Bregman receives hero’s send-off in Astros’ last regular-season home game.
HOUSTON — When the Astros took the field on defense to start the fourth inning Wednesday afternoon, veteran Alex Bregman stood alone at third base. The Minute Maid Park speakers blared “Wanna Be a Baller” by Lil’ Troy, one of his walk-up songs, while he was shown on the video board.
“I was just told right before [that] it was going to happen,” Bregman said. “I didn’t really know.”
It wasn’t until Astros manager Joe Espada came out with the lineup card that the crowd began to understand, too. Espada pulled Bregman from the game, earning him an opportunity — perhaps for the last time in the regular season — to get an ovation from the fans who have seen him evolve from a can’t-miss rookie in 2016 to a cornerstone player on two World Series championship teams.
Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the Mariners, which came a day after the Astros beat Seattle to clinch the American League West title and lock up the No. 3 seed in the AL playoffs, wasn’t Bregman’s final home game. The Astros will play host to the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series, beginning Tuesday at Minute Maid Park.
“It’s Fan Appreciation Day so why not show some appreciation for one of our best players who’s entering free agency?” Espada said. “I just wanted the fans to give him a standing O. Well-deserved.”
Bregman joins Jose Altuve, Justin Verlander and injured pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. as the only holdovers who played on both of Houston’s World Series championship teams in 2017 and ‘22.
“Super thankful for all the fans here over the years,” Bregman said. “They’ve been amazing. I wish we could have won today, but we’ll go up to Cleveland hopefully win a few games, get on a roll and get going for the postseason.”
Simply put, Bregman is the team’s greatest third baseman and is easily a top 10 player in franchise history.
On the all-time Astros hitting charts, Bregman ranks sixth in homers (191), seventh in doubles (263), eighth in runs (694) and extra-base hits (472), ninth in RBIs (662) and total bases (2,001) and 11th in hits (1,127). His 19 career postseason homers are tied for the sixth most in postseason history.
