Astros owner Crane gives Fiers no-no gifts

HOUSTON -- Astros owner Jim Crane presented pitcher Mike Fiers with a Breitling watch and a shadow box commemorating his Aug. 21 no-hitter prior to Monday's game against the Mariners at Minute Maid Park.

The shadow box included the lineup card that was posted in the dugout, a ticket stub from the game, the ball thrown for the final out and a pair of pictures of Fiers celebrating the final out of Houston's first no-hitter in 11 years.

"You don't see many of those, so we wanted to do something special and gave him a little shadow box with some nice pictures in it describing the game," Crane said. "In the locker room, we gave him a watch from one of our sponsors, Breitling. Just a little special gift, and we'll engrave the back of it so he won't forget about it."

Crane has tried to add personal touches in rewarding players for their accomplishments throughout the season. He presented pitcher Dallas Keuchel and second baseman Jose Altuve with Breitling watches at the All-Star Game this year.

"We just want to reward their efforts, and when they do something really special like that, we want to give them a token of our appreciation and kind of set a tradition here, whether it's a watch or something else, depending on what they do," Crane said. "We're so happy for him and the team, and it's another bright spot in this year's season."

And with Carlos Correa (Rookie of the Year), Keuchel (Cy Young Award) and manager A.J. Hinch (Manager of the Year) in line for some possible postseason awards, Crane hopes to give out more gifts.

"We've got some guys who have done some special things so far," he said. "We'll finish it out, but we'll be more than happy to get some more shadow boxes and some more watches. That's not a problem."