If you compare the Houston Astros to the Colorado Rockies, top to bottom, there aren’t a lot of areas where the Astros don’t get the checkmark.
I’ll take the Astros #1 offense over the Rockies’. The starting rotation has had some bumps to the start the season, but it still clears Colorado’s. Even the bullpen which has been a debacle, I’ll roll the dice with the Astros’.
The choices get even easier as you go higher up. Not every Astros fan has been happy with Dana Brown and the front office, but the Rockies’ front office is a mess. And there is not a Rockies fan alive who wouldn’t trade owners with the Astros.
It’s pretty one-sided.
But there’s one area where I think the Rockies have it right and the Astros miss the mark: Dinger is better than Orbit.
I’ll give you a second to recover from your gasp.
Let me explain.
I like mascots at MLB games. I know a lot of people think they’re silly and unnecessary. I think they’re fun. Kids think they’re fun. Baseball should be enjoyed by the whole family, and mascots are big hits with kids.
At Coors Field, Dinger is for everyone. You want to meet Dinger? Get a photo with Dinger? Even get his autograph? No problem. Get in line at the top of the third inning in the center field main concourse. He’ll be there, and he’ll stick around for an inning and a half!
It doesn’t matter if you have seats behind home plate, or in the nosebleeds. You have access to Dinger. And like everything else at Coors Field (except the baseball), it’s handled and run exceptionally well. (In fact, our photo came out so well, I considered using it on our Christmas card that year, but ultimately couldn’t bring myself to make our card Rockies themed.)
Dinger is equal opportunity, for every fan. The Populist Mascot.
Orbit, on the other hand, is one of the least accessible MLB mascots. Now, I love Orbit’s origin (or rather return) story, and his “shenanigans” are great, but I’ve been to exactly one Rockies home game, and we met Dinger. My kids have been to exactly one Cubs home game. They met Clark the Cub. We’ve been to dozens of Astros home game, but never met Orbit.
Only Diamond Club members and fans sitting in the front rows by the on deck circles ever reliably get to interact with Orbit, and that doesn’t sit right with me. If you’re in the cheap seats, you have no shot.
Orbit caters to the socially privileged. The Classist Mascot.
Mascots should be accessible to all kids, independent of how expensive the tickets their parents bought are!
Okay, okay, now I’ve gone and violated TLA’s Community Guidelines.
7. No Politics
Zero political debates, commentary, or agenda-pushing. We’re here to talk baseball. Let’s keep this a stress-free zone.
I’m sorry. Where was I?
Oh, right. There’s a baseball game tonight. Game 2 of the Houston Astros at the Colorado Rockies. Mike Burrows pitches for Houston opposite Kyle Freeland of the Rockies. The Astros will try to bounce back from a rough loss in the first game of the series. I’m too worked up now to preview this game, and based on yesterday, it feels like a fool’s game to try to predict what might happen at this crazy ballpark that physics forgot.
The game will be broadcast at 7:40 p.m. CT on SCHN with radio coverage on KBME 790 AM.
Here are the starting lineups:
We hope you will join us and the rest of the Launch Angle community for the game! The turnout has been fantastic on the TLA Discord Server for the game threads.
Join us again for today’s game. Just join the Discord server using this link: https://launch-angle.com/discord .
Here is a sample from last night’s discourse:
If you’ve participated in gamethreads on other Astros sites in the past, you will probably see a lot of familiar names. Chat, lurk, do whatever! (But please say “hi”, so we know you’re not a bot.)
Feature photo by mhatter106 (left) and Pixel Pete (right)
