2005 POST-SEASON
OCTOBER 12-19: NL CONFERENCE SERIES
Houston vs St Louis
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2005 (Game 1) – Houston @ St. Louis
St. Louis 5, Houston 3
The NLCS started on the eve of Yom Kippur. The press runs out annually to quiz the Jewish players about whether they will play on such a holy day, looking for the next Koufax. They even quiz the non-Jewish players with Jewish names, like David Eckstein (a Catholic). There are very few Jewish players (and even fewer non-Jewish ones) who sit out on Yom Kippur. This year, with the holidays so late, the regular season is already over, and there are only a couple of Jewish players to even ask: Ausmus on the Astros. Jason Marquis on the Cards.
Ausmus always plays; he doesn’t observe the holidays. Marquis plays, but does observe the holiday (pitch at night, fast and shul in the morning?). And, of course, Eckstein plays too.
However, I do observe the holiday, so I missed the first game of the NLCS, and had to watch it on the mlb.tv Archive afterwards. While I was in synagogue for Kol Nidre, the Astros and the Cards squared off for Game 1. But Marquis, relegated to a bullpen role for the post-season, didn’t need to play this Yom Kippur. Between CYA hopeful Chris Carpenter’s 8 innings, and Jason Isringhausen’s closing in the 9th, the Cards bullpen could have formed a minyan. They didn’t have much else to do.
Pettitte had a surprisingly poor start, given the excellence of his recent pitching. He gave up 5 ERs in 6 innings, on 8 hits and 2 BBs, with only 2 Ks. But it turned out that there was a reason for his less-than-stellar performance: While running the bases during batting practice to warm up, he was hit on the knee by a hard liner. By game time, his leg was swollen and sore. Russ Springer and Ezekiel Astacio did a good job of finishing up the game for him, but the low-scoring Astros couldn’t make up the runs that were already on the board.
The Astros wore road greys.
High points:
- Only one: Chris Burke, riding high after his heroics in the clincher over Atlanta, came in to pinch hit in the 7th inning, with the Astros behind 5-2. With 2 outs and Everett on first, Burke put the ball over the left-field wall. The kid’s come a long way: A year ago, he had a 1 for 17 record when he was called up in September.
Disappointments:
- Missed chances to score: The bane of the Astro’s onfield existence. Berkman was stranded on 2nd after a double in the first inning. Then with 1 out and the bases loaded in the 3rd, he grounded into a double play. Ensberg doubles in the 4th, gets to 3rd, then gets tagged out at the plate. With Carpenter on the mound, they couldn’t afford not to take advantage of scoring opportunities. The Astros rallied again in the 9th, against Isringhausen; they got one run on a sac fly, but it was too little, too late.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The White Sox won, 2-1, after a freak umpiring call in the 9th inning.
W: C. Carpenter (2-0) L: A. Pettitte (1-1) S: J. Isringhausen (2)
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2005 (Game 2) – Houston @ St. Louis
Houston 4, St. Louis 1
Game 2 started shortly after Yom Kippur ended. I hadn’t made any family plans for break-the-fast, in hopes that I could find a TV somewhere and snuggle up with the game. Luckily, the Sunshines went out for a family eatfest, and left me their empty house. I grabbed a quick bite at home and rushed over to catch the first pitch.
The game was much better than food. What could be better than Roy Oswalt on the mound on a good day? Seven innings, one ER on 5 hits, 3 BBs, and 6 Ks. The only run scored on a Pujols homer in the 6th inning – luckily the bases were empty when he came up to bat. As usual, Oswalt pitched under pressure: It was a tight 2-1 game when he finished the 7th inning.
The Astros put a couple of insurance runs on the board in the top of the 8th. But Garner wasn’t taking any chances. He really wanted to return to Houston with a win. He brought in his big gun, Lidge, for the last 2 innings. And Lidge was nearly lights out; he gave up only one hit (a single), struck out 3, and saved the game.
The Astros wore their lucky road reds.
High points:
- Garner had a lot to smile about. His game decisions turned out well and the guys played a great game.
