Today, Houston Astros pitchers and catchers started returning to Kissimmee, Florida, for spring training in anticipation (and somewhat fright) of the 2013 season and their debut in the American League.
Rewind:
Rockin' Houston Site Is a Glorious Monument to Local Concerts Past
In honor of baseball returning to Houston in just a couple of months, Bruce Kessler of RockinHouston.com sent me two pictures from Houston Astros history that he managed to capture along his career as one of Houston-based promoters Pace Concerts' house photogs.
Kessler has amassed a database of every show that he and others shot in Houston from 1965 up until 2005. This past week he uploaded 1986 onto the site.
The Elton John picture came from a September 26, 1986 concert at the Summit, during the club's National League West-winning season. The night before the concert, Astros pitcher Mike Scott threw a no-hitter against the Giants to help clinch the NL West.
Obviously Astros love was at an all-time high here in Houston, though the team would go on to lose the National League Championship to the New York Mets a few weeks later.
"KKBQ's John Lander presented him with the shirt backstage before the show and he said he would wear it," says Kessler. "Sure enough, for his encore he came out in uniform. Good thing I saved some film for the end of the show."
Along with the Astros jersey, John also donned a pink mohawk wig for the show, a date on his Ice And Fire tour. You can see the whole set here.
Older locals will remember John Lander as the Morning Zoo ringleader when 93Q KKBQ was a Houston pop-radio powerhouse. KKBQ turned into a country station in 1991.
