By Bill Brown

This is a diary of the last few weeks of the 2004 season. It produced one of the tightest finishes since the Wild Card was introduced into Major League Baseball in 1995. The Houston Astros, who trailed by seven games in the race for this National League playoff berth, pulled to within striking distance by mid-September. Since being in a three-way tie for the wild card lead with Chicago and San Francisco September 11, the Astros remained in the hunt, trailing by one or two games.

Before the September 1 games Houston had been tied for fourth place, three behind Chicago. This deficit was the largest margin overcome by a team in the Wild Card Era. Before the Astros beat the