- With home runs in two back-to-back games, Burke got his chance to start this game. He came through again: He was 2 for 4, with a triple and a RBI single, scoring twice. The triple – more of a double that he simply outran – was in the 2nd inning. He scored with 2 outs, on a passed ball. His RBI was in the 8th; he singled with Berkman on 2nd and 2 outs. He then scored when Everett tripled behind him.
- Three other Astros got multiple hits: Biggio (including a lead-off single in the 1st, for good luck), Taveras, and Berkman – 1, 2, and 3 in the lineup.
- The Astros 2 runs in the 8th scored off my least favorite Cards’ pitcher: bad-tempered Julian Tavares. (Remember when he broke his finger in last years’ playoffs, beating up a water cooler?)
Disappointments:
- Reggie Sanders took a bad fall in the warning track trying to catch Everett’s fly ball in the 8th. The ball bounced off his glove and Everett got an RBI triple. But Sanders was pretty bruised up, and may have to sit out a game or two. Given what a power-hitter he is, it’s not bad for the Astros to have him benched, but it’s a shame for the game.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The White Sox and the Angels had the day off.
W: R. Oswalt (2-0) L: M. Mulder (1-1) S: B. Lidge (1)
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2005 (Game 3) – St. Louis @ Houston
Houston 4, St. Louis 3
I ran to the computer the moment Shabbat ended, and sat with my eyes closed while astros.com was downloading its homepage, afraid to look at the results of the 4 PM game. I opened my eyes to a narrow squint, and saw that the game was still on! It was the bottom of the 8th, and the Astros were ahead 4-2. No time to get to a TV, so I just brought up the Sportsline GameCenter and watched it play out, pitch by pitch… It was soon the top of the 9th and Lidge was on the mound. Lidge has been virtually unhittable by the Cards, but I was afraid to breathe. He struck out the first batter. The next one fouled out to first. Two away, and two runs ahead – is it safe yet?
No, that’s the thing I love and hate about baseball: It’s not over until it’s over. LaRussa put in a pinch hitter, John Rodriguez, and Lidge walked him on 4 pitches. The Cards put in another pinch hitter, John Mabry: Ball, strike, strike, ball… Rodriguez stole second. Then Mabry doubled, scoring the runner, and it was a one-run game. It was the first time that the Cards had scored off of Lidge in more than 30 innings.
Scrappy lead-off batter David Eckstein came to the plate. Lidge was pitching to him when the phone rang. Robert says: “It’s for you, it’s your dad.” That could mean only one thing: The GameCenter is a few seconds delayed from the actual game. And so, before the screen showed that Eckstein had flied out to center to end the game, I guessed that the Astros had won. I had to wait until they posted the video on mlb.tv before I got to see the high-fives and the celebration.
Roger Clemens started the game. It wasn’t his most dominating performance of the year, as the online write-ups pointed out: He only had one strikeout in his 6 innings, but he only gave up 2 runs (scored in the 5th and 6th innings on sac flies) and 6 scattered hits and a pair of walks. With a bit of hitting by his Astros teammates, and an outstanding relief performance by Chad Qualls, it was enough to earn Clemens his second post-season win. And it was enough to put the Astros ahead of the Cards in the NLCS showdown, 2 games to 1.
The batting hero of the game was Mike Lamb, who has a terrific record against Cards’ start Matt Morris. Today was more of the same: Lamb hit a 2-run home run in the 4th to put Houston ahead 2-0. He also doubled in the 6th, and scored on Lane’s RBI single.
Lane made it to third on Ausmus’ subsequent single, but on the way he collided with the Cards’ third baseman, Abraham Nunez. Nunez, who has been playing third in place of the injured Scott Rolen, was flattened by the collision, and had to be helped off of the field. The Cards’ third-string third baseman, Hector Luna, took his place. On the next play, Everett hit a ground ball to third; Luna fielded it cleanly but made a terrible high throw to the plate and Lane scored. That run made it a 4-2 game, until the 9th inning when Lidge endeavored to make it more interesting.
