Best Houston Astros Moments from the 2021 Season

With the end of the year upon us, it’s a better time than ever to look back and reflect on what the best moments of the 2021 season were.

It was a tumultuous one with fans being back in the stands to voice their displeasure (and use the same tired jokes over-and-over) in regards to the Houston Astros‘ sign stealing scandal. That made the vindicating moments on the year that quieted the boos and shamed familiar foes all the better.

The Astros made the most of an extraordinarily difficult season.

And it was certainly appreciated by Houston fans. It was no small feat drowning out all the negative talk from the stands and the media alike. But they did it and they did it with a chip on their shoulder.

Without further a due, here are the best moments from 2021.

Martin Maldonado cuts down Alex Verdugo to end the inning in Game 6.

In Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox were threatening in the bottom of the seventh against reliever Kendall Graveman. They had runners at the corners with one out and Travis Shaw had worked the count full.

The Astros only had a two-run lead. A walk loads the bases, an extra base hit ties the game and a home run gives the Red Sox their first lead since the eighth inning of Game 4 and shifting the momentum back to Boston.

Enter Martin Maldonado. Despite all his offensive struggles in the series, this one play made up for all of it. Graveman threw a high outside fastball that Shaw swung through. Verdugo was off and if Maldonado’s throw was off in any way, shape or form Verdugo is safe and the inning extends.

But Maldonado fired a perfect throw that took Correa’s glove right to Verdugo’s thigh and Verdugo knew he was out, popping up in frustration as the Red Sox continued to be stymied offensively after their games two and three explosions.

The Astros never looked back and took the game as well the series that night.

Along with Altuve’s Game 4 homer and Jason Castro’s game tying hit, that was as big as moments get. Speaking of Castro’s game tying hit.

After a few years away, Jason Castro has his biggest at-bat as an Astro.

All misguided Jeff Passan articles aside, the momentum shift that took place on Jason Castro’s single to right field was more than just in Game 4 of the ALCS. It lasted the rest of the series.

After Altuve tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run to make the score 2-2, what seemed like an inevitability of a Red Sox LCS win now finally felt like it was a series again.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora is no stranger to bringing in whichever pitcher he feels gives him the best chance to win now, regardless of their role as a reliever or starter. He chose to bring in Nathan Eovaldi. To this point in his postseason career as a manger, Cora could do no wrong.

But a lead off double by Carlos Correa put pressure on Eovaldi. It looked like it would be all for naught as Eovaldi struck out Kyle Tucker and Aledmys Diaz (with an intentional walk to Yuli Gurriel in between.)

Then Jason Castro stepped to the plate. Castro had been clutch all season and with a 2-2 count, he took a close pitch up and away.

The pitch clipped the zone but it was called a ball (and for the record on the season pitches like that got called strikes only 30 percent of the time) and Castro took advantage of his second chance knocking a base hit into right field and setting off what would eventually be a seven run inning and an Astros win.

That was the biggest momentum shift in the series, but the most memorable moment of the series? Well we all know that one.

Carlos Correa went to his wrist in Games 1.

Game 1 of the ALCS was tied up at 4-4 when Carlos Correa stepped to the plate. In the previous series against the White Sox he had hit a bases clearing double agains Carlos Rodon that broke the game open for the Astros.

As he slid into second he turned to the Astros dugout, tapped his wrist and said “It’s my time.”

The players all said he has to do that again when he gets a big hit. Correa only had to wait until his next game as he hit a solo shot that gave the Astros a 5-4 lead that would hold and give the Astros a 1-0 series lead in the ALCS.

As soon as Correa made contact he knew he got all of it. He stood at the plate, pantomimed looking at his watch and as he jogged to first once again said to the Astros dugout “It’s my time.”

While the Astros didn’t get the end result they wanted in winning the World Series, this is an indelible moment in the minds of Astros fans and one of the best showboats in Houston sports history along with Mario Elie’s “kiss of death” to the Phoenix Suns bench in the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals.

But the best home run of the year belongs to Jose Altuve.

Jose Altuve went shirtless, after walking-off the Yankees.

Nothing could be more reflective of the Astros season than Jose Altuve’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Yankees on July 11, 2021. Alongside Mike Scott’s no-hitter that clinched the division for the Astros in 1986, this is one of the greatest regular season games in Astros history.

Altuve is beloved in Houston. He’s the face of the franchise. Humble, kind and an inspiration for anyone who has been told “no” because of their appearance and persevered through it all. He has received the most hate of any player involved in 2017 despite the fact that he didn’t participate in the sign stealing scheme.

He has been booed mercilessly, had “F*** Altuve” chants serenaded regardless of whether he was at the park or not. And at the center of most of this hatred was the New York Yankees and their fan base.

The Yankees earned the karma that came with Altuve earlier in the year as they chanted “Cheater” at him right before he took a high Chad Green fastball out to left field for a three run home run to give the Astros a 5-3 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

You would think that would be enough but when the Yankees came to visit Houston, Yankee players decided to keep the false narrative about Altuve going. They have been the most vocal about the infamous (and bogus) buzzer conspiracy theory. Something they most likely know is a lie but perpetuate it all the same as a way of compensating for their inadequacy whenever they play the Houston Astros and especially Jose Altuve.

Aaron Judge hit a home run in Saturday’s game and pretended to pull at his jersey as he rounded third base, mocking the fact that Altuve didn’t want his jersey ripped off after his ALCS clinching home run off Aroldis Chapman back in 2019.

The next day the Astros were getting pounded 7-2 going into the ninth inning and it looked like they would be swept at home by the hated Yankees. Then all of a sudden it was 7-5 with runners at the corners and Jose Altuve at the plate. This time Chad Green decided to throw a slider down at the feet with a 2-1 count. And Altuve golfed it out to left field, rewarding all the fans who stayed with yet another game winning home run off the Yankees.

The players refused to let him walk away from home plate with a jersey on. It was emblematic of the season for the team and especially Altuve. All year Altuve heard boos he would quiet with home runs at stadiums across the league.

Whether it was a two homer game in San Francisco or a three run homer to put the finishing touches on a series clinching win in a White Sox stadium that had cheered him getting hit earlier in the game off their beloved closer Liam Hendriks (who the game before had predicted “Sox in five” after a solitary playoff win.)

The team had to hear every lame excuse for a joke or heckle in every stadium they went to and would take it like professionals and just do their job better than any other offense in baseball.

It’s truly hard to comprehend how difficult this season was for the Astros. The fact they not only succeeded but were the best in the league offensively with everyone and their mother actively rooting for the team to fail is a true testament to not just skill, but character.

And it was all encapsulated by Altuve’s walk-off against the team and fanbase that had done the most jawing and crowing about the Astros.

We may not have gotten the ultimate vindication of a World Series trophy, but there shouldn’t be a single Astros fan who isn’t proud of how the team persevered in what is arguably the hardest regular season any team in any sport has had to endure.

Here’s to many more memories in 2022 and beyond.