So, why do I want to write for The Crawfish Boxes?

Hello fellow fans,

My name is Cody Poage and I am excited to join The Crawfish Boxes as a contributing writer. For those who don’t already know me, I’ve been around the Astros’ blogging community for a few years. Specifically, I was one of the site co-editors for Climbing Tal’s Hill for the good part of three-plus years. Eric Huysman, who now also writes for TCB, was my co-editor for the majority of my time at CTH. Under his tutelage, we formed a quality duo who experienced some good times that coincided with the best stretch of Astros baseball ever seen. It was fun, but we both eventually developed a yearning for new challenges following the 2018 season.

Some personal backstory

I have been a lifelong Astros fan from the moment that I became cognizant about the team and the game (early 1990’s), which was mainly due to the influence of my maternal grandfather. In fact, he was willing to listen to any questions I had about the game and would answer to the best of his ability. Even the stupid ones.

On days when I couldn’t see him in person, I would instead call his house number to pick his brain about the team and the game. Those phone calls sometimes lasted anywhere from fifteen minutes after school to two hours during the dog days of summer. The conversations ranged from complaining about a Tim Redding start in 2004 to our shared fondness for the shooting star uniforms of the 1960’s. That attention my grandfather devoted to my younger brother and I through baseball became the foundation of a strong bond, and a key reason why I would pursue writing about the Astros later on.

This fandom I had mostly flourished, albeit with a brief respite during the dark ages. You see, my grandfather passed during the winter between the 2012 and 2013 seasons. His passing also coincided with the most miserable stretch of Astros baseball we’ve ever witnessed. Our family did later comment, though, that my grandfather would never have to see his beloved baseball team leave the National League, which was a source of comical irritation when he found out about the league change. But that passion my brother and I had for the Astros, which we cultivated together, suddenly lost its vibrancy for a while.

Over time, however, that flame started to intensify anew. Along with our maternal uncle, my grandfather’s son, who also shares the same passion for the Astros, we began to pick up the pieces and rediscover that temporarily lost joy. Sure, it wasn’t ever the same as before, but we could still feel that bond. To this day, that bond is what still drives my current passion for the Astros. It is also a major reason why I started blogging, which now serves as an outlet to replace those conversations from my youth. In my opinion, a blog is essentially a continuing conversation; a conversation to learn about and appreciate the game along with the team and players we all have adopted as our own.

So, why did I decide to write for The Crawfish Boxes?

It was only recently (May 2019) that I stepped down as co-editor at CTH, which was mainly due to personal reasons as well as the desire for a new challenge. Part of that desire was to improve creatively as a writer while also exhibiting improvement in analysis and the presentation of evidence. As time went on at CTH, I also became engrossed with sabermetrics and how analytics have changed the game of baseball. That is part of the game today that I really want to embrace more into my writing. I felt like TCB presented a wonderful opportunity to be able to do so, which is why I submitted a few fan posts over the past month or so. After reaching out to mhatter106 and a phone conversation with bilbos, I was given the green light to join the crew.

My aim is to not only carry on the unique voice TCB has presented through current and past regimes, but to also provide my own twist on the current state of affairs surrounding the Astros. I hope my first “real” piece for the site about the deal between the Astros-Blue Jays prior to Wednesday’s trade deadline met those expectations. There have been plenty of smart and talented writers to contribute to the cause here at TCB and I want to do the same.

I’ll leave you with this

“Here’s a ground ball right side, could do it. The Houston Astros are world champions for the first time in franchise history.”

Those words on that fateful November night are still, to this day, represent one of the happiest days of my life. Not one of my best, mind you, but one of my happiest. Let’s hope for another happy day like that one happens again sometime soon.