Astros executive on 'Gold Rush' gear event: 'People just kept filtering through the night'

The Christmas shopping season isn’t for another eight months, but thousands of Houston Astros fans converged on the team store at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday to pick up the latest merchandise honoring the reigning World Series champions. 

The Astros kept the store at 1661 Texas Ave. open for 24 hours straight from midnight to 11:59 p.m. for their “Gold Rush” event, with limited edition gold-tinged jerseys the team will wear in their first two games of the upcoming season being the most coveted item.

A line that snaked around the ballpark formed nearly a dozen hours before the doors could open, and once the event began, giddy shoppers wasted no time in buying gear. 

"We probably had about 2,500 people lined up at midnight and then people just kept filtering through the night," Tom Jennings, the organization’s vice president of merchandising and retail operations, told Houston FOX affiliate KRIV. 

The Astros’ Twitter account before Wednesday shared posts of a lucky few receiving a special package that included a personalized jersey, a hat and a commemorative baseball. 

Bryan-born actor Rico Rodriguez, who famously played Manny Delgado in the defunct ABC sitcom “Modern Family,” tweeted his amazement. 

“All gold everything … I can’t wait to rep this jersey out here in L.A.,” the 24-year-old Rodriguez said.

Among the many fans who got their money’s worth was David Martinez, whose purchases included the jerseys of two of Houston’s Fall Classic heroes. 

"I got a fitted hat, I got my girl a Peña jersey, her father an Alvarez jersey, her mom a Peña jersey and myself an Alvarez jersey, I also got her dad a hat," Martinez told Houston ABC affiliate KTRK. 

Shortstop Jeremy Peña took home World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors while designated hitter (DH)/outfielder Yordan Alvarez etched his name in Houston sports lore by hitting the home run (HR) that helped the Astros defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in a memorable Game 6 last November.

The Astros are wrapping up spring training in Florida and will return home to play two exhibition games against their Triple-A affiliate, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. 

Houston opens its title defense at home against the Chicago White Sox in a weekend series slated to begin on Thursday, March 30. 

A banner-raising ceremony will be held on Opening Day while the players and coaches will receive their championship rings the following night.