I moved to Texas in 1998 to start a family, and to start my "adult" life. I refer to my 1990's as a lull period in my baseball fandom. In my growing years of the 1980's, baseball was my lifestyle - but as I grew into my adolescent years, the game took a backseat to the other things I was driving towards in life. I did, however, always pay attention to baseball news, major trades, and how the Detroit Tigers were doing.
When I moved to Texas, it was a new beginning for me- of sorts. The change of lifestyle took some getting used to, and when it came to baseball, it was completely different. MLB baseball in Texas plays a definite second fiddle to NFL football. Any news about baseball was about the Astros, and there was definitely no news about the Detroit Tigers.
So, I decided to give the Astros a look. Memories of the Astros from when I was a kid were vague. I remembered the awesome, orange rainbow-spectrum uniforms. I knew they had very little success in their franchise history. Some of the players that I remembered were J.R. Richard, Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott and Jose Cruz. I knew that they played their home games in the Astrodome.
The 1998 Houston Astros had some players that I knew of, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, and Derek Bell (known as the Killer B's), Moises Alou, along with pitchers Mike Hampton, Billy Wagner, and the eccentric Jose Lima. They were managed by Larry Dierker, a former pitcher for the Astros. They were a good baseball team, having finished in first-place the previous year. I jumped right on the bandwagon, thinking it was awesome to inherit a first-place team as my new "home"town team. I followed along from mid-season on. The 1998 MLB baseball season was a great year to get back into the game. Baseball fans everywhere were a buzz watching the record setting homerun chase between the St. Louis Cardinals' Mark McGwire and the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa. Baseball was creeping back into prime-time television, show casing these sluggers at-bats nightly. And while McGwire and Sosa kept one-upping each other every night, the Astros just kept winning. The Astros acquired pitcher Randy "The Big Unit" Johnson on the last day of the MLB trade deadline, and his 10-1 record after the trade kept the team atop their division and led them into the playoffs.
I was working at a rail-car yard (my first job in Texas), and was able to listen to Game 1 at work on the radio, the Astros vs. San Diego Padres - with the dominant Randy Johnson as starting pitcher. The daytime game was a tight-fought contest, with the Padres winning 2-1, and Johnson taking the loss. The outcome of Game 1 set the tone for the rest of the brief, best-of-five series- tight games in which the Astros offense struggled. The Astros lost the series in four games, and their season was over.
The 1999 season marked the last year the team was to play their home games at the Astrodome. I took it upon myself to take in a game at the famed Astrodome, and did so that season. It was a new experience for me to watch a game at my new hometown team's field, and was lucky enough to share the game with my newborn son (who was just 6 months old) and my wife. The Astrodome itself was a tough place to watch a game - it seemed dark inside, eerily quiet, and seemed like all the seats were set way back off of the field - a very distant setting for a baseball game. I was glad they were getting a new stadium. The 1999 Astros' season was pretty much like the previous one - 1st place finish, then promptly losing in the divisional series round of the playoffs. They did not resign Randy Johnson, and the '98 trade for him struck me as a "hired gun" acquisition only for that years playoffs - kind of odd, if you ask me, he was just approaching the prime years of his future Hall-Of-Fame career. The season did mark the debut of future Astros' All-Star, Lance Berkman.
The next couple Astros' seasons (2000-2003) were mildly successful. The Astros moved into their new ballpark, Enron Field - later to be re-named Minute Maid Park, after Enron's disgraceful business failures. The familiar players (Biggio, Bagwell, Berkman, Wagner) remained with the Astros, who finished the next 3 seasons without ever advancing past the first round of the playoffs. Manager Larry Dierker was replaced by Jimy Williams after the 2001 season.
