THE PALLILOG
The scene at Chavez Ravine is one that won't soon be forgotten
Oct 27, 2017, 6:45 am
Jose Altuve came up huge. Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
If you could pick one sporting event in your lifetime that you could re-experience as if it was happening for the first time, what would you pick?
For Rockets’ fans, the game seven win over the Knicks for Clutch City title No. 1 would have to be No. 1. Among Texas Longhorn fans the vote winner would certainly be the BCS Championship win over USC. As a Syracuse alum, SU winning the NCAA basketball championship over Kansas in 2003 is tops for me.
Many. many Astros probably had their “oh to experience that again” game Wednesday night. The Astros don’t yet have a World Series Champion flag to fly, but their game two win over the Dodgers was the most dramatic and significant win in Astros’ history. Their first ever win of a World Series game came in an absolute epic. I am aware of the risk of recency bias. Nevertheless, Astros-Dodgers was the most amazing baseball game I have ever attended, perhaps the most amazing that I have ever watched.
Some might opt for the 18 inning Division Series winner over the Braves in 2005. That was amazing, too. The Astros trailed 6-1 in the 8th before a Lance Berkman grand slam gave them hope, then Brad Ausmus (of all people) tied it with a homer with two out in the bottom of the 9th. Both blasts as prelude to Chris Burke’s game winning homer in the bottom of the 18th. It was glorious stuff, but it was the Division Series, not the World Series.
The number of Wow! moments that happened in L.A. in game 2 was flat out stunning. The Dodgers rendered Justin Verlander a pitching mortal. An awesome mortal, but mortal. When Corey Seager belted a 97 mile per hour Verlander fastball for a 2-run homer giving the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 6th, it felt for a moment like the season died. It stayed 3-1 into the 8th. The Astros halved their deficit in the 8th, but in the 9th they had to contend with Dodger closer Kenley Jansen—merely the best in the game, and darn near perfect this season: 46 save opportunities, 45 saves converted.
Having had the privilege of being in Chavez Ravine for the games, I can tell you that when Jansen comes out of the bullpen a brief de facto concert breaks out. Jansen’s entry music is the 90s hip-hop classic California Love. The roar that goes up could make one think that Tupac himself was coming out of the pen. Dr. Dre actually was in attendance.
When Jansen enters the fray, Dodger fans reasonably presume victory is assured. Oh well. Marwin Gonzalez had been near catatonic offensively this postseason, a paltry six hits in 42 at bats. Gonzalez had already struck out twice in the game, and quickly fell behind 0-2 vs. Jansen. But instead of strike three, Gonzalez struck a blow for Astro annals, a blast not too far left of dead centerfield. Like that the game was tied. The stunning moment pace accelerated from there.
In the top of the 10th Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa showed the baseball world why that with longevity together they truly have a chance to wind up the greatest middle infield combo in history. Back-to-back Altuve and Correa blasts (off of former Astro Josh Fields) gave the Astros a two run lead. Euphoria reigned in the Astros dugout. But then Ken Giles happened. He simply blew it more then he choked, but Giles now has to deal with some of the demons that basically ruined Brad Lidge’s Astro career. A homer, a walk, a wild pitch, and a base hit, and the lead was lost. The game however was not, so in the top of the 11th George Springer capped a fabulous night at the plate (bursting out of his own 3-30 offensive catatonia) with a 2-run homer to right-centerfield. Chris Devenski teetered bigtime in the bottom of the 11th, two line drives and a homer before finally ending it with a strikeout of Yasiel Puig. With a little imagination I could hear the deep exhaling all the way from Houston.
It was fours and 19 minutes of relentless intensity, pressure, ebb and flow, and in the end for the Astros an almost desperately needed victory. This is why we love sports. At their best very little else in life gets our juices flowing the same way. So now for three nights the last weekend of October 2017, Minute Maid Park in Houston Texas is the best place on earth to be.
Buzzer Beaters: 1. It is very lame how far Houston remains behind most U.S. major cities re: light rail 2. Best Halloween candy: Gold-Milky Way Silver-Three Musketeers Bronze-Smarties 3. Best sports movie line ever: Roy Hobbs in The Natural: “God, I love baseball.”
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If the Astros were going to win one series and lose the other on their six-game road trip out of the All-Star break, they got it right in taking two out of three games at Seattle then losing two out of three to lousy Oakland. Had they inverted those results, the Astros would not be alone atop the American League West starting this weekend’s series against the Dodgers at Minute Maid Park.
By the schedule the Astros’ sledding now gets tougher. The Dodgers are rolling toward their 11th National League West crown in 12 years, despite their pitching staff having been battered by injuries every bit as much as the Astros’. The Astros will face three rookie starters this weekend. National League Rookie of the Year candidate (non-Paul Skenes division) Gavin Stone goes Friday. Saturday it’s Justin Wrobleski making his fourth big league start, Sunday River Ryan makes his second. 325 million dollar addition Yoshinobu Yamamoto last pitched June 15. Tony Gonsolin is out for the year without throwing a pitch. Clayton Kershaw’s first pitch Thursday marks the first of his season. Tyler Glasnow’s Wednesday return from the Injured List means the Astros won’t face him this weekend.
