GrandeDavid
10-03-2005, 12:10 PM
The Amazing Astros
by David Leister
A 15-30 record and 93 years of history shouting “impossible”. That was exactly where the Astros stood on May 24th of this season. Craig Biggio and Co.´s backs were not against the proverbial wall. The wall had long since tipped over, crushing and burying their season. In fact, the Astros were taken off the radar screen well before the 2005 season had begun.
Fans were still reeling from the loss of Carlos Beltran, who, on May 24th, seemed well on his way to a playoff berth with the New York Mets. Fans were still wincing at the thought of Lance Berkman coming off ACL surgery to repair torn cartilage during a charity flag football game. Meanwhile, Hall of Fame slugger Jeff Bagwell would spend most of the season the DL with shoulder problems. Further compounding problems was the loss of widely admired GM Gerry Hunsicker and new GM Tim Purpura´s insistence on letting young talent develop. Easier said than done, especially after you´d let Jeff Kent walk. If you were not fuming at Purpura and owner Drayton McClaine for wasting an entire season so late in Roger Clemens´career, you needed to check your pulse. The Astros were dead and stunk up the league with the second worst record in the National League on May 24th.
But there was a ray of hope visible with the aid of a microscope from way beneath the heap of trash under which the Astros were buried on that late spring day, and it was coming from the stonecutter. As San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich encourages his teams to view the marathon regular season, its not one decisive blow which will break the stone, rather countless prior hits. For the Astros, their ray of hope was their hard work ethic and absolutely stubborn refusal to quit. For that attitude and for adhering to the principal of the stonecutter, Astros fans have veterans like Craig Biggio, Andy Pettitte, Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens to thank.
While the Astros´offense painfully put up so many scoreboard donuts, which resulted in so many no decisions and one run losses for Clemens, never did the old warrior chastise his teammates. Although he might have pitched eight innings of one run baseball with nine strikeouts and received no run support, the Rocket continued to pat guys on the back. Such profound professionalism and team play had to have had something to do with propelling rookie Willy Taveras, perhaps the fastest man alive, to a possible Rookie of the Year award. It was Taveras who came into this his rookie year with the Atlas expectations of filling the void created by Beltran´s senseless departure. For the season, Beltran hit .266 with 17 stolen bases. Taveras upped him with .291 and 34 stolen bases. How much of a difference having so many supportive, selfless veterans helps the psyches of young players like Beltran and Taveras is an immeasurable intangible, but it had to have taken the pressure off of emerging sluggers Jason Lane and Morgan Ensberg, both of whom put up career power numbers.
Indeed, from Manager Phil Garner´s no nonsense aggressive approach to the game to a team camaraderie rivaled in professional sports only by the NBA´s Spurs, the Astros have Cinderella-ed their way to another Wild Card berth on the last game of the season. As fate would have it, the Astros again will square off on the road against the Braves in the first round, and if they can get past Atlanta as they did last year, they´ll likely face a rematch with the colossal St. Louis Cardinals. But while the Astros may lack Beltran´s juice and Jeff Kent´s punch, their pitching is deeper and their young bats are grooving.
From this point on, win, lose or draw, the Astros have captivated the lovers of the game of baseball forever. It has been 93 years since we´ve witnessed such a remarkable comeback from the dead to squeak into the playoffs.
by David Leister
A 15-30 record and 93 years of history shouting “impossible”. That was exactly where the Astros stood on May 24th of this season. Craig Biggio and Co.´s backs were not against the proverbial wall. The wall had long since tipped over, crushing and burying their season. In fact, the Astros were taken off the radar screen well before the 2005 season had begun.
Fans were still reeling from the loss of Carlos Beltran, who, on May 24th, seemed well on his way to a playoff berth with the New York Mets. Fans were still wincing at the thought of Lance Berkman coming off ACL surgery to repair torn cartilage during a charity flag football game. Meanwhile, Hall of Fame slugger Jeff Bagwell would spend most of the season the DL with shoulder problems. Further compounding problems was the loss of widely admired GM Gerry Hunsicker and new GM Tim Purpura´s insistence on letting young talent develop. Easier said than done, especially after you´d let Jeff Kent walk. If you were not fuming at Purpura and owner Drayton McClaine for wasting an entire season so late in Roger Clemens´career, you needed to check your pulse. The Astros were dead and stunk up the league with the second worst record in the National League on May 24th.
But there was a ray of hope visible with the aid of a microscope from way beneath the heap of trash under which the Astros were buried on that late spring day, and it was coming from the stonecutter. As San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich encourages his teams to view the marathon regular season, its not one decisive blow which will break the stone, rather countless prior hits. For the Astros, their ray of hope was their hard work ethic and absolutely stubborn refusal to quit. For that attitude and for adhering to the principal of the stonecutter, Astros fans have veterans like Craig Biggio, Andy Pettitte, Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens to thank.
While the Astros´offense painfully put up so many scoreboard donuts, which resulted in so many no decisions and one run losses for Clemens, never did the old warrior chastise his teammates. Although he might have pitched eight innings of one run baseball with nine strikeouts and received no run support, the Rocket continued to pat guys on the back. Such profound professionalism and team play had to have had something to do with propelling rookie Willy Taveras, perhaps the fastest man alive, to a possible Rookie of the Year award. It was Taveras who came into this his rookie year with the Atlas expectations of filling the void created by Beltran´s senseless departure. For the season, Beltran hit .266 with 17 stolen bases. Taveras upped him with .291 and 34 stolen bases. How much of a difference having so many supportive, selfless veterans helps the psyches of young players like Beltran and Taveras is an immeasurable intangible, but it had to have taken the pressure off of emerging sluggers Jason Lane and Morgan Ensberg, both of whom put up career power numbers.
Indeed, from Manager Phil Garner´s no nonsense aggressive approach to the game to a team camaraderie rivaled in professional sports only by the NBA´s Spurs, the Astros have Cinderella-ed their way to another Wild Card berth on the last game of the season. As fate would have it, the Astros again will square off on the road against the Braves in the first round, and if they can get past Atlanta as they did last year, they´ll likely face a rematch with the colossal St. Louis Cardinals. But while the Astros may lack Beltran´s juice and Jeff Kent´s punch, their pitching is deeper and their young bats are grooving.
From this point on, win, lose or draw, the Astros have captivated the lovers of the game of baseball forever. It has been 93 years since we´ve witnessed such a remarkable comeback from the dead to squeak into the playoffs.