America’s favorite pastime: Baseball. It is such a strong sport in the U.S. and recently, the Houston Astros have been in the spotlight for their brilliant season, making fans proud.

“I became a fan of the Astros due to my dad bringing me to their games when I was younger,” sophomore Nicholas Mercurio said. “They are my home team, and being able to support them is always really fun.”

The Astros also inspired people to start playing baseball.

“I have been playing baseball since I was six years old. I am very experienced at this point and I love playing it,” Mercurio said. “I will most likely keep playing until I’m out of high school, and it will be always a hobby.”

Playing at Minute Maid Park on Nov. 4, the Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies, scoring 4-1 in the 2022 World Series, bringing joy and reward to loyal fans who have been waiting for this since 2017 when they last won this championship.

Winning 11 out of 13 games, the Astros joined the Wild Card Era as one of the greatest teams next to the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox.

“I think it’s amazing that we got to win after this much time,” junior Janeth Lopez said, “I’m really proud of my team.”

Yordan Alvarez’s home run and Kyle Tucker’s final catch led the team to a great victory and drove all the fans crazy. The stores that sell Astros items were crowded and filled with online orders.

“As soon as they won, my dad and I went to the Academy store to get new shirts, and we waited in line for almost two hours,” senior Courtney Garcia said. “We were so excited that they managed to win without needing the seventh game.”

On the following Monday after the game, the fans went out on Houston streets for a parade to celebrate the big win, where the city was basically closed. The team stars passed through the people on top of cars and buses and talked to fans who missed work and school just to be there.

“Seeing Dusty Baker’s happiness and all the other people who were there was awesome,” Lopez said. “I had a great time.”

The fans are especially proud of Jeremy Peña, who hit .400 in the six-game victory and was named World Series MVP.

At the beginning of the season, people weren’t expecting much from him since this was his first year as a professional league player, but he proved what he was capable of and ended up getting one of the best awards in the sports world.

“Jeremy Peña is for sure my favorite player. Maybe he would get tight with Ryan Presley, that’s my favorite pitcher,” Garcia said. “I would say Peña is my celebrity crush.”