The Houston Astros World Series trophy and rings have been making their rounds in the Bryan-College Station area, allowing fans to relive the magical 2017 season.
The trophy stopped first Monday afternoon at the Montelongo’s Fine Jewelry store for a luncheon , and then the renowned George Hotel that evening. Tuesday, the trophy made appearances at Texas A&M’s Blue Bell Park in the morning and then George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in the afternoon.
Dallas Shipp, Class of 2003, helped bring the trophy to College Station through his marketing company, Six Shooter Marketing.
“I have a friend that works for the Astros, and after the Astros won game 7 to win it, I saw the lines that went all the way to Highway 6 waiting at Academy for their gear and I knew there was a big following out here and I knew I had to find a way to the trophy out here,” Shipp said.
The Houston Astros came back, overcoming multiple series against all odds with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, then beating the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to three in game seven last November in Los Angeles.
Bobby Trefzger, trophy coordinator for the Astros, said he helped book events on the statewide tour for fans who couldn’t experience the season firsthand..
“Having an event like this means a lot, not only to College Station, but the university as well because you have a lot of fans that follow the team but can’t come out to Minute Maid Park for the games,” Trefzger said. “So my job is to help bring it to them and relive the amazing experiences from the championship season.”
Houston’s first baseball team, the Colt .45s, arrived in 1962, with the Astrodome opening three years later in 1965. In honor of the stadium and NASA’s new spacecraft center, owner Roy Hofheinz changed the team name to the Astros.
According to Astros marketing coordinator Uilses Flores, Hurricane Harvey’s damage on the city and state gave Texans a need for a sign of hope. He said the magical run the Astros had is what fans needed.
“Getting caught in the hurricane was tough,” Flores said. “I remember specifically, after one of the games, catcher Brian McCann screaming down the clubhouse, ‘this for our city,’ so it’s those things that really make something like this special.”
According to Trefzger, the championship trophy stands 24 inches tall, excluding the base, and has a diameter of 11 inches.
“Having this trophy here is such a huge accomplishment, and to have people see that all over Texas is special, you see their emotions, first hand as they see the trophy” Trefzger said.
It weighs around 30 pounds and is composed of sterling silver. The trophy shows all 30 teams through gold plated flags, and the flags rise above a silver baseball which is covered in latitude and longitude lines to represent the world.
Michael Stensith, a lifelong Astros fan, waited for an hour at the Bush Library to have his picture taken with the trophy.
“To have the first World Series in the state of Texas is unbelievable,” Stensith said. “I got to explore the Astrodome as a kid and now seeing this a world series title is truly a dream.”
Shipp said between all the stops in two days, a little over 2,000 people come to visit the trophy.
The trophy tour is making stops all around Texas. To see where it stops next, go to www.Astros.com/Trophytour. The trophy is also always on display at Minute Maid Park for every Astros home game in the left field team shop.