Nunez’s injury was initially thought to be to his knee, but a medical check determined that it was a contusion of his left quadriceps. It’s not clear whether he’ll be able to play in tomorrow’s game. This is another in a series of Cardinals injury woes. Reggie Sanders had to sit out today’s game, after his fall in Thursday night’s game. I’m sorry for their pain, but diminishing the Cardinals team a bit will helpfully hope Houston’s chances of getting to the World Series.
As in the Atlanta series last week, the roof of Minute Maid Park was kept closed, despite nice weather, to maximize the sound of the crowd.
High points:
- The game was attended by some special fans. Nolan Ryan threw out the first pitch of the game. And First Fans (Original) George and Barbara Bush were visible in their usual seats behind home plate.
- The Astros certainly aren’t known this year for their sizzling offense. But they are actually hitting quite well in the playoffs. Every starter except for Ensberg (who’s in a hitting funk) got a hit today. And that includes Clemens, who got a single in the 3rd. Lamb continues to be a hot batter, after 5 months of struggling. He batted under .200 in August, but then made an adjustment to his swing and started hitting a lot -- .319 for the last month of the season. He’s had his share of the heroic moments in the post-season, with his biggest of all today: He hit 2 for 3 with a home run and a double, with 2 RBI and 2 runs.
- Qualls pitched brilliantly in relief of Clemens, with two perfect innings in the 7th and 8th to set up Lidge for the save. His biggest worry on the mound today seemed to be avoiding being hit by So Taguchi’s bat. Taguchi lost control of the bat on a pitch in the 7th inning, and ended up flinging it towards the mound. Qualls jumped. Taguchi struck out to end the inning.
- Garner must be having a bit of fun coming up with new variations on the Astros lineup for these games. His challenge today: He wanted Lamb in the lineup, because of his previous success against the Cards’ starter. But Burke is hot right now, and he knew that the Houston home crowd would be crazy to see him play. So he started them both – putting Burke in center field instead of Taveras, batting second. (The only other time this season Burke played CF, he ended up dislocating his shoulder.) It turned out to be a great choice; Burke did fine in center, and Lamb was the hero at the plate. Garner swapped in Taveras, a better center fielder, for the last two innings. Garner also started Ausmus at the 7th, rather than 8th, spot in the lineup, with Everett following. Ausmus has been hitting very well for the last couple of months.
- One of the things that I’ve enjoyed about the playoffs has been the respect that is apparent between the teams. While there’s a certain amount of fun in a grudge match like the Yankees-Red Sox games, that doesn’t really seem to be the tone of the games between the Astros and either of their two opponents. None of these teams want to lose, but none of them have set up the others as monsters either. However, I’m not really expecting handshakes at the end of the series.
- The biggest excitement among the younger players seemed to be focused more on the TV than the game that they had just won. As soon as the game was over, they were glued to the clubhouse TV, watching the end of the USC-Notre Dame football game. USC’s win, scoring with 3 seconds left, elicited cheers from Ensberg and Lane, and groans from Lidge, a Notre Dame alum. Lidge will have to wear a USC jersey today as punishment.
Disappointments:
- Ensberg is terrific, as usual, in the field, but he’s been uncharacteristically quiet at the plate during the playoffs. Still waiting for his big hits – and his first post-season home run.
- Bagwell’s single chance to play came in the bottom of the 8th, with Everett on second base and two outs. An insurance run or two would have been nice, but he grounded out to the pitcher. It’s really a bummer to see Bagwell sitting in the dugout, wearing his batting gloves, waiting for his one chance in each game to go to the plate. He must be really frustrated.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The White Sox won decisively against the Angels, taking the 4th game of the series 8-2. That puts Chicago ahead 3 games to 1. Freddy Garcia pitched a complete game for the White Sox. This was the third game in a row in which the White Sox starting pitcher threw a complete game. I think I’d better cheer for the Angels.
W: R. Clemens (2-1) L: M. Morris (1-1) S: B. Lidge (2)
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2005 (Game 4) – St. Louis @ Houston
Houston 2, St. Louis 1
It’s not over till it’s over. It’s not over till it’s over. It’s not over till it’s over…
I have to keep reminding myself not to assume -- or even hope – yet. But with today’s win, the Astros are soooooo close. Leading 3-1 in the series, they need just one more win, and they have 3 chances to get it. I’m not even going to thing about it.