Aside: Astros’ fan favorite Joe Kelly is back in the Dodgers’ bullpen. He was activated from the IL out of the break, so the opportunity to welcome him back to Minute Maid Park looms!
After the Dodgers, the Pirates hit town with Skenes slated to pitch Monday opposite Jake Bloss. Gulp. Hey, in one game, you never know. Skenes has been the most electric rookie pitcher since Dwight Gooden with the Mets in 1984.
Sleepless in Seattle
The Mariners’ unraveling has reached historic proportions. It’s not easy losing six straight matchups with the lowly Angels but the Mariners were down to the challenge and pulled it off. The M’s have stumble-bummed their way to a 9-20 record over their last 29 games. That’s actually a better winning percentage than the Astros’ had after staggering from the starting gate to a 7-19 mark. Like the Astros did, the Mariners can right their ship, though if they don’t add quality offense before Tuesday’s trade deadline it seems unlikely. Seattle has scored more than two runs in one of its last eight games, the only win among those eight when the Mariners got to Ronel Blanco and Seth Martinez Sunday to avoid an Astros’ sweep. Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers whipping up on the laughingstock Chicago White Sox this week has their World Series title defense very much alive and a threat to overtake both the Astros and Mariners.
The trade deadline is this Tuesday
Tick-tock toward Tuesday’s 5PM Central Time trade deadline. General Manager Dana Brown is on the clock. Let’s start with starting pitchers. Tarik Skubal! Garrett Crochet! Jack Flaherty! Any would be a fabulous addition. If Brown acquires one, he will have done phenomenal work cajoling the trade partner into thinking the Astros’ offer the best. Frankly it seems impossible. The Orioles are in the starting pitcher market. Their farm system runs laps around what the Astros have. Numerous other teams on the hunt for pitching have higher rated minor league talent. The Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys are having a fabulous season, but until the Astros Thursday moved up soon to be 24-year-old Jacob Melton (who was batting just .248 with a .307 on-base percentage at Double-A Corpus Christi) there was not one non-pitcher of any consequence younger than 25 on the roster. Pedro Leon, Shay Whitcomb, Will Wagner, and include Joey Loperfido: it would be shocking if any of them can be the best player in an offer good enough to land one of the potential big trade fish. All four of them wouldn’t be enough to land a Skubal or Crochet.
On the hitter side, if the Blue Jays shop Vlad Jr. and/or the Rays take offers for Paredes, of course Brown better try. Either would be a sharp upgrade over Jon Singleton, and Guerrero can’t become a free agent until after next season, with Paredes under team control through 2027. Reality check time. Seattle’s offense is in dire straits. The Mariners have four prospects rated higher than any Astros’ prospect. If the Mariners didn’t make a winning offer over what the Astros proposed, Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto would look like a timid clown.
That said, there will be several second and third tier starters and relievers moved who would boost the Astros. If Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss are both still in the Astros’ starting rotation after the deadline, Dana Brown will have failed. That said, the Astros could well stand pat and win the Mild, Mild West. They could also finish third.
Go for the gold!
With the Olympics underway, a medal podium-style ranking of the Astros’ greatest trade deadline acquisitions:
No medal but cannot be omitted: Randy Johnson. It was a brief fling with “The Big Unit” in 1998 but it was spectacular. It elevated Houston as a baseball city. In 11 regular season starts Johnson went 10-1 with a 1.28 earned run average. He threw shutouts in his first four Astrodome starts. He spiked attendance like no other player in franchise history. Even though the San Diego Padres beat Johnson twice (Johnson pitched fine, the Astros scored two runs total in the two games) and bounced the Astros in a National League Division Series, and prospects Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen included in the deal both went on to have excellent careers, it was a trade that in hindsight you make 100 times out of 100.
Bronze: Jeff Bagwell. Reliever Larry Andersen was outstanding in helping the Boston Red Sox win the AL East in 1990, but the BoSox got swept in the ALCS and Andersen left as a free agent. Bagwell has the greatest offensive resume in Astros’ history (I know, I know, postseason aside) and is quite arguably one of the 10 greatest first basemen of all-time.
Silver: Yordan Alvarez. He has longevity to prove but to this point in his career, while not the all-around player Bagwell was, Yordan is clearly the more destructive force in the batter’s box. Throw in his three monstrously significant home runs in the 2022 Astros’ title run, and his awesome 2023 postseason, and what could still lie ahead for him and the Gold could be his if we revisit this topic 10 years from now. Imagine the Dodgers if they hadn’t gifted Yordan to the Astros for Josh Fields.
Gold: Justin Verlander. Astros’ World Series championships pre-JV, zero. With him, two. Even though his World Series resume is terrible. The finishing piece to the Astros’ initial championship winner in 2017 with a 1.06 ERA in five starts ahead of winning the 2017 ALCS MVP, a second crown in 2022, two Cy Young Awards and a Cy runner-up. Interesting decision to make for the cap on his Hall of Fame plaque. Much more body of work with the Tigers but the championships and legend cemented with the Astros.
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.