Finally some words about those Astros

Yes it has taken me a while to get to sit down here and type out my thoughts of this years Astro team and their endeavor at the playoffs. Now however is the time so here it goes.

15-30
After a loss to the Cubs on Tuesday May 24th this was the record of the Houston Astros.
No more Carlos Beltran. No more Jeff Kent. Lance Berkman recovering from offseason surgery and Jeff Bagwell with his deteriorating shoulder. Three rookies playing in the outfield. Things were bleak.

Who knew they would make the playoffs by playing well down the streach and holding off the likes of the Marlins and Phillies. Pretty amazing at first glance, but not really. This team has resolve. They keep at it trying their best. The do not give up.

This is instilled by several people in that clubhouse but my favorite and my opinion the key is one mister Craig Biggio. Selfless. Always giving the team what it needs no matter what position he has to play. Catcher. Second Base. Outfield. Now this season back to Second Base. Personally I like him back there even though the Astros definitely miss Jeff Kent's bat.

Now they clinch the wildcard for the second straight year and travel to face the Braves again. Since they have faced the Braves everytime but once in the playoffs since I became a fan of the Astros I was a little bummed. I felt maybe last year was the team's lucky break against the Braves but could they win in consecutive years? I was nervous even with Pettitte, Oswalt and Clemens all healthy. I know all to well how one bounce of the ball here or there can make all the difference.

Flash forward to game four with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Brad Ausmus hits a shot I knew would be close but I did not think it would be quite close enough. I saw Andruw Jones running but I thought he would be just a step short and Brad would end up with a double and keep hopes alive for one more batter. A game of inches it is as he hit it just a fraction above the yellow line for a game tying home run. Wow! A game five to come in Atlanta or not I was thrilled to see that the Astros once again never gave up.

I had no idea 9 more innings were to follow. I had no idea Roger Clemens would come out of the bullpen in releif for only the second time in his career (never knew he did the first time in 1984) and pitch three solid innings to give unlikely hero Chris Burke a chance to end the series with one swing of the bat. I never liked the Crawford boxes at Minute Maid more than I did at that moment.

Its amazing to watch almost six straight hours of one baseball game. It was really the first time all year that I was able to sit down and watch every pitch. Wow. What a time to make the time to do so. Life gets so busy or more to the point is so busy. All the time in fact. Some of it is good some of it is mundane but it is all busy just the same. Sitting down to watch all of that epic battle where neither team, the Astros or Braves, just did not want to let this one slip through their fingers was a pure selfish joy for me.

Last season getting to see the Astros win a playoff series finally and then take the Cardinals to 7 games was awesome. It helped remind me why I became a fan in the first place. Reading Bill Simmons and all his writings about his beloved Red Sox reminded me too. Part of it makes me sad that I am not in Houston to have fellow fans to talk with about the Astros all the time like Bill does with his friends about the Red Sox.

I feel that is why sports talk is so good to a lot of us men out there. Tuning into your favorite show makes you feel like you are with those friends, talking up the game. It is hard to remember at times that the voices you hear everyday are indeed really not your friends, that they don't know you as you do them. I respect those on air personalities for putting themselves in the position for us normal guys to forget this at times.

So now I have written this after watching game one of the 2005 NLCS. A 5-3 loss for the Astros tonight to the might tough Cardinals. It will take some magic like last year to win this year too, because even with the likes of Pettitte, Oswalt and Clemens the bats will still have to find a way to generate in my opinion an average of at least 5 runs per game. Tonight they fell a couple short. Maybe one less pitch to Reggie Sanders. Maybe one less ground ball hit right at an infielder. Remember a game of inches. Hopefully tomorrow the Astros will get a lucky bounce.

Every now and then remember to break from the busy and hecticness of life to take in a game and let life slow down to enjoy it before moments like game 4 of the NLDS might pass before your closed eyes.