After eight prior attempts and never advancing beyond the National League Division Series, the Houston Astros have finally pierced the veil. They had 23 winning seasons during their history of 43 years, without victory in the postseason.
Now, regardless of the outcome of the 2004 National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the 2004 Houston Astros will be remembered for being the first Astros team to compete for the pennant.
Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves ended in a blow-out by the Astros over their long-time rivals, winning by a score of 12-3. These two teams had been in this position against each other before when they met in the NLDS in 1997, 1999, and 2001. And each time, the Braves ruled.
With a solid game pitched by Roy Oswalt on 3 days rest, and an offense led by new kid, Carlos Beltran, and veteran, Craig Biggio, Game 5 represents far more about this Astros team than this last winning effort over the Braves.
As late as August 14th, as credibly reported through the press, there was speculation throughout MLB that the Astros had been left for dead, with no real chance for postseason play and looking towards rebuilding again in 2005.
Corroborated by Astros' GM Gerry Hunsicker during the NLDS, just a couple of weeks after Carlos Beltran was acquired from the Kansas City Royals, just a week prior to the All-Star Game for purposes of making a postseason run, there was a real possibility that he would be dealt before postseason play began to a contending club.
The Astros' management's thinking was that trading Beltran would reap rewards of potential talents for the future, as they would not necessarily be able to keep him once he entered free agency at the end of the season.
In addition, pitching ace Andy Pettitte had to forego the rest of his season in August, requiring elbow surgery and Brad Lidge was untested as a full-time closer, giving management the idea of cutting their losses.
Furthermore, manager, Jimy Williams, was let go the day after the All-Star Game, and Phil Garner was brought in to pick up the pieces of a fledgling club, which would continue to lose for two weeks into his new assignment.
But somehow Garner was able to tap into the veteran and formidable talented players on the team, who had reeled all season. Craig Biggio, who has spent his entire 17-year career with Houston, and Jeff Bagwell with all of his 13 years in Houston along with veterans Jeff Kent and Lance Berkman, had not collectively played well the entire year.
Shortly after that break-in period with Phil Garner and after weaving in Carlos Beltran's talents, the Astros came alive and never looked back. At the same time, the team favored to win the NL Central or at least the NL wildcard, was the Chicago Cubs. But as the Astros continued climbing the Cubs started descending to the point of being unable to recover by the last week of the season.
It was clearly a collaborative effort by the Houston Astros, and this team won the NLDS with everything they had. Pitchers Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt, both contenders for the 2004 NL Cy Young Award, and closer Brad Lidge, really turned it on. The middle relief in Houston's bullpen was questionable all year and throughout these games, but the underrated Houston defense more than made up for its own deficiencies.
As Houston gets the least amount of time off of any of the four clubs going on to the League Championship series on October 13th, to say this next test will be huge is an understatement. The St. Louis Cardinals has the best winning record in all of baseball this year having won 105 games. Their power lineup is far more comparable to the NY Yankees or Boston Red Sox than the Houston Astros.
However, the Astros are the only major league team with a winning record against the Cardinals this year. Starting pitching is also a question mark for St. Louis, having lost starter Chris Carpenter to injury and experiencing inconsistency from the rest of its staff the past few weeks. Also, MVP candidate Scott Rolen is playing injured.
Finally, Houston is the Cinderella team this year, and we've seen two of the Cinderella's win the whole deal the past two seasons, with the Anaheim Angels in 2002 and the Florida Marlins in 2003, who played like they had nothing to lose.
What we will take away from this MLB season this year is not so much the individual statistics between the lines, but rather the stories each of these teams provide us, up until we have a winner of the World Series Championship.
And as hard as it was for Astros fans to continue to support their team when for three quarters of the season things looked bleak, they remained hopeful. As the Houston Astros will continue playing for victories in their postseason, they proved they not only made progress this year, but made a resounding comeback. And showing that kind of heart is exactly that intangible required in the making of a championship team.
October 14, 2004
M. E. G.:
I do plead ignorance on most historical baseball matters, but even with that, I seem to recall the Astros “playing for the pennant” in both 1980 and 1986, losing both times in two of the greatest baseball series ever played. At least, that’s what I remember, takt that for what it is worth. I assume we’re referring to the National League pennant and not the gold trophy, unless the writer perceives Houston will defeat the best Cardinal team in nearly twenty campaigns.
October 15, 2004
Jeremy Delhon:
Yeah, the ‘86 and ‘80 NLCS both involved the Astros and are widely considered among the best series in LCS history (‘86 ended in a 16-inning Mets victory in Game 6).
It’s impossible to get through an article that has such a blatant error in the 2nd paragraph. Believe it or not, there was baseball before the expanded playoff format.