The Astros, Houston’s baseball team, are not having a great season. After the dizzy heights of achievement they enjoyed in reaching the playoffs last year, this year they have very much come down to earth with a rather resounding crash.

There are two major baseball leagues in America, the American and the National. With 15 teams in each league, if you were to put all 30 teams in the same league, the Astros would currently rank 11th. With the season over a quarter of the way through there is still a chance that they can pull it round to make the playoffs, but they’d need to win around 70% of their remaining games.

Chicago’s team, the Cubs, on the other hand would be ranked 1st with an already 70% win ratio. I saw them play and win against the Phillies last weekend at their packed and famous home ground, Wrigley Field. The stadium reminded me a little of Lord’s, the home of cricket, near London. You could almost feel the history of the game oozing out from the exposed metal and raw concrete structure. In 2014, Wrigley Field was exactly 100 years old, Lord’s exactly 200; could make a good trivia question …

The difference in the fortunes of the teams could best be represented by their respective mascots. Orbit for the Astros looks like a green, cross-eyed version of the honey monster with lollipops sticking out of his presumably vacuous skull. The Cubs’ Clark on the other hand, with his back-facing ready-for-action cap, steady gaze and square features cuts quite the dash.

Maybe what the Astros need to turn their fortunes round is a new mascot?