If the Astros make the World Series, I hope that I’ll get to watch at least one game where they take a 10 run game, and I can just enjoy the game without tachycardia. But that would not describe today’s game. This game would have been a nail-biter, if I were into biting nails. It was definitely a heart-thumper. By the 7th inning, my heart rate was somewhere in triple digits. Who needs an exercise bike? If I want an aerobic workout, I can just watch an Astros game. There was no time in the game where the Astros and the Cards were not within one run of each other.
Astros starting pitcher Brandon Backe was terrific – he only gave up one run (scored on a Pujols sac fly) in 5 2/3 innings, on 2 hits, 3 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Ausmus had him throwing a real mix of pitches, and they pretty much stumped the St. Louis hitters. But Cards starter Jeff Suppan, was also good, and kept the Astros to a single run, scored on Jason Lane’s 4th inning solo homer. By the 6th inning, with the score tied 1-1, both starters were gone.
After that, it was the war of the relievers. With such a close score, the real hero of the game was Houston’s bullpen. Gallo came in with 2 outs in the 6th, to pitch against lefty Larry Walker, and got the out on 1 pitch. Then it was Garner’s favorite 7-8-9 lineup: Qualls, Wheeler, and Lidge. Qualls added another perfect inning to the two he threw yesterday. Then, in the bottom of the 7th, the Astros squeaked in a run on two walks, an error, and a sac fly, to take a precarious 2-1 lead. Wheeler gave up a leadoff single, then retired the next three (well, four actually – see Disappointments) batters for a scoreless 8th.
Then the 9th, with Lidge on the mound, facing the toughest part of the Cards’ lineup: Pujols, Walker, and Sanders. Garner brought in Bruntlett to play second. Lidge, bless his dramatic little heart, certainly made the game entertaining (although at the time, I thought I’d have a heart attack). He gave up a leadoff single to Pujols. Walker, with poor batting in the playoffs, battled Lidge to a 3-2 count, then hit a single. Runners on first and third, no outs. I’m starting to check out which Astros are due to bat in the bottom of the inning. Sanders hit a ground ball to third; Ensberg shot the ball to Ausmus who made a perfect tag to get Pujols out. But Walker took third. Now there were runners on first and third with one out.
John Mabry, filling in for the injured Abraham Nunez (who was filling in for the injured Scott Rolen) came to bat. Lidge threw 2 strikes. Then Mabry hit a ground ball to Bruntlett, who threw to Everett to get the runner at second. The TV announcers calmly announced “They’re not going to be able to turn two…” – meaning that Walker would score from third to tie the game. However, Everett wasn’t listening to them. He shot the ball to Berkman at first to complete the most beautiful double play ever.
Game over. Astros won, 2-1.
Berkman and Lidge hugged on the mound. The infielders went screamed. The rest of the team ran out on the field in a mob. With this kind of reaction to a win, what’s it going to be like when they win that fourth game? I can’t wait to see that. I’ve spent the last 7 months waiting to see that. If/when it happens, I will watch the replay a dozen times in a row. And I’ll probably cry every time.
Qualls, the pitcher of record when the Astros scored in the 7th, got the win. Lidge got his 3rd save of the playoffs, and an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor in a drama.
The Astros wore Sunday home reds. The senior Bushes were in attendance at today’s game again. I don’t have to like their politics to appreciate their taste in baseball teams. It’s pretty cool to see them there behind the batter, sitting in Drayton’s seats.
Nolan Ryan was there too, cheering for the Good Guys in the press box.
High points:
- I love the way that the Astros take turns being heroes in these games. Tonight was Lane’s turn – his solo homer in the bottom of the 5th tied the game, limiting St. Louis’ lead to half an inning, and keeping the the Astros from having to play come-from-behind in late innings. As home runs go, it was pretty modest – Lane seemed to be jammed on the pitch, but his great strength pushed the ball out into the Crawford Boxes.
