On October 15, 1986, three days shy of 29 years ago today, the Astros went into the top of the 9th at the Astrodome with a 3-0 lead over the New York Mets that they had held since their first time at bat.
#Astros hustle town game 4 series#
– The Astros tied it at 7-7 with a 2-run spot in the bottom of the 8th, but the Phillies went on to capture the game, the NL pennant, and eventually the World Series by an 8-7 mark in ten innings. – The Phillies hammered Ryan out of the box, bringing in Joe Sambito as the first in a conga-line of relievers, scoring 5 times for a 7-5 lead.
– And guess what happened – in case you don’t remember. Astros fans were celebrating early then, as they were again today. On October 12, 1980, exactly 35 years ago today, the Astros went into the top of the 8th in the final Game 5 of the NLCS at the Astrodome with Nolan Ryan pitching for Houston and leading the Phillies by 3 runs, 5-2. This was a not an enrichment of foresight that abruptly hit upon me it was an encroachment of hindsight from the painful Astros playoff memories of 19 that once dashed hope and set up this recurring memory of what happened back then to two games that appeared to be in the bag – but were not. Suddenly, I felt swept up by an eerie foreboding that we had all been swept up by a powerful “high” that could possibly lead us to an even more painful, but familiar to many of us “low” from our past experience. Some of the Astros fans around us in section 118 were already toasting the 4-run orange tally in the bottom of the 7th as though victory were now a fait accompli and that the two remaining time at bat for Kansas City were little more than a pleasurable formality on the way to the trophy dinner.
When the Astros grabbed a 6-2 pulling away lead going into the top of the 8th, and an advantage that could have been 8-2, had we figured out a way to get men home from 2nd and 3rd with only one out and not settled for two “Ks”, things looked pretty good for an imminently jubilant jolt of great victorious celebration on the field by our “Crush City Conquerors” or “Hustle Town Hackers.” Take your pick. Game 4: Royals 9 – Astros 6 (but we ain’t dead yet!)
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