Should the Astros play if millions of people in Houston don’t have power?

While the promotion was a hit with the team’s fans, many of whom were happy to escape the heat and enjoy an Astros victory, Houston Mayor John Whitmire didn’t seem thrilled. At Wednesday’s city council meeting, Whitmire criticized the Astros’ decision to play a day after Beryl swept through the city, leaving millions without power.

“The George Brown Convention Center had no power yesterday,” Whitmire said, via Axios. “We have 1,500 students at the Marriott and the Hilton, but we have a football game going on two blocks away. We have to prioritize.”

Whitmire’s sentiment stands in stark contrast to that of his predecessor, Sylvester Turner, who in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey encouraged the Astros to return home and try to get back on their feet. “What better place to symbolize our ability to overcome our obstacles and our challenges than the Astros playing? Let’s play ball, lift our spirits and move forward,” Turner said in 2017, according to the Houston Chronicle.

There have been claims that the George R. Brown Convention Center, or at least parts of it, did indeed have power Tuesday, which would contradict the mayor’s statements. Whitmire’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on those claims.

Whitmire’s comments about the Astros drew criticism on social media, with users calling the mayor’s response “tone deaf” and “a bad hill to die on.” Tuesday’s game drew 34,776 paying fans, with 23,018 dollar hot dogs sold.

“The mayor of Houston thinks they should have stayed home and sweated without power instead of cooling off, eating hot food and getting distracted for a few hours,” longtime Dallas Cowboys reporter Charean Williams wrote on X. “How dare they?”

The mayor’s office provided clarification regarding Whitmire’s social media comments late Wednesday night.

“I’m an Astros fan and I go to a lot of games,” Whitmire said. “I said if we can have power and electricity in a stadium, we should provide electricity to essential service sites like train stations and convention centers. All the stadiums, not just Minute Maid Park, are in close proximity to our convention center. One had power, one didn’t.”

“Since it opened 37 years ago, the GRB has never been without power for any significant period of time. This time, the outage occurred in the substation we are trying to move. It needs to be moved and modernized.”