The Houston Astros must be getting bored with how good they are at baseball because they’re starting to get real weird with it.
Ahead of Monday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, the Astros gathered as a team in the Minute Maid Park outfield and conducted a funeral service for the glove of Carlos Beltran, who hasn’t played in the field in over two months, per Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle.
Carlos Beltran hasn't played the outfield since May 16. The Astros are holding a funeral for his outfield glove. pic.twitter.com/H0ncP06YAp
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) July 17, 2017
The 40-year-old Beltran plays exclusively as a designated hitter for the Astros these days, and he’s been semi-productive in that role this season, hitting .231/.289/.408 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs in 77 games.
The timing of the ceremony is coincidental — it’s almost exactly a year to the day we saw a similarly bizarre spectacle from another American League club. But with Beltran, a three-time Gold Glove winner, in his 20th and perhaps final MLB season, it’s probably just a fitting send-off for a glove well-used.