- Garner went with same the Burke/Lamb lineup as yesterday. In this game, however, neither of them had hits or runs. Garner pulled Lamb in the 7th, when he brought in Taveras to pinch run for Palmeiro. Taveras stayed in to play CF, Burke moved to LF, Berkman moved from LF to first, and Lamb left the game. This arrangement turned out to be fortuitous defensively, as Taveras made a great catch in center field in the 8th and Berkman was a party in the game-ending double play. Garner may actually be the team’s MVP.
- Ensberg, whose hitting hasn’t been great in the post-season, went 2 for 3 tonight. But neither of his hits affected the score. His contribution to the win came in the 7th, when he hit in what turned out to be the game-winning run with a sac fly.
- If there was a goat in this game, it would have to be Jason Marquis, the Cards’ starter who has ended up in the bullpen for the playoffs. Marquis caused no end of grief to the Astros during the season, and racked up a 4-0 record against them. There’s nothing like a starting pitcher when you need a long reliever. He pitched 3 innings after Suppan came out of this game, and ended up the losing pitcher after giving up the winning run in the 7th. He walked pinch-hitter Palmeiro to lead off the inning, then made a fielding error that allowed Biggio to get to first on a sac bunt. He then walked Berkman to load the bases. At this point, Garner put in Taveras to pinch run for Palmeiro at third. Marquis then gave up a sac fly to Ensberg that scored Taveras from third. (How typical – the Astros scored the winning run without even one hit.) I’m not gloating over Marquis’ bad luck, but I’m not sympathetic to him either. (I’m still annoyed over the time he plunked Oswalt earlier in the season.)
Disappointments:
- Phil Cuzzi, the home plate umpire seemed a bit testy and quick on the draw. He had a quirky strike zone that seemed to annoy both sides. But it irritated the Cards to the point of explosion. In the 7th inning, after Berkman walked on 4 pitches to load the bases with 1 out, LaRussa came out yelling. Cuzzi didn’t take much of the harangue before he ejected LaRussa, who continued to make a scene on the field for several minutes. In the top of the next inning, with 2 out and a runner on first, Jim Edmonds took what he thought was a ball on a 3-1 count. (It actually did look like a ball to me.) But Cuzzi called it a strike. Edmonds argued the call, and Cuzzi ejected him too. The Cardinals had to bring in a pinch hitter, John Rodriguez, to complete the at-bat with a 3-2 count. After fouling two pitches, Rodriguez hit a long fly to center. Luckily Taveras was playing CF; he ran up the hill and caught the ball near the wall to end the inning. Despite the positive outcome for the Astros, the ejections didn’t really make for a good feeling to the game, especially Edmonds’. It seems like you’d have to say something pretty bad to warrant being thrown out of the game in the middle of an at-bat. Edmonds claims otherwise: "All I asked was where the pitch was. I said, 'How do you call that ball a strike?' And he said, 'Don't you come back here and f-ing argue with me.' I said, 'You have to do a better job than that.' And he said, 'OK, you're warned,' and he threw me out." Seems like the umpires are getting a bit too involved in some of the games in these playoffs. But at least this case wasn’t as awful as the one in the second game of the Angels-White Sox series.
- The next game in the series is tomorrow night – which is Sukkot. I will be running out to get the newspaper at dawn on Tuesday to find out whether the Astros are going to the World Series, or just playing more games against the Cards. Pettitte will be on the mound for the Astros, Carpenter for the Cards. A rerun of the first game of the series, but this time Pettitte’s not hurt, and they’re playing in Houston. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep Monday night!
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The White Sox beat the Angels, 6-3. Chicago’s going to the World Series. It’s the White Sox’s first trip to the World Series since 1959. That means, it’s been longer for them than for the Astros. Of course, the Astros have never been, but they’ve only existed since 1962.
W: C. Qualls (1-0) L: J. Marquis (0-1) S: B. Lidge (3)
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2005 (Game 5) – St. Louis @ Houston
St. Louis 5, Houston 4
Game 5 was played on Monday evening, the first night of Sukkot. I spent a lovely evening in our sukkah, eating dinner with friends and relaxing – except for a nagging curiosity about how my Astros were doing in Houston that night. But, like all of the Sabbath and holiday games this season, I had to hold on to my curiosity until the next morning’s newspaper. I could hardly sleep that night.
