Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This!)

Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend, and are not feeling too sluggish to start the new week. But even if you are, just remember that it's home opening week in H-Town, ladies and gentlemen! I can think of nothing better to reference than the classic 80s tune from The Eurythmics and subsequent industrial medal cover by Marilyn Manson. There are instances where I actually do like the cover of a song better than the original. However, this particular cover was not the case. But I digress, back to baseball!

After taking 3 out of 4 games from the in-state divisional rival Texas Rangers, which I analyzed in my latest House of Houston piece just this morning, The Houston Astros are arriving home for a 6 game set against the Baltimore Orioles and the San Diego Padres. At the same time, this first home series of the season will be one that celebrates last year's historic title run. Starting today, the championship banner for the team will be unveiled at Minute Maid Park for all the world to see. At least, those that make the trek out to the proverbial juice box. Now that the team are the current reigning champions, that should be a lot more people coming from around both the country AND the globe!

Tomorrow, however, is the bigger ceremony. The ring presentation to the players! The very fellas that put in the work, never settled, and above all, earned every bit of it! Carlos Beltran is set to be apart of it, as the veteran and future hall of famer will grace Minute Maid Park out of retirement to join in on the festivities. It's not clear whether Nori Aoki, Cameron Maybin and others from last year's squad on other teams now or retired will make it tomorrow. But one thing is for sure, they will all get their respective rings, regardless of the RSVP, or lack there of.

While I commend and celebrate every last one of these players on there accomplishment, tomorrow will be especially emotional for me to see my favorite player on the team, and your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis get his ring for all that he has done since getting to the Astros in 2015. Not to mention, taking on a decreased role and making sacrifices to his personal stat numbers in 2017 to aide in the team making that run. Considering everything that he went through to get to the major leagues in the first place, getting that championship ring is going to be the most special for him.

For those that keep wondering why I revere El Oso Blanco so much, you need look no further than this documentary from Fox Sports South released back in 2014, when Gattis was still with the Atlanta Braves. Ironically, it was the same year I met him for the very first time. It gives an in-depth look into his life leading up to his debut in the big leagues. Raw emotion, harrowing ups and downs, and the happiest of endings, which are truly just beginnings for the bull-bear, are really what make him an absolute treasure. Someone deserving of having a movie made about his life, and one that I intend on getting the script sold off to Hollywood in the near future.

It is the perfect rags to riches story. The embodiment of the American Dream that we all seek to get a piece of every single day. Though not all of us may make it to exactly where we want to go, Evan Gattis is the living proof that you don't have to be stuck in the same rut all the time. If you have a passion in life, the only thing that would ever stop you from realizing it is you. That sense of gusto is exactly what has driven me to write the three scripts that I have, including the one on Evan's life. The road may be a bit long with some twist and turns, but I have every intention of getting to where I want and need to be. Getting in better shape has been a big part of that as well!

So as we celebrate these fellas tomorrow, let us all continue to be inspired by their own individual journeys to get to what they've accomplished. As much as we see these spacemen as superheroes, we must also remember that they were once just like all of us. In many respects, they still are as human beings. They got to where they were because they put in the work. Simultaneously, they also enjoyed the grind, and were willing to do whatever it takes to get to the top.

They are also not settling for just one title. The Astros are still working hard every single day of the grind to achieve a feat that is difficult in baseball: A repeat title. They have everything they need to do so. We should all take pages out of their books for our own lives as well. I mean, we'll be cheering them on to another victory. Following their examples on how to go about work and life should be something that we cheer for all at the same time. As they, and I, always say, "Onward and upward!"

Original Photo Credit: Karen Warren of the Houston Chronicle

Jake and the Bull-Bear!: We know how excited these two are, and will be, for this first home series!

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