A Life of Words

Just call me old school, seeing as I’ve been a fan of the Houston Astros since I was a little boy, when this was their cool logo. At the time, in the late 1960s, we lived just 5 miles from that very same logo-dominating Astrodome in Southwest Houston. All my brother Isaac and I had to do was look out the car window to our right every morning on the way to school at St. Matthew Lutheran to see the beautiful white-capped stadium – one of many so-dubbed “Eighth Wonders of the World” – where our beloved Astros played.

We were lucky that our parents – more often Dad than both Mom and Dad – took us to a handful of Astros games each season. For as many of the other games as we could, we all listened on the radio, and sometimes Isaac and I snuggled with transistors in bed when we were supposed to be sleeping. I loved listening to Gene Elston and Loel Passe, the Astros’ radio announcers during much of my childhood. They brought me comfort and introduced me to so much about the game as a kid, bringing me a hitting spree of special moments I’ll always cherish.

After we moved to Conroe in December 1971 when I was in sixth grade and still a couple of months from turning 11, we didn’t attend as many games. But at least a couple of us in my family still made it to about three or four a year, mostly thanks to the team’s annual promotion that gave kids who made straight A’s two free tickets to three games. I made A’s and B’s in what were called “accelerated” classes at Conroe High and never missed signing up for the freebies – because who would pass up free Astros tickets, even as cheap as seats were in those days?

As I grew up with the Astros, who after division play began in 1969 faced an insurmountable climb in the stacked National League West with the Reds, Dodgers, Giants and Braves, I never gave up despite all the losing. My team reached the .500 mark in ’69 and eclipsed it in ’72 with an 84-69 record, but still finished 10.5 games behind the Big Red Machine and tied for second with the Dodgers.

It wasn’t until fall of my sophomore year at Texas A&M in 1980, in the franchise’s 19th season, that the Astros finally made the postseason, beating the Dodgers in a one-game playoff to win the NL West before falling to the Phillies in a classic five-game NLCS.

So here we are in 2023 in yet another postseason with the franchise that started as the Colt .45s in 1962 – the year my family was just getting settled in Houston after moving from West Virginia, where my brother and I were adopted. The Astros have made the playoffs eight of the past nine seasons, won six division titles in the past seven, advanced to the American League Championship Series six straight years, and won two World Series in that stretch.

If you’re counting (and I did have to add them up), this year’s appearance makes 17 playoff trips in Houston’s baseball franchise history, including the past seven seasons.

And this year was a monumental struggle just to get here – to face the Minnesota Twins in the AL Division Series starting Saturday afternoon at Minute Maid Park. The Astros overcame numerous injuries, a pitching rotation that paled in comparison to last season’s (even though it was mostly intact), and an offense that would hit a groove for a few games and then inexplicably shut down.

Perhaps most surprisingly, the team found itself unable to play winning baseball at home, finishing three games under .500 in a ballpark where it usually thrives on the noise generated by the closed roof and the short porch in left field. Instead, the Astros made the playoffs based on a 51-30 road record, including a clutch 5-1 trip to Seattle and Arizona to close out the regular season.

Taking all those factors into account, it’s impossible to know what to expect in the Twins-Astros series. Minnesota’s pitching staff just shut down a potent Toronto offense, holding the Jays to one run in a two-game wild-card sweep. The Twins aren’t known for a loud offense, but they have the kind of pitching that can carry a team in the postseason – an Astros hallmark during this golden era they’ve been enjoying the past seven years.

Minnesota just ended an 18-game postseason losing streak that ranked as the longest in sports history. The Astros have been here over and over again, having played in 92 playoff games since 2015, six more than any other team in the majors.

But guess what all that means right now? Zilch. All four wild-card series ended in sweeps, and three of them (Twins, Rangers, Diamondbacks) would have to classify as surprises, at least in the way they went down. The Astros’ postseason history of success means they might have a psychological edge over the Twins, and they might have an advantage on paper. But playoff time has a way of making those meaningless.

What’s a given is that the Astros MUST win Game 1 behind 40-year-old Justin Verlander. In a short series (best-of-five), the team that wins the opener holds a huge advantage. So they need a strong outing from him and support from his offense, which probably means at least three or four runs (dare I ask for five?). In Games 2 and 3, the Astros will face the Twins’ two best starting pitchers, Pablo Lopez and Sonny Gray, which makes the opener that much more critical.

As I gave away in the headline, I’ll be there for Game 1 – thanks to my awesome college friend Gerald, who’s had season tickets to the Astros’ weekend games for years and is always able to get early pick of playoff tickets. Gerald had two extras for Saturday and offered them to his A&M buddies, Bobby and me – and since Bobby and his wife are traveling, I didn’t hesitate to accept Gerald’s gracious offer. And the price was quite reasonable at $46 for upper-deck seats.

Over the years, Gerald has been to countless Astros playoff games. For me, this will make No. 9. But for the friend I’ll be going to the game with, it will be No. 1 – and he’s my age (well, he turned 63 in August and I’ll be 63 in February).

Paul Sweitzer and I have known each other since we were best friends as elementary school students at St. Matthew Lutheran, just down Main Street toward downtown from the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. If not for my having been moved into the first-grade class at age 5 after being bored and ready for more of a challenge, I probably would’ve never known Paul and the other great friends I made in that class.

I lost touch with Paul for many years until we reconnected about 20 years ago. Like me, he’s been a lifelong Astros fan, and it seems like every morning when we got to school at St. Matthew, the first thing we did was talk about the game the night before that we’d listened to on the radio.

Paul has lived in College Station for years (although he’s a UT Longhorn, not an Aggie), so I’ll be driving there three hours from our home in Arlington in the morning to pick him up, and then we’ll cover the final 90 minutes or so to Houston for the game, set to start at 3:45. We’ll drive back to his place afterward and then I’ll get back to Arlington because I have church/choir commitments Sunday morning. Hopefully I can make it home by midnight or so. A long day, but it’ll be soooo worth it, especially if we – the Astros, of course – win!

In closing, here’s a list of the eight Astros playoff games I’ve attended. So far, I have a 6-2 record – here’s hoping that goes to 7-2 with a Game 1 win over the Twins!!

2005 NLDS Game 4: Astros 7, Braves 6 (Chris Burke’s homer in the 18th inning won a marathon lasting 5 hours, 50 minutes.)
2015 ALDS Game 3: Astros 4, Royals 2 (After a great pitching job by Dallas Keuchel – that year’s AL Cy Young Award winner – the Astros couldn’t hold a late lead in Game 4. The Royals went on to win the World Series.)
2017 ALDS Game 1: Astros 8, Red Sox 2 (Jose Altuve crushed three home runs in a memorable rout starting the Astros’ run to their first World Series title. … And yes, I know.)
2019 ALDS Game 2: Astros 3, Rays 1 (Gerrit Cole struck out 15 in a masterful 118-pitch performance.)
2019: ALCS Game 1: Yankees 7, Astros 0 (After this dud in the opener, the Astros won the series 4-2 on Altuve’s walk-off homer off Aroldis Chapman.)
2021: ALDS Game 1: Astros 6, White Sox 1 (Yordan Alvarez hit a bomb and Lance McCullers Jr. pitched shutout baseball.)
2021: ALCS Game 2: Red Sox 9, Astros 5 (Boston scored 8 runs in the first two innings, but Houston won the series 4-2 after the Red Sox went up 2-1.)
2022: World Series Game 2: Astros 5, Phillies 2 (The first three Astros hitters stroked doubles off Zack Wheeler, leading to three runs and helping set the tone for that game and a 4-2 series win.)

GO ASTROS!!!!!!