A lot of us are disappointed this morning but let's all appreciate that in this hell we call 2020 we got to enjoy a few weeks of the Astros making another deep run in the playoffs. Remember that when this started all the talk was that the Stros were done, didn't want to play, that the cheating scandal was weighing on their minds, and most of all the joy and the swagger that propelled this team to the World Series in 2017 and 2019 and the ALCS in 2018 was gone. This team barely made it in to the playoffs and only because this was an unusual year and the MLB expanded the playoffs. The upstart Twins were going to sweep with the Bomba Squad blowing up the Astros' shaky pitching. Then it was going to be the A's were going to get their long sought revenge against a team they blamed for keeping them from advancing the last few years. Next it was the the best team in the AL with vastly superior pitching was going to take out the Stros quickly, and they almost did. Instead the Stros rediscovered their joy and swagger. Carlos Correa was the only player to launch a bomb out of Target Field in the playoffs. With all of the negative feelings it was the Stros who crushed and embarrassed the A's. Doing it also on the homefield of another team that desperately wanted to see the Astros fail. While it looked like Tampa Bay was going to quickly finish this run the Stros fought back and with their backs to the wall rather than fold up and just call it a season kept on fighting. Young untested pitchers got innings and the offense found ways to win whether through hitting it out of the park or generating runs off of sac bunts and hitting grounders that beat the shifts. There is a lot to be proud of this team and a lot that us fans can take from this team. I don't know what's going to happen to next year and likely a few of the players who have made not just this season's run but the last 5 seasons memorable will be gone. In the meantime let's take some time to appreciate the 2020 Astros. It would've been nice to see them take another World Series but for me they were a very welcome distraction and pick me up from all of the negative stuff of this year.
Rays pitching beat the Astros hitting. More than vice versa. Given the question marks the Astros pitching has had all season, they rose to the challenge.
I'm in. Baseball is hard and TB just outplayed us. Timely hitting, phenomenal defense, great pitching. The Astros flashed in all areas, but TB was consistent the whole series. Tip your cap to them. I'm pulling for them to win it all now. I'm super proud of these Astros though. They battled through so much this year and played a game 7 in the LCS. I just hope we get to see another run with our core...these guys are so fun to watch and to get behind. Sucks to end this way, but if nothing else, this playoff run should quiet some of the haters. They proved they are legit and didn't need to bang trash cans to play well.
Their defense versus ours were the difference in this series. Regardless, proud of the season our boys displayed this year. Excited for the future. AL West is still ours to win next few years.
The pitchers stepped up The hitters did not Many use the excuse that tampa has great pitching, and they definitely do. the astros consistently got the leadoff runner on and consistently got runners in scoring position. Something goes wrong after that. We do as little as possible to advance runners and we strand almost all of them. Like 90% of them did not score. The same thing happened in the WS against the nats in our home games.
The Astros did me proud in the playoffs. It convinced me that we need to keep Correa as long as it doesn't involve a Harper/Stanton type contract. It also shows me that Strom is the most important person on our coaching staff including the manager. He does amazing things with less than amazing talent. We need to bring up Whitley so Strom can work with him.
I wanted to start my appreciation with the 2020 Astros with those that probably wont play here ever again. While we dont know who all those players will be, its a good bet Josh Reddick is one of them. I will miss his at the wall heroic catches and his accurate arm, but as much as those things, I will miss him. I don't miss every guy who leaves here, but Reddick has a demeanor or swagger about him that I will miss seeing. Do well Josh.
Will always love this era of Astros baseball. A strong desire to win, always repping Houston, and great chemistry amongst the team that brought us both joy and tears.
This was the 1998 FIBA championship led by Rudy T. Got the junior varsity pitching staff, hastily put together just to fill out the roster, to outperform other teams varsity squads Ended up short but had a REAL shot at it ALL. .
Man this team made reaching the ALCS and World Series look so easy. I still remember the days of hoping Bagwell and Biggio would advance one time. That 98 team still haunts me
It was a good season considering the injuries and the sign stealing controversy that was absolutely in their heads (especially Altuve) throughout the year. Was glad to see them shake it off and get hot in the postseason. Being under .500 and one game away from the WS is a good run no matter how you look at it.
Just think...all we had to do was re-sign Morton and lock him up for a few seasons...and we probably would have won the championship last season and been back to the World Series again this season (instead of him shutting us down). This was the guy who won us a World Series and we didn’t even put forth an effort to keep him. It’s funny how a mistake like that comes back to haunt you. Great effort by the team. We just lacked one more solid starting pitcher who could shut an opposing team down. Maybe if JV were healthy, we would have got there this season.
