As if enduring another losing season and setting a new franchise mark for the most losses in a single season wasn't enough, the Houston Astros got into some trouble on Twitter while trying to promote a "Ladies Night" event via the social media site. The Astros (51-108), who have the worst record in the league by far, and are 43 games out of the AL West lead, which was clinched by the Oakland Athletics, are under a lot of heat for tweeting about a promotion that was meant to teach women about baseball while they enjoy food and drinks.
9/27 is Ladies Night by @StateFarm! Ladies can learn about baseball, enjoy music, food, drinks & more! For info & tix https://t.co/erBV1YdNbu
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 23, 2013
The blowback on Twitter erupted almost immediately as according to ABC News in Houston, one user replied, "Implying that women don't know anything about baseball?" while another said that the organization could, "Consider itself punched in an unmentionable location." Houston replied to the backlash in a statement, hoping to clear the air with their female fans. "The Astros apologize to those that have been offended. Our intent is to have a unique and fun event similar to what many other sports teams host," the teams statement read per ABC News. The Astros then amended the tweet:
9/27 is Ladies Night by @StateFarm! Come out & get behind-the-scenes insights from the #Astros front office & enjoy food, drinks & more! — Houston Astros (@astros) September 24, 2013
The Astros said that the goal of the event was similar to that of other MLB, NBA and NFL franchises that have fun events catered towards fans having a good time at the game. The team also said that the event was supposed to be more of a Q&A session with broadcasters and a chance to learn about the game by meeting players as well as a way to get behind the scenes insights from the front office, but the wording of it and the fact that it was dubbed "Ladies Night" may have put it in the wrong light.
"To those that have been offended, we apologize. That certainly was not our intent," the statement read, according to ABC News.
So while Houston tries to mend fences with its fans, it also has to deal with the fact that the 2013 Astros will go down in history as the most-losing team in franchise history following a loss to the Texas Rangers Wednesday night.
"It's one of those things where man to a man, we all have to take accountability for what has happened," said first-year manager Bo Porter per The Houston Chronicle. "Nobody's going to feel sorry for us, and it's up to us as an organization to fix it."
It will be a long wait for April for the franchise to try and turn it around.
"It's not fun at all," outfielder Brandon Barnes told the paper. "There's nothing more to be said than it's not fun. We all at the same time want to go out there and we want to win, and it's not happening. We're going to have to fix things this offseason. Everybody's going to have to work as hard as they can and come back stronger next year."
For now, the Astros can't control how bad their record has been, but they can still try to stay out of trouble on social media.
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