At 4:30 Tuesday morning, I ran outside in my pajamas to get the newspaper. Came in, tore the paper out of the plastic wrap to get to the Sports section. And then I saw the horrible headline:
Pujols Blasts the Cards Back In
After three consecutive games of playing chicken, daring the Cards to win, Lidge finally went too far. With the Astros ahead 4-2, he had struck out the first two batters in the 9th inning. He had 2 strikes on pesky Eckstein, and the crowd was starting to roar. But then Lidge gave up a single. and a walk to put runners on first and second. And Pujols was up to bat.
There was much debate the next day about whether Lidge should have walked Pujols. Most people felt that pitching to him was too risky. Garner apparently didn’t feel that way, and I can understand: Pujols is a huge dreaded power hitter. But he has a terrible batting average against Lidge. So Lidge pitched to him.
The rest is history: A home run ball that went into low Earth orbit, scoring 3 runs, and giving the Cardinals a 5-4 lead.
I felt sick about it all day Tuesday. I thought that it would have been better if the Astros had lost 10-2 than to have lost like this. I worried that last year’s history would repeat itself, as the Astros had to return to St. Louis to finish the series.
But by Wednesday afternoon, I had returned to the irrational optimism that has sustained me through this whole season. I had come to the conclusion that the close loss was just another step in the Astros crazy fate on their way to the World Series. I decide that losing on Monday night would turn out to provide the opportunity for one of my favorite fantasy scenarios: Oswalt winning the Astros ticket to the World Series by pitching a no hitter.
I’m writing this up after the series has ended, and I already know how it all came out. If the Astros had gone on to lose the next two games, this game might have been one of those all-time greats – the one that turned around the Astros momentum and gave the Cards the pennant. Pujols’ slam would have been one of those fabled home runs that they show over and over for years, the play of the series, the decisive moment. If only…
But it didn’t turn out that way. The Astros shook off the loss, moved on to St. Louis, and the Pujols blast became just an asterisk in the real Big Story: How the Astros came back to win the pennant. But for that story, you’ll have to wait for the Game 6 write-up!
The Astros wore home stripes.
High points:
- Up until Pujols’ moment of glory, the hero of the game was going to be Lance Berkman. With the Astros down, 2-1, in the bottom of the 7th inning, Berkman hit a 3-run home run to give the Astros what appeared to be a commanding 4-2 lead.
- Given the focus on Pujols’ home run, the starting pitching barely made the news. Pettitte had a good start – he pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up 2 ERs on 7 hits and 2 BBs, with 4 Ks. Too bad he didn’t get the win he deserved. Chris Carpenter didn’t have his usual dominating game this time – he gave up 4 runs (3 ER) in 7 innings, with 9 hits, 1 BB, and 6 Ks. He left the game with the Astros ahead, and Jason Isringhausen pitched 2 scoreless innings for the win.
- The Astros relief pitching, aside from Lidge’s bad luck, was perfect. Qualls came in to relieve Pettitte in the 7th, then Gallo and Wheeler shared a hitless 8th.
- I love it when good things happen for Biggio in playoff games. In all games, actually, but especially in post-season, given the old demons about lousy post-season performance by the Bees. In this game, Bidge went 2 for 4, with a run and an RBI.
Disappointments:
- This was the third game in a row in which Lidge had been a lot less than lights out. After 30 innings of shutout pitching against the Cards, he had given up a run in Game 3, cutting the Astros lead to one run. In Game 4, the nearly miraculous double play by Bruntlett-Everett-Berkman saved Lidge from giving up what appeared to be a certain tying run. Finally in Game 5, he blew the save and lost the game. On the bright side, he did strike out the side. I heard that after the game, the team members had teased Lidge mercilessly about the home run – concerns when they were in the plane flying to St. Louis that their aircraft might be hit by the home run ball. I was glad to hear this; it showed a sign that the team was taking the loss in stride and just moving on. Given the kind of season that the Astros have had, that’s really not so surprising. If they hadn’t been able to deal with losses in this way, they would never be where they are now.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The White Sox have a few days to chill out before the World Series…
W: J. Isringhausen (1-0) L: B. Lidge (0-1)
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2005 (Game 6) – Houston @ St. Louis
Houston 5, St. Louis 1
GUESS WHO’S GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!
