Wait and see about Crane;SOLOMON Will new owner put money w

We're going to learn a lot about Astros owner-to-be Jim Crane overthe next few months and certainly years. He is a sharpbusiness-man, he loves baseball, and he says he won't be ameddlesome owner, but rather one who will hire very good people andhold them accountable to get the job done. He even said that thefans come first and foremost. Sounds good.Now, let's wait and see if he delivers on the promises. Becausethat is all that matters. Don't be surprised if over the nextcouple of years, Crane delivers no more than Drayton McLane hasover the last few. It won't necessarily make him a bad owner; it iswhat it is. The Astros are a bad team, and withoutan influx of talent, they aren't likely to be a good team any timesoon. When Crane talks about spending "wisely," Astros fans should cringe. He sayshe has enough cash to "run the team effectively." Now that's whatwe want to hear. But don't get too excited until you hear hisdefinition of effectively. Yeah, yeah, you can't buy achampionship, but respectability is for sale. Owners in a city thesize of Houston should always spend enough to keep local teamsrespectable. A $70 million payroll for the Astros is not enough. Let's see ifCrane puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to acquiringtalent. He shouldn't get bonus points or be graded on a curvebecause so many of you grew to not like Drayton McLane. Let's notdo what many have done with Bob McNair. Anger at Bud Adams and theloss of the NFL for a few years made some of you lose your minds tothe point that McNair could do no wrong and has contributedsomewhat to a decade of Texans futility. Let some of you tell it,and McNair's life dream was to deliver the NFL to Houston. Yeah, itwas his dream, all right. Right after his dream of bringing the NFLback to St. Louis fell through. McNair loves his team, and thingsworked out well for him, but the business of the NFL was his firstlove. Houston deserves winner And none of that matters. Lovedoesn't score touchdowns, make tackles or win football games. Is ittoo much to ask that a team wins more than it loses, regularlycontends for championships and wins one occasionally? That is whatHouston deserves. Crane loves baseball. He grew up a Cardinals fan.He tried to buy the Cardinals' most hated rival, the Chicago Cubs.He tried to buy the Texas Rangers. Crane has been in Houston since1982. I have no doubt he will love the Astros. You put that much money intosomething - even if you borrow much of it - you'll love it, allright. But before Crane bought the Astros, he loved baseball and makingmoney. He isn't even an Astros season-ticket holder. He saidhe lost that distinction when his company was bought out in 2007.Can't necessarily blame him for not re-upping. The economy has beena little tight, even if you are worth a few hundred million. Andwhy buy season tickets when you can buy the whole shebang? TheCranes summer in Nantucket to escape Houston's heat. Franci Crane,the incoming Astros first lady, said that willnot change, at least not on her end. But when Crane is at games, hewill be there to watch the game, not shake hands and socialize withfans as Drayton was wont to do. Crane is a baseball guy. Thatdoesn't matter, either. A fickle public Relationships betweensports franchise owners and major cities can be fascinating.Deliver a winner, and an owner will be hailed a city hero withoutkissing babies at the ballpark. Most times, failure to do so leadsto an owner's being described as a greedy scoundrel. Fans areunderstandably fickle in that sense. McLane used to be the good guyfor buying the team from the bad guy,tera gold, John McMullen, who used to bethe good guy (for a couple of days) for buying the team out ofbankruptcy. McMullen did a host of things to earn the bad guytitle, including spreading false rumors that the team might move toVirginia. McLane did a few, too, including threatening to sell theteam to a group that would move it to Virginia. Thanks to theWashington Nationals, Crane can't play the Virginia card. Thanks toMinute Maid Park, he can't complain about needing a stadiumupgrade. He can't complain about paying too much for the team,either. Nobody forced him to jump into this business. He is in itnow. And nothing really matters except results.jerome.solomon@chron.com