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In 2005, the White Sox swept the Houston Astros in the World Series. I, being a five-year-old from the suburbs of Chicago, ate it up and relished in what I believed was my first sports championship. I rooted against the Astros, mostly because it was what my Dad recommended I do, and was very happy when the Sox won. Fourteen years later, I watched the Nationals beat the Astros in one of the better World Series in recent years. They were an easy underdog to root for, and watching them come back in Game 7 was one of the highlights of that year for me. In rooting for the Nationals, I once again was rooting against the Astros. Shortly afterwards, Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich wrote an article titled “The Astros stole signs electronically in 2017 — part of a much broader issue for Major League Baseball” detailing how the Astros stole catchers' signs using cameras in the outfield and relaying information to batters using a trash can in their dugout. A few months later, the world fell under the grasp of COVID-19 and baseball was played--and as a sports fan looking for anything to watch, I tuned in and truly fell in love with the game of baseball. The scars were still fresh from the Astros' cheating scandal, and they were a very easy antagonist for my budding fandom.

So, what does that history have to do with anything?

Fast-forward two years and one baseball-related thesis later, and I find myself in Houston on a couple's vacation with my girlfriend at the time in February of 2023. In hindsight, it wasn't a stellar trip, but there were certainly highlights throughout the five days I was there. One of those highlights included walking around Minute Maid Park, observing the architecture, and seeing how well-integrated it was into the city of Houston. In addition to working off the obscene amount of barbecue that I had eaten over the days prior, I took the opportunity to take disrespectful photos of the home of one of my least favorite teams--flipping off the stadium and their most recent World Series win, disrespecting their 2017 championship, and taking one of my current favorite photos of myself (above) where I point to their 2005 NL banner (their last series win before being swept by the White Sox). This lap of spite around Minute Maid Park was meant to take goofy photos to send to my sports-minded friends who also dislike the Astros, but also inspired me. In walking around, I thought to myself about trying to hit all thirty stadiums, as I had known it was a mantle that some people have taken up in the past and decided to pursue the goal. Since then, I've visited 9 stadiums (Twins' and Cardinals' were hit before then) and am currently on a road trip to hit 9 more to bring my total up to 20. As I sit in this Starbucks in the suburbs of Boston, preparing to visit perhaps the most iconic ballpark of them all, it's been very fun to reflect on how I got here.

That's it. My reasoning to try and visit all thirty MLB stadiums is rooted in spite. However, it has led to a further appreciation for baseball and a breadth of experiences, growth, and travel I would not have engaged in otherwise, so I am very grateful for my decision to take up this goal.

It also, of course, has furthered my hatred for the Houston Astros.