When the last pitch was hit out to right field, and Jason Lane caught it for the third out to end the game, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell were side-by-side in the dugout. What do they say at a moment like that, after all those years of playing and hoping and waiting to get their chance to play in a World Series? On the TV, they don’t leap and scream; they just turn to each other. Biggio said later: “Nothing needed to be said, except for a big old bear hug." Bagwell said: "I thought about Craig more than anything, all the time we've spent together, working, trying to get to this moment. Running out there, that's for the kids. Young guys jump around. Us old guys would just get hurt."
After that, they tumbled out onto the field with the rest of the Astros, who piled onto each other, jumped, screamed, yelled, and acted like the bunch of large boys that most of them are. Arms around each other, jumping up and down, they looked a whole lot like the groom’s side of an Orthodox wedding – a bunch of guys who can’t dance, but just gotta party. They even had hats and beards.
It’s not every day that the Astros win the right to go to the World Series. So, party on, dudes.
In the end, it was the game I’d wanted to see: One where the Astros pitching was awesome, and the guys remembered to score a few runs to back it up. Those close, 1-run games are thrilling, but at this point, I just wanted to see them WIN. No more tachycardia, nail-biting, hair-pulling, scared-till-the-last-moment games. No more dramatic endings with Lidge on the mound. Just a nice solid win.
That’s just what they did: They put across 5 runs, bit by bit, scored every which way – the first one on a wild pitch, the second on Biggio’s RBI single, the third on Jason Lane’s home run, the fourth on a suicide squeeze, and the fifth on Ensberg’s RBI single.
And the pitching was truly awesome. Roy Oswalt was the next best thing to unhittable. The Cards didn’t get a hit off of him until the 5th inning. In the end, they only managed to get 3 hits, 2 walks, and 2 hit batsmen off of Oswalt; the only Cards run scored on a sac fly. Oswalt got 6 strikeouts, and hardly a ball went out of the infield. He didn’t even need to use his offspeed stuff; according to Hickey, he only threw 3 curve balls and 2 sliders all night; the rest were fastballs. A third of his fastballs were 95+ MPH, and he was still throwing them in the 7th inning. Your basic monster power pitcher, in a relatively diminutive frame, compared to giants like Lidge and grizzly bears like Clemens. One game after his heroic homer, scary ol’ Albert Pujols went 0 for 4. Reggie Sanders was 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts. Pesky David Eckstein was 0 for 3. The Cards just couldn’t touch Oswalt’s stuff.
They couldn’t touch Houston’s relievers either: Qualls and Wheeler each put in a solid scoreless inning. Qualls, pitching in his 5th straight game, was perfect -- again. Wheeler struck out the first two batters in the 9th, then gave up a single before that game-ending fly ball. And so the Astros won the game, and the NL pennant.
I’m making it sound like a nice relaxing game. In truth, I was a bundle of nerves. I watched this game at the Pinta’s house; Elliot said that he was hoping that it would go to seven games, to be more exciting. I stuck by my mantra (It’s not over till it’s over) and did not assume anything until the very last out. It’s not just because of Monday night’s game, where victory was snatched away with 2 outs in the 9th; it’s because I’ve seen how many times the Cards have given their opponents bad surprises with late inning, come-from-behind wins. So I was nervous the whole time (Elliot poured some very nice bourbon to take the edge off). I watched this game live because I just had to see it. But I really watched it the next day, on the mlb.tv archive, when I could sit back and savor the pleasure of a beautiful win. I watched the whole game. I watched the ending six or seven times. And cried like an idiot every time they won.
