Astros get a clean slate in October as playoff baseball returns to Houston

It counts! It matters! Particularly the fashion in which the whitewashing of the A's unfolded in recent days. A 22-2 combined beatdown. The Houston Astros are division winners and in the dance.     

I can recall the conversation after the Astros first action in Grapefruit play back on February 21st in West Palm with Todd Kalas. The mission statement was clear. "Get back to the postseason," Kalas said. They've done that.     

Ironically the matchup is against the White Sox. The previous three seasons, Chicago dropped 324 games in a brutal span. Why does that number sound familiar? It's the identical number of games the Astros lost from 2011-2013. They've each been through the pain and agony and now these organizations intersect once again. It happened in 2005 and again in 2021, and now the stage is set for a third time in the Wild Card Round.    

Don't sleep on Wild Card participants. Seven Wild Card entries have advanced and won the World Series since the format was adopted.

The Marlins, Angels, Red Sox, Cardinals, Giants and Rangers have all done it, and of course we all remember the bitter loss in 2019 to the Nationals. The Nationals started their run by beating Milwaukee in the Wild Card that year.    The Astros came very close in 2020, the covid-shortened season in which they finished 29-31 to sneak into the postseason. They came up 1 game short of the World Series.

Enjoy baseball this week, as the month gives way to October. Diehard Astros fans know the difference and will soak in the moment. Fans who packed the Dome to witness a heartbreaking game 6 loss to the Mets in 1986. After that setback, it would be 4,003 days before the Astros would next reach the postseason, spanning from October 15th, 1986, to September 30th, 1997, against the Braves.     

The matchup is, of course, favorable for Houston. They have five wins vs. the White Sox in seven games this season to back that up.    

Remember at the end of the animated Dr. Seuss tale from 1966 with the Grinch? Christmas Morning comes without any ribbons, packages or bags. The Grinch is dumbfounded. The Astros somehow have made it without Carlos Correa, a GM, and with Peter Lambert as your wins leader with 8. For all the criticism that Joe Espada endured this campaign, perhaps it's time to tip the cap in recognition.     

It's time for the playoff baseball on Crawford Street.   

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