Ranking Five of the Astros’ All-Time Greatest Rivals

5. Oakland Athletics

The Oakland A’s have really been the only competition for the Astros winning the AL West in recent memory, and the two squads faced off in the 2020 postseason. The Astros took that series easily in four games, after the A’d had actually won the division.

Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way as well, or should I say snake. After pitching a no-hitter and winning the World Series with the Astros, Mike Fiers moved on to Detroit, and eventually to Oakland, where he has pitched since 2018.

In 2019, he outed the Astros for sign stealing during their 2017 championship run in an article from tThe Athletic (no pun intended). It’s quite odd that he waited two years to do this, and it’s also quite odd that he hasn’t pitched against the Astros since the story broke.

It’s safe to say that this added quite a bit of fire to the Athletics-Astros rivalry. The two teams got into a bench-clearing brawl during the 2020 season, started by the Athletics’ Ramon Laureano, who was a former Astros prospect and a currently suspended player for PEDs.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers

Before I talk about present day, let’s talk about the history between the two clubs. They both played in the National League West from 1969-1994, with the Dodgers winning the Division seven times, compared to Astros’ lone division titles in 1980 and 1986.

During that 1980 run, the Dodgers and the Astros were neck-and-neck all summer long. They wound up in a tie, forcing a game 163 to see would take home the Division, with the Astros winning and advancing to their first postseason appearance in franchise history.

In 1981, due to a strike, it was determined that the first half division winner would play the second half division winner in a best of five series. The two squads again faced off, with the Dodgers taking the series in five, after the Astros blew a 2-0 lead.

The two clubs would not see each other in the postseason again until 2017, when the Astros beat Los Angeles in seven games. Two years later, when the sign stealing scandal came out, is when this rivalry really got its footing.

Many Dodgers players publicly expressed their gripe with the Astros, claiming that the 2017 World Series is illegitimate, and that the Dodgers should be the true Champions.

Cody Bellinger also stated that Altuve stole the 2017 MVP award from Aaron Judge, and that the Astros had been cheating for three years (which was false).

This sparked fires in the Astros locker room, witch led to Carlos Correa’s interview with Ken Rosenthal during 2020 Spring Training. He ripped Cody Bellinger, explaining why he believes the Championship and Altuve’s MVP to be legitimate.

He also suggested that Cody Bellinger needs to work on his reading comprehension, as the Astros had not been cheating for three years.

Things escalated during the shortened 2020 season, when the two clubs faced off in front of no fans.

Joe Kelly, who was a member of the 2018 Red Sox (who were also proven cheaters), controversially threw at Alex Bregman, and mocked Correa after a strikeout, which almost led to a benches clearing brawl.

The Dodgers would go on to win the 2020 World Series. To say the least, these teams do not like each other, and this is a rivalry that could go on for years.

3. New York Yankees

The Astros have knocked the big-spending Yankees out of the playoffs in three of the last six postseasons. The New York Yankees have never beaten them in a playoff series. All three series were competitive, but this rivalry stems more from off the field drama than anything else.

Aaron Judge publicly called the Astros cheaters, and was apparently sick to his stomach about it. The city of New York collectively hates the Astros for the sign stealing scandal, and chants slurs about Jose Altuve, even when they are playing other teams.

I don’t think this rivalry can move up in the list until the Yankees actually beat the Astros in the Playoffs, but it sits above the Dodgers and the Athletics simply because of how often the two clubs have faced off in the postseason in recent memory.

2. Atlanta Braves

Just like with the Dodgers, the Astros and the Atlanta Braves were in the same NL West Division for 25 years. As soon as both teams left the NL West for different divisions, they became playoff rivals.

The Braves swept the Astros in the 1997 National League Division Series, beating them 3-1 in the 1999 NLDS, and capped it off with another sweep in 2001. After all three of those series, the postseason record between the two clubs sat at 9-1.

That’s embarrassing to say the least, but the Astros were not finished. They would bounce back in 2004 to finally beat Atlanta 3-2 in the NLDS, and a 3-1 victory in 2005, which included the iconic 18 inning game 4 clincher.

The rivalry went dormant until 2021, when the Atlanta Braves beat the Astros in six games in the World Series. There were no flares in this series, but as both clubs stay talented in 2022, don’t be surprised if there’s a rematch brewing.

1. St. Louis Cardinals

Do I even need to explain this one? The two teams battled for the NL Central from its founding in 1994, through 2013. One of the two ball clubs won the division from ’96 through ’06, with the exception being 2003.

Over that span, the Astros took the division four times, compared to the Cardinals six. The clubs faced each other in the National League Championship Series in both ’04 and ’05, with the Cardinals taking the first 4-3, and the Astros taking the second 4-2.

Both clubs would move on to lose the World Series in their respective years. A memory that still haunts Astros fans is Albert Pujols’ monster three home run in game 5 of the 2005 NLCS, which some would say “broke” Brad Lidge.

Although this rivalry has gone dormant as of late, the rivalry with Pujols himself stayed active through his tenure on current AL West rival Angels. This most recently came up during the 2019 incident involving the aftermath of the Marisnick situation.

Pujols was seen talking/ yelling to the Astros dugout, and it appeared that Lance McCullers Jr. was yelling directly at Pujols. A weird part about this rivalry is that Astros Legend Lance Berkman has his lone World Series Ring with the Cardinals in 2011.