HOUSTON — If you notice something looked a little different with Astros’ Game 6 starter Framber Valdez, it may be his uniform.
According to Sports Illustrated, Valdez prefers the Astros dark blue jersey when he pitches at home, but for Sunday’s game, they were wearing their orange tops.
There is a significance. First, Houston won all three games in Arlington while wearing the orange tops, so why change something that’s working, right? Second, Valdez has worn the blue jersey twice in this year’s postseason – Game 2 of the ALDS, which the Astros lost to Minnesota and Game 2 of the ALCS, as Houston fell to the Rangers.
Valdez, meanwhile, downplayed the jersey players wear.
"I think some people try to use the jersey as a crutch," he said. "Oh, the team played well in, because really I think about it when you do wear that jersey, you had that one thing and things don't go the way you want, then what? It doesn't matter to me what jersey we use, whether it's the navy, the white, the orange, just go out and compete."
Considering baseball is a game of superstition, the moves seem to make sense to give the Astros their best shot at moving ahead to their third straight World Series.
Update: The orange jerseys didn't work. Houston lost 9-2 to the Rangers, setting up a deciding ALCS Game 7.
