Houston Astros Go to World Series for the first time-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com

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Astros made it to World Series
Blog by Dr. Michael

Astros Made it to World Series, 10/19/2005, Wednesday

I didn't know much about baseball until 1986 when I watched the Houston-New York series when I was a second-year graduate student at Ames, Iowa. My roommate, Mr. Shen, was a sports fan and introduced the baseball game to me. I clearly remembered the old Astros' uniform and the fact that Houston lost that year. I didn't truly know this game until a year later when I played a few games in the campus league during the summer by the invitation of my classmate, Brian Wels. I didn't do well in the games since I never played baseball before. However, as they say, you don't fall in love with it until you actually play it.

I came to Houston in 1990. I can't say I am a hardcore or consistent Astros fans - not always anyway. Over the years, I have definitely been much more Rockets games than the Astros. However, in comparison, I have not yet been to a professional football game, yet (Oilers included). (That says so much about Houston being a football town, huh?) I do watch the World Series almost every year and the Astros on TV whenever they are in the playoffs. So I am one of the "everyone loves a winner" kind of fans.

Then my son, Sunny, started playing baseball in the First Colony Little League three years ago. I started to learn much more about baseball and watched much more games. Sunny has played for six teams (two per year). Last fall his Yellow Jacket team won the championship for his division. Do you know Texas is a big baseball state? We can play baseball year round and little leagues are everywhere. That is partially why many of the college teams are the best in the country. University of Texas won the college world series last year. Rice won the year before.

Last year, Astros came very, very close to the World Series. They were just one game away. They beat Atlanta Braves first and then took a 3-2 lead over St. Louis Cardinals. These two teams seem to be always on the Astros' way to the World Series. The Houston-St. Louis series was exciting. I watched every one of them. It was heart breaking that Astros can't win one at the final two games at St. Louis. With all the Bees on Houston team, Biggio, Bagwell, Burkman, and Beltron, Houston was not ready for World Series.

Then came 10/9/2005, Sunday. Houston, a wild card again, beat Atlanta 7-6 in 18 innings and almost 6 hours - the longest play off baseball game in history. And the most exciting baseball game ever. And I watched the entire game on TV! Two grand slams in one game - the first in play off history. I certainly don't mind Astros revenging on the Braves for so many past losses to them. Sunny was actually in Minute Park watching that game with his best friend Tommy. But they left early at the 9th inning! They ended up watching the game on TV at home. What a pity.

This year, Astros finished off Atlanta early and took a 3-1 lead over Cardinals. On Monday 10/17/2005, they had a chance to close the series at home. Every one in the city was ready. Every one in Minutemaid Park was standing for the entire game. I was ready to celebrate when the game was drawing to a close on the top of the 9th inning with two outs, 3-2 full counts, and 4-2 Houston leading. Then, something happened. A three-run home run by "Po-holes" to give Cardinals a 5-4 lead. That is the most heart-breaking game I ever watched. (Of course unless you are Braves' fans after that 18th inning).

Oh, no! Just like last year, Houston is again 3-2 going back to St. Louis. Will what happened last year repeat itself? If Houston loses tonight, we have a big chance to repeat it again. We don't want that to happen. And Astros beat Cardinals for the second time in St. Louis during this series! (They didn't win a single game at St. Louis during last year's play off). The win is very impressive. 5-1. Houston's pitcher tonight, Roy Oswalt, is a hero.

The entire city of Houston is right now celebrating. TV news show many people are going wild on the streets and in the bars. Many people will have to call in sick tomorrow. :)

Academy - a sports store - is now selling T-shirts and baseball caps at 11pm commemorating Houston's first World Series. They took the gamble and printed the T-shirts and caps early. They won! Sunny is going to wear an Astros' T-shirt tomorrow I bought over the weekend. Tina is going to wear a Clemens' jersey to school in the morning.

Last year, Beltron was one of the heros to Houston. Unfortunately, he decided to go to play for New York Mets after the offseason contract negotiation. The Mets didn't make it to the play off this year. How does Beltron feel now? I remember seeing a sign on TV during this year's Astros playoff game against Braves that said, "Beltron: How Is the View on the Couch?"

Do you know as big as Texas is, World Series has never been to the lone star state? Astros was born the same year I was born. Now Astros is in World Series for the first time. Perhaps, that will bring me some good luck in 2005 as well. Wow. What about some good luck to every one in Houston and every Astros' fans around the world!

The World Series begins this Saturday against Chicago White Sox. A wild card team has won the World Series in the last three years (Florida Marlins, LA Angels, and Boston Red Sox). Now only one wild card is left.