The 2004 Astros' season was very intriguing from the start. The MLB All-Star Game was to be held in Houston, providing the chance for the Astros to showcase their new ballpark for fans of the Mid-Summer Classic. Prior to the season's start, the Astros aggressively acquired future Hall-Of-Fame (at the time, at least) pitchers Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens, both coming off very successful stints with the New York Yankees. One move that I questioned though, was the trading of star closing pitcher Billy Wagner (one of my favorite Astros) to the Phillies, a move that would haunt the Astros in years to come. The Astros did however acquire star-player Carlos Beltran via trade in June. Manager Jimy Williams, after the team's mediocre record of 44-44, was replaced by former Astro player, Phil Garner (who, ironic to me, had been relieved of his managerial duties with the Detroit Tigers, after two very unsuccessful seasons). Garner led the team to a 92-70, 2nd place finish that was good enough to win the coveted "Wild-Card" spot in the National League postseason.
The 2004 Astros playoffs were some of the most exciting baseball games I have ever watched. The Astros finally made it past the Divisional round, after beating the Atlanta Braves in a best of five series, 3-2. Carlos Beltran was simply amazing in this series, and I could not recall another position-player that dominated baseball games the way he did. Beltran's speed, power, batting average, fielding and strong throwing arm were on full display - the first time I seen a true five-tool player. Next up for the Astros was the League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. This series played out to be another riveting one, with neither team being able to win a game on the road. Unfortunately for the Astros, the Cards had home-field advantage. This scenario played out until the end of the seven game series, with the Cardinals winning Game 7 at home against the Astros ace starting pitcher, Roger Clemens. Beltran had another unbelievable series, convincing me that the Astros had found their star player that could lead the Astros for years to come.
Despite Carlos Beltran's stellar performance for the Astros in 2004, the team was not able to sign the free-agent and lost a bidding war for him to the New York Mets. The offers from the two ball clubs were very close financially, the only difference between the offers were that the Mets offered Beltran a "no-trade" clause - something the Astros were unwilling to do- despite Beltran professing his love for the city of Houston. This completely baffled me, and could not blame Beltran for wanting the stability of a team through the good and the bad.
Entering the 2005 Astros season, I was skeptical that Astros could make that final step into the World Series. Clemens and Pettitte stayed with the team, pitcher Roy Oswalt had emerged as a star, and the cornerstones of the franchise, Biggio and Bagwell were still there. After a sluggish 15-30 start, the Astros were able to turn things around and ended the season in 2nd place, again earning the wild-card spot in the National League postseason. They finished the season strong and went into the playoffs like a team on a mission. The Astros breezed through the Divisional round, defeating the Atlanta Braves 3-1 in a best of five series (including an 18 inning game). In the League Championship Series, the Astros once again found themselves facing the St. Louis Cardinals in a best of seven games. The Astros played good, winning one of the first two games on the road. The road win put them in a situation to closeout the series at home. Late in Game 5, with the chance to clinch the series, the Astros turned to their new closing pitcher, Brad Lidge. Lidge was one strike away from putting the Astros in the World Series, when the Cardinals were able to put runners on a 1st and 2nd for the intimidating Albert Pujols. Pujols hit a dramatic, towering 3-run home run (one of the hardest hit home runs I've ever seen) and the Cardinals ended up winning the game 5-4, sending the series back to St. Louis. The Astros were able to win again on the road in Game 6, and won the series 4-2, giving the franchise it's first-ever World Series berth.
The Astros would open the World Series against opponent Chicago White Sox on the road. They lost the first two games, with the White Sox beating Astros pitchers, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte - both who had enjoyed prior World Series success. Game 2 was lost on a walk-off home run given up by Brad Lidge - whose confidence seemed clearly shaken after the Pujols monster home run in the previous series. Game 3 was a 14-inning affair with White Sox emerging from the marathon game as the winner, and the White Sox clearly emerged with almost all the momentum of the Series in their favor. Game 4 was a pitchers duel, with the White Sox being the only team to put a run on the scoreboard- manufacturing a run off of the now-embattled closer Lidge. And that was that, the Astros first World Series was a disaster - swept in four games.
