MLB franchises are rivals on the field.
Off the field?
Players respect and recognize each other, and there is a similar feeling between organizations, too.
The Houston Astros had a nice gesture towards an Oakland Athletics player, Paul Blackburn, during the All-Star festivities.
“The Oakland A’s lone All-Star, Paul Blackburn, was booked to fly commercial to the MLB All-Star Game. When the Houston Astros heard about it, they offered to fly him in their charter plane with their All-Stars,” Front Office Sports reported via Twitter.
The Oakland A’s lone All-Star, Paul Blackburn, was booked to fly commercial to the MLB All-Star Game.
When the Houston Astros heard about it, they offered to fly him in their charter plane with their All-Stars 🛩 pic.twitter.com/vDV1dX8cpn
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 19, 2022
It was a small, but kind gesture from the Astros organization.
It actually doesn’t speak too highly of the Athletics, but that’s a subject for another day.
Kind Words From A Grateful Man
According to FOS, Blackburn said that “it shows within baseball, it’s like a brotherhood. Everyone respects each other… I’m greatly appreciative of their organization.”
Kind words from a grateful man.
In MLB, the little details separate mediocre organizations from truly great ones.
While the A’s always try to save every penny even if it means sacrificing their chances of winning, the Astros always aim for the big prize, both on the field and off it.
They didn’t have any obligation to let Blackburn fly with them, but they did it anyway.
Perhaps nothing would have changed if he went to Los Angeles in the commercial flight the A’s booked for him, but imagine a Major League athlete in the airport, and people around him.
The A’s are definitely not an All-Star organization, to put it that way.
The Astros are, both on the diamond and outside of it.
Blackburn will show the world the skills that made him an All-Star.
He has, so far, a 3.62 ERA in 97 frames.
It’s not a coincidence that he is the only A’s All-Star.
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