Go Astros, Go Astros! Astros all the way.

10/19/2005 - the day Astros (and entire Texas) got into World Series for the first time.

Houston 0 Chicago 1, 10/22/2005, Saturday

On my way to work today, I saw a van with two pieces of white sox tied to a rope in the rear bouncing on the ground.

At the office, I got an email with the following message:

"We were leaving the Sam�s store in Sugar Land this morning, and the guy who checked our receipt at the exit door told us to have a nice day, then pointed at the floor below our cart and told us to be sure to stomp. We looked down, and there was a white sock laying on the floor. I thought it was a great (very creative) way to support our Astros, so we now have one in our entry hall that we can stomp each time we leave and come home."

You can tell today is the beginning of the World Series.

I went to Academy after Sunny's baseball game, hoping to buy some Astros t-shirt or cap. I couldn't find any on the floor. I bought some catcher gear for Sunny instead. I heard from the PR that announces, "a new shipment of Astros' wear was just unloading." I asked the cashier where I can get them. She pointed it to the back and said, there were people waiting in the back already. I went to the back and saw a line as long as the entire store! I didn't have that much time to wait around. I am sure I can get allot of good Astros t-shirts and other stuff after they win the World Series.

Party is everywhere. One of Tina's friends hosted a party. Tina was all excited about the game though Tina does not watch much of baseball and does not know the difference between home run and grand slam. First Colony Little Leaque hosted a party at Townsquare with big screen TV showing the entire game. Of course, there are many, many viewing parties in Houston.

After the first two innings, I took Sunny, Tommy, and Charlotte to Townsquare to check out the party there.

The weather is perfect - about 70F without humidity.

The projected TV screen is huge.

People are everywhere! Most of them brought their own folding chairs. Some were having a picnic on the lawn area in the front of City Hall. A liquor store, ice cream shop, and starbucks were doing great business.

Houston had its chances in this game. But the Sox pitchers were too strong for us. We lost. 5-3.

Hey, we lost a close, first game to Cardinals in that series too. But we beat Cardinals by 4-2 in the end. So we still like our chances.

I was shocked to see two high-school girls wearing two identical Chicago White Sox shirts walking around the crowd. But when I looked closely, I noticed that the letter O in "Sox" has been replaced by a red "u". LOL.

World Series is a giant party. People are having fun. Footage from the Sugar Land party was later even shown on Fox news nationwide. Let's see what we'll do tomorrow!

Astros World Series Party at Sugar Land Town Square

Astros World Series Party at Sugar Land Town Square

People watching astros game during first world series in texas

Houston 0 Chicago 2, 10/23/2005, Sunday

Another exciting, up-and-down, nail-biting game. A grand slam. A two-run on the top of the 9th inning to tie the game. Then a homer on the bottom of the 9th. Unfortunately Astros lost again. Houston has its chances to win both games. Chicago got really lucky on a bad call by the homebase umpire. They were lucky and had a bad call going their way when they played against Angels, too.

We stayed at home. Sunny actually spent more time watching the game than yesterday at Town Square last night. At Town Square and with Tommy, Charllott and tons of other kids, they were running around, playing, tag, asking for drinks, walking around... doing anything but watching the game. When Sunny and I sit on the sofa by ourselves, we actually talked about baseball, the strategy Astros' was playing, and the bad call by the umpire. It's a good opportunity for Sunny to watch how the pros play closely without too much distraction.

The game will move back to Houston on Tuesday. Astros will not give up even though we're down 0-2. Houston beat Cardinals in all three playoff home games last year. The Minutemaid park is our home turf. It's going to be very, very loud with the cover closed on the park. Our chances of winning next three games are very good.

I saw another car with two socks hanging on the back again today.

I am sure people in Chicago are having fun too. Yesterday's Chronicle showed a letter from a Chicago Cub's fan that wished Houston Astros luck and the White Sox to choke. Chicago has two professional baseball teams. Some of the Cub's fans obviously hate White Sox. They don't think White Sox can represent their city? I don't understand the dynamics of the sports loyalty with such huge intratown rivery.

Well, go Astros. We'll show the world how great Astros/Houston/Minutemaid Park is on Tuesday.

10/24/2005, Monday

Today is the travel day. The World Series will resume tomorrow night.

The bad call by the umpire last night has been the talk of town the entire day on the radio, during the conversations at the coolers, and on the phones.

