the Astros are not your team (but then again, neither are the Cubs, lol). If you want to follow a team through better and worse (and often more worse than better) than the Astros are a team for you.

I follow them because I was born and raised in Houston and I have no choice in the matter. But over the years they’ve been a great team to follow even when they haven’t won.

The short answer is, from a baseball standpoint, there’s no reason a baseball neophyte should choose the Astros as his/her favorite team. We’re not the best team, so there’s no bandwagon to jump on; we’re not the worst team (yet), so there are more compelling underdogs to root for. Our traditions and history are superficial compared to more storied teams. They mean next to nothing to anyone who isn’t a fan.

People who have a favorite team tend to come by them in one or more of a few standard ways:
they grew up in the vicinity of the team and/or the team’s radio or TV broadcasts
their dad/brother/uncle/grandpa was a fan
their favorite player from childhood played for that team
when older, their spouse or S.O. is a big fan of the team

In my case, I was born in St. Louis, grew up a Cardinals fan, then moved to the Houston area at 14 and, along with my father, just became an Astros fan by osmosis, probably because that’s who was playing on the TV and radio broadcasts we got. (In the 1970s, when cable TV was in its infancy, thousands of people all over the country became Atlanta Braves fans for just that reason, because the team’s owner also owned a national cable network and broadcast all of their games. My guess is they tended to be people who lived in cities without big league teams of their own.)

Later, when I left home for college and real life, the Astros were always something me and my dad could talk about when I called home. Many times when we weren’t seeing eye-to-eye, they were the only thing we could talk about. Towards the end of his life, when times were tough, talking about the Astros was a nice way to divert his attention from less pleasant things going on. He’s been gone for years, but to this day it bugs me that I can’t share my frustrations about the ’Stros with him during baseball season.

But the truth is, I ask myself every damn season why I remain an Astros fan. The game has gotten more mercenary than ever. The teams seem to be little more than the uniforms of the interchangeable men who wear them, who are shuffled about as often for their impact on the balance sheet as on the field.

And yet, I’m hooked. I tried to get out, but they kept pulling me back in, as the man said. I’m a hopeless case, but you have choices.

But, hell, it’s a damn silly game. Why don’t you decide if you like it first? If you do, you’ll naturally gravitate toward a favorite team, I bet. And if you don’t, well, you’re probably better off. The game will drive you crazy.

The Astros tend to have likable, individualistic players. Guys whose personalities make them more than the usual uniform-fillers you see on so many teams. And Astros seem to stay with the team longer than most. The result is that you can get attached to a guy like Bagwell and follow him for 15 years.

Another thing is that the Astros have the potential of delivering crushing disappointment or transcendental joy. At times they play so badly that you want to give up. Then they get the magic back and amaze you by coming through when they need to the most. It’s a rollercoaster ride.

Finally, when the Astros do win, you know it will be to disappointment of the MLB establishment and national media that fawn over the teams in LA and on the East Coast. Astro players tend to get shortchanged in things like All-Star selection and Hall of Fame nominations, so when we succeed on the field, the victory is that much sweeter.