Why just the Astros? Why not the Braves? They are pretty close location wise, and are one of only two teams that play almost every game on tv in these parts with the Cubs being the other. The Astros might has well have been in Canada compared to how often I could watch my Braves. Ive been a Braves fan since I was a kid. They stunk, but Dale Murphy was my favorite player and like I said, I got to see all their games on tv. My brother has been a life long Cubs fan because he wanted to pull for a different team than his big brother and, again, all their games were on tv.
I do however see your point about the Yankees though. How anybody outside the New York area feels anything but disgust for them is beyond me. Their fans in this area seem to be the same people who pick football teams based on who wins the Super Bowl and claim to be life long Lakers fans. Not saying they are all like that though because Im sure there are some real long time Yankees fans down here that have their reasons for pulling for them. My old lady is from New Jersey and loves the Yankees. God I hate the Yankees.