The Houston Astros win the ALCS battle 4-2, but the war is not over yet!

As the Houston Astros move on to the World Series, the American League Championship behind them, let’s take a little walk down memory lane with a peek into the future.

It was October 17, 2018. One year and one day ago that the Houston Astros were faced with the same challenge as the Yankees. It was Game 5 of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox. It was the bottom of the 9th, and memories of Game 5 of the 2017 WS coursed through the minds of every fan in the Park as Alex Bregman headed to the plate, his bat bouncing off of his back.

With every fan standing on their feet ready to jump for joy and holding their breath, Andrew Benintendi threw the final punch in an epic play that is forever etched in the brain of every Astros fan watching.

Personally, I literally cried as I was thinking about how our season had come to an end with that perfectly timed catch (and inside, I literally hated Andrew Benintendi). We were finished. The war had ended and we were on the wrong side of the battlefield. To quote Aaron Boone, “Sports can be a little bit cruel.”

The Yankees were faced with this same dilemma as they entered our house Saturday night, their backs against the wall – it was do or die time. The stars, it seemed, were aligned in favor of the Houston Astros. The ball was bouncing our way. The reviewed plays had favorable outcomes.

The boys made some iconic and epic defensive plays that were what highlight reels are made of – the catch by Josh Reddick for the second out in the top of the 6th, the DP started by Michael Brantley in the top of the 7th, the DP started by Jose Altuve to Carlos Correa that ended with Correa’s 94 mph throw to 1st in the top of the 8th, and so many more just too numerous to list.

But let’s not even pretend that we don’t know how, with each of these plays, the air was slowly leaking out of the proverbial balloons of the Yankees, dashing their hopes and the hopes of their fans of making it to one more game on their hunt to the WS that has lasted for 10 years, as they all watched the Houston Astros whittle away every one of their 27 outs in what would be their last battle of the war called the 2018 ALCS.

And into the box walks George Springer. We can all imagine that he’s feeling like he’s let his team and his fans down missing the leaping attempt in the top of the inning, and hoping beyond hope that he can make it up to everyone – fans and teammates alike – by getting his moonshot that would have duplicated his success in Game 5 of the 2017 WS.

Springer battled hard and won with a two-out walk.

Up to the plate comes Altuve, our own mighty little giant, with thoughts of thankfulness just to be given an opportunity to help his team when the baton is passed on to him.

How suitable it is that this mighty man of faith – who, while limping on one leg because of a knee injury that would eventually require surgery, a man who was robbed of a two-run home run in Game 4 of the 2018 ALCS because it was ruled an out due to fan interference – would finally get what felt like redemption to so many fans as the ball sailed to the opposite wall in center field and moved his team on to the next battle in the postseason war, the 2019 World Series.

We won the game not because I hit a homer. Yuli [Gurriel] hit a three-run homer, Michael Brantley made a really good play over there, [George] Springer just walked and put some pressure on them to get some momentum going. We worked as a team. We don’t have just one player, as I said before, and I’m just so happy for right now.” ~Jose Altuve via Sacha Pisani of Sporting News

It’s so hard not to feel sorry for the Yankees and their fans. It’s hard because we understand what they’re going through. We’ve been there. We’ve done that.

The Yankees put up an epic battle and, just like us one year ago almost to the day, they’re crying in their spilled milk, sad that their season has ended and they have to wait until Spring Training 2020 to see their boys on the field again.

“No matter how many games we won in the regular season, this is a failure,” Aaron Judge said, in the middle of the despair. “I think about the season as a whole, guys getting injured, guys getting back, a lot of ups and downs, I think about missed opportunities and some guys I might not play with again …” (New York Post, Mike Vaccaro)

But we’re Houston Proud and we’re Texas Strong. We love our team because they love us. We honor them and this game called baseball and we are not rubbing it in the faces of the Yankees or their fans.

Congratulations Yankees, on a battle well fought and on a season worthy of history for the game and for your franchise. Thank you Yankees, for the fight. Thank you for a good ride. Thank you for the thrill called October baseball.

For the Houston Astros, however, it’s not over. We’re at the hairpin turn of this ride and we’re coming up to meet the Nationals. The Nationals, with pitching and hitting and fans pumped for their first-ever WS appearance. It is going to be an epic ride and a hard-fought battle.

Bring it on, boys. The Houston Astros and the fans are ready to meet the problem called the Washington Nationals.