High points:
- There aren’t enough great things to say about Roy Oswalt. He’s got to be the most under-rated starting pitcher in the major leagues. If he pitched for the Yankees or Red Sox, he’d be a superstar. In Houston, he’s just a nice quiet guy from Weir (the D is silent), Mississippi, who happens to get 20 wins a season. He pitched a great game, his second brilliant game in this series. He fielded well. He handled the bat well, including a fly ball to the warning track, and a sac fly that moved two runners into scoring position. But mainly, he pitched like a demon. And that’s why he was named the MVP for the series. (Afterwards he gave the trophy to his dad, who he said, had always been there to take him to his games and throw with him when he was a kid.) Clemens and Pettitte are great pitchers, no doubt about it. But I really love the guys who came up on this team.
- This game, like so many in this playoff series, was such a team effort. This has not been one of those years where one player dominates the series (like Beltran did last year). The hitting by the players at the bottom of the lineup has been a huge factor in the success of the team. In this game: Jason Lane got another home run – this one a 400’ shot to left field. Ausmus (still batting 7th), went 3 for 4, with 3 singles, and scored Houston’s first run scampering in from third when a wild pitch went behind Craig Biggio at the plate. Everett (batting 8th), got an infield single and scored on Biggio’s RBI single in the 3rd inning. He also bunted for the successful suicide squeeze in the 6th. But more importantly, he continued to make great plays at short. In this game, one of his great plays turned out to be more of a dramatic performance – he managed to convince the 2nd base ump that he had tagged out a runner coming into second. In the replays, it didn’t seem that Everett actually tagged him, but he was so impressive that the umpire ended up calling the runner out. (LaRussa unsuccessfully protested.) Burke was 1 for 4 and scored on the squeeze.
- That’s not to say that the guys at the top of the lineup didn’t do their part; it was a real equal-opportunity game: Biggio was 2 for 5, and like many games recently, he was somehow involved in many of the significant plays. He was at bat when a wild pitch allowed the first run to score; he then got an RBI single to score the second run in that inning. He also scored the last run of the game. Taveras, back in the starting lineup in this game, was 2 for 4, and also had a sac bunt that moved Bidge into scoring position. In other news, Willie T was named Sporting News’ Rookie of the Year. Ensberg, who hasn’t had a good series, finally got a nice RBI hit in the 7th inning, scoring Biggio.
- I really like the way that the Astros and Cards generally treat each other with respect. After the game, Cards’ CF Jim Edmonds said nice things about the team: "I don't think you'll find a classier group of people than you do on that team, and that's hard to say around the league. That's my honest opinion. I think they treated us with class at their stadium, they introduced us classy. I've never seen a group of people in the game more classy than the way they handled everything for us.” Seeing the Cards players in their dugout after the game (the last game they’ll play in Busch Stadium), some of them in tears, was really sad. (But not as sad as if it were the Astros on the losing end!)
Disappointments:
- Bagwell didn’t get to play in this game. You have to wonder what was going through his head when the game ended, and it the dream had come true: The Astros are finally going to the World Series. When he was interviewed on the field after the game, he said he was “ecstatic.” But he didn’t look really ecstatic; he looked like he was trying real hard not to cry. This has got to be a very emotional moment for him, partly because he’s waited so long for it. But also, partly because he’s had to sit on the bench watching while his teammates have played. That’s got to be brutal for a dedicated team player like Jeff Bagwell, not getting to contribute at the team’s most challenging and most exciting moments. Apparently he gave the team a pep talk before the game. I didn’t see a transcript, but Garner was so impressed, he decided that it was unnecessary to address the team himself. He said of Bagwell: "He felt the need to address the team, and it comes from the heart, and that's what makes it great. It comes from the heart. It doesn't have to be a well-scripted, Hollywood rah-rah thing. It just comes from the heart. That's exactly what it was." It would be great if Bagwell gets to be the DL for the Chicago games in the World Series. But I’ve got to think that Garner will go by the numbers and by his instinct – he’ll be likely to use Lamb with a right-handed pitcher, or maybe Palmeiro. I’m sure he’d like to do right by Bagwell, but first he’ll do right by the team. And, after watching Bagwell all these years, I’d have to guess he’d think Garner was right.
Notes on the Other Bad Guys:
- The White Sox are resting up for the Astros. See ya’ll Saturday night!
W: R. Oswalt (3-0) L: M. Mulder (1-2)
Final
