Some Houston Astros fans are begging Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.) to not attend the Game 7 of their American League Championship Series (ALCS) against state rival the Texas Rangers due to bad luck.
Fans of the defending World Series champions took to X, a social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to plead with the lawmaker to not attend the crucial contest at Houston’s Minute Maid Park Monday night.
The Astros, led by legendary manager Dusty Baker, are currently tied 3 to 3 in their best of seven series against the Rangers, managed by multiple World Series champion Bruce Bochy.
The winner of the ALCS will advance to the World Series, where they’ll face either the Philadelphia Phillies or the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“All I ask for is for Ted Cruz, the King of Jinxers, to not attend Game 7 of the #ALCS, so the Astros can have a good chance at victory,” wrote one X user.
“I appreciate that Ted Cruz, as a dad, loves taking his kids to the @astros games,” another Astros fan wrote on the platform. “But for the love of all things Houston, let Heidi take them! Send them with friends! It’s game 7 man. We can’t risk this. The whole city is asking you.”
Meanwhile, Rangers fans are begging Cruz to attend the contest, with one user writing in an X post: “As an honest Astros fan I speak for when I say Ted Cruz is a great man and great senator and should attend our game tomorrow night, he’s our good luck charm.” (The user’s feed is filled with support for Dallas-area teams, including the Rangers.)
A Cruz spokesperson confirmed to Rolling Stone Magazine that the senator plans to attend Monday’s contest, noting how Cruz has been an avid fan of the Houston, Texas-based MLB team since the 1980s and attending games has been a tradition he shares with his daughter.
“No one calls them the ‘Astros.’ Go Stros. Senator Cruz has a legendary record supporting the Stros in their biggest victories, including when he cheered the Stros on to victory on June 3, 1989, which was one of the longest baseball games in history,” the spokesperson told Rolling Stone.
The Hill has reached out to Cruz’s office for comment and more information. In response to the Rolling Stone article, Cruz posted on X, “For 7 years, Catherine & I have attended nearly EVERY Astros home playoff game. If they’re going to blame me for our recent home losses, pls also credit us for TWO World Series Championships & SEVEN consecutive ALCS’s—we were there cheering Stros on!”
Yet some say Cruz, who ran for president in 2016, has arguably been a bad omen to Houston-based professional sports teams in the last few years.
According to Rolling Stone, the Astros lost four games at home during their postseason run in which Cruz attended.
Cruz was also in attendance for Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors, where his beloved Rockets infamously missed 27 consecutive-three pointers to fall to the eventual NBA champions Golden State 101 to 92.