After the 2005 season, I started to think that the Astros franchise was snake bit - full of bad luck and bad decisions. In my brief tenure as a regular fan, I watched as the team lost twice in the first round of the playoffs, got swept in the World Series, and let two star players (Randy Johnson and Carlos Beltran) leave the team in the prime years of their careers. I felt bad that Bagwell and Biggio never would again have a chance to play in the World Series. In the following years, the Astros owner and upper management would turn the franchise slowly back into the obscure team that they used to be.
Over the years, I've went to several games at Minute Maid Park and still continue to do so. The experience at the Astros ball park is always first-class, and have been to several games with my Mom, Dad, Son, Daughter, and Wife. Interleague play allowed me to see my "other" hometown team, the Tigers, whenever they would come to Houston. My family has based entire weekends in Houston to go to ball games, whenever a star player or an intriguing team comes to town. In 2013, the Astros switched to the American League - thus now guaranteeing me that the Tigers will come to Houston at least once a season. Watching the Tigers whenever they came to town sparked an emotion that showed me the difference between an "adopted" hometown team and my "real" hometown team, however...
Entering the 2005 Astros season, I was skeptical that Astros could make that final step into the World Series. Clemens and Pettitte stayed with the team, pitcher Roy Oswalt had emerged as a star, and the cornerstones of the franchise, Biggio and Bagwell were still there. After a sluggish 15-30 start, the Astros were able to turn things around and ended the season in 2nd place, again earning the wild-card spot in the National League postseason. They finished the season strong and went into the playoffs like a team on a mission. The Astros breezed through the Divisional round, defeating the Atlanta Braves 3-1 in a best of five series (including an 18 inning game). In the League Championship Series, the Astros once again found themselves facing the St. Louis Cardinals in a best of seven games. The Astros played good, winning one of the first two games on the road. The road win put them in a situation to closeout the series at home. Late in Game 5, with the chance to clinch the series, the Astros turned to their new closing pitcher, Brad Lidge. Lidge was one strike away from putting the Astros in the World Series, when the Cardinals were able to put runners on a 1st and 2nd for the intimidating Albert Pujols. Pujols hit a dramatic, towering 3-run home run (one of the hardest hit home runs I've ever seen) and the Cardinals ended up winning the game 5-4, sending the series back to St. Louis. The Astros were able to win again on the road in Game 6, and won the series 4-2, giving the franchise it's first-ever World Series berth.
The Astros would open the World Series against opponent Chicago White Sox on the road. They lost the first two games, with the White Sox beating Astros pitchers, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte - both who had enjoyed prior World Series success. Game 2 was lost on a walk-off home run given up by Brad Lidge - whose confidence seemed clearly shaken after the Pujols monster home run in the previous series. Game 3 was a 14-inning affair with White Sox emerging from the marathon game as the winner, and the White Sox clearly emerged with almost all the momentum of the Series in their favor. Game 4 was a pitchers duel, with the White Sox being the only team to put a run on the scoreboard- manufacturing a run off of the now-embattled closer Lidge. And that was that, the Astros first World Series was a disaster - swept in four games.
After the 2005 season, I started to think that the Astros franchise was snake bit - full of bad luck and bad decisions. In my brief tenure as a regular fan, I watched as the team lost twice in the first round of the playoffs, got swept in the World Series, and let two star players (Randy Johnson and Carlos Beltran) leave the team in the prime years of their careers. I felt bad that Bagwell and Biggio never would again have a chance to play in the World Series. In the following years, the Astros owner and upper management would turn the franchise slowly back into the obscure team that they used to be.
Over the years, I've went to several games at Minute Maid Park and still continue to do so. The experience at the Astros ball park is always first-class, and have been to several games with my Mom, Dad, Son, Daughter, and Wife. Interleague play allowed me to see my "other" hometown team, the Tigers, whenever they would come to Houston. My family has based entire weekends in Houston to go to ball games, whenever a star player or an intriguing team comes to town. In 2013, the Astros switched to the American League - thus now guaranteeing me that the Tigers will come to Houston at least once a season. Watching the Tigers whenever they came to town sparked an emotion that showed me the difference between an "adopted" hometown team and my "real" hometown team, however...
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