HOUSTON ASTROS ADVANCE
TO NATIONAL LEAGUE FINALS

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

It took 43 years, but the Houston Astros are finally postseason winners.

Carlos Beltran hit two more homers and drove in five runs, while original Killer B's Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell chipped in during a five-run seventh inning that carried the Astros to a 12-3 rout of the Atlanta Braves today in the deciding Game 5 of their first-round NL playoff series.

The Astros snapped an 0-for-7 record of futility in the playoffs against their longtime nemesis. The Braves eliminated Houston in 1997, '99 and '01, but they couldn't escape their own postseason demons this time.

And

Bagwell and Biggio, who took much of the blame for Houston's futility, finally silenced their critics. Biggio was 8-of-20 (.400) with a homer and four RBIs in the series. Bagwell was 7-of-22 (.318) with two homers and five RBIs.

But no one was better than the newest B.

Beltran was 10-of-22 (.455) with four homers and eight RBIs in the five-game series.

The Astros underachieved much of the season. Phil Garner took over as manager at the All-Star break, and Houston had to win 36 of its last 46 games just to get the wild card.

Click here for the rest.

There's an irony in this for me. The last time the Astros were in the National League championship series was the fall of 1986: that was my first year away from home at college. Sadly, the Astros, despite an incredible pitching staff boasting Nolan Ryan, Joe Niekro, and Mike Scott, lost to the Mets that year, and I had to watch from Austin. This year, I'm away from home for my first year of grad school, and damn if it doesn't happen again! When I saw the score on the front page of the Houston Chronicle's website during the ninth inning, I desperately tried to tune in the game on AM radio, and I actually found something but there was so much interference and static, I gave up after a few minutes. No doubt the NLCS will be on national TV. It better be, damn it. Time for this lazy fan to buy some peanuts and popcorn.

Go Astros!

For Astros team history, click here. For an earlier Real Art post on the Astros and my on-and-off love affair with baseball in general, click here.

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