Many people are angery at the umpire, thinking that the umpire made that call too quickly. He didn't take time to observe Dye, the Chicago player's reaction. If Dye was hit by a 90-mile per hour baseball, he would feel some pain. He didn't say nothing. When the Houston manager went to talk to the umpire, he sent him back without consulting with other umpires or listen to the concerns.

There is also blame on Dye. After the game he admitted that he was not hit by the ball. Why didn't he say anything during the game? He could have told the umpire the ball didn't hit him. That is not a lie; but that is dishonest. It's not an intentional cheating; but certainly unintentional cheating, and intentionally taking advantage of the umpire's error.

That error may cost Houston not only the game but also the series. Some are asking how good a world champion would be if it gets it by cheating?

Some say that Houston had our chances. We should blame on our team not playing hard enough.

One radio talk show host asked this question: Should baseball use instant replay like football and hokey do?

Some people say no. Especially the umpires (understandably). Some say the game should be kept the way it was just like hundred years ago.

My answer is YES. Here are why.

(1) Instant replay will not cheapen the umpire's work. It will only enhance it. So umpire shouldn't worry about losing their jobs or importance to the game if instant reply is introduced. After all, the instant replay is not review by any others but another experienced umpire!!!

(2) Yes, the bad calls go both ways. Sometimes it is against us and sometimes it's good for us. However, all we ask is to be fair to BOTH teams. The game should be called fairly. Umpires are human being and they make mistakes sometimes. Instant reply will help minimize the chances for mistakes.

(3) Like anything else baseball changes all the time and is influenced by technology through out the history. If we had to stick to how baseball was played 100 years ago, we'll not have domed/covered baseball stadium with air conditioning, we'll not use any electronic score board, and we should not wear the types of protection gears we wear today. I suspect even the bat - the size, shape, and how they are made - evolved over the years. Modern technology definitely have influenced baseball all the time!!!

(4) Instant replay will not make the game longer. It could be used only during play off games if it does. MLB can also limit the challenge to once or twice for each team. The instant review can be done constantly but over-ride the calls only necessarily to save time.

(5) It will be only good for baseball. The whole world sees the bad calls on TV except the umpires and the players. How good does that do to the game? Instant replay can almost eliminate all bad calls, especially to important games.

(6) Last but not the least, A league that turns its head the other way on illegal substances yet bans on clean technologies such as instant replay! It beats me.

Rumor says that MLB is considering requesting Houston to play the home game with the roof at Minutemaid park open. They are saying that keepign the roof closed gives too much advantage to Astros.

Duh??? Astros was playing at Astrodome where the roof was permanently closed Why didn't MLB ask Astros to open their roof at that time? There are many closed baseball stadium around the country. Why didn't MLB asked them to keep them open too? Houston is paying a big price for building the roof with modern technology - retractable roof.

Forget the umpires. Forget the MLB officials. Go Astros!

Houston 0 Chicago 3, 10/25/2005, Tuesday

"Houston, we have a problem!"

After 14 innings, the longest game in time in World Series history, Houston lost another heart broken one at 1:30AM on Wednesday morning. Again, Houston had our chances to win the game. We left 12 or 14 runners on the base during the game. We gave up 5 runs on that 3rd (or 4th?) inning.

I watched almost the entire game, certainly to the crushing end. The kids went to sleep early at 10:00pm. Sunny enjoyed the game and left when Houston was behind at 4:5. He has never stayed so focused on a baseball game on TV for so long. This is a great opportunity. World Series does not come to Houston that easily. Win or lose, it's a moment for us to enjoy. We'll have another game tonight (it's already Wednesday!)

No team has ever come back from 0:3 deficit to win the World Series. Well, miracle does happen sometimes!

In Sunny's little leaque game, he hit three triples.

Houston 0 Chicago 4, 10/26/2005, Wednesday

Chicago White Sox won World Series 2005.

Congratulations to Chicago White Sox fans. 4:0 sweep is impressive. (18 of 21 teams that lead 3:0 had swep the World Series in the past including last year's Boston). The better team won. Well, actually the team that has the better closers and manager won.

Again, Houston had our chances but can't materialize it tonight. Somehow during this series our closers can't perform as nearly well as the other team's (or not as nearly lucky). I also notice that the Sox has been much more actively managed than the Astros during this series, especially when the game was tight and near the end. Sox' manager, Ozzie, is only 41. We'll see him for a long time.

Well, Houston Astros had a great season. We deserve a celebration and congratulations as well. Astros should have another great season next year.

First Colony Little Leaque's play off starts on Monday. Go Oklahoma State Cowboys - Sunny's team. I hope to see them in their world series too. That would be awsome.

I wonder what Chicago Cub's fans are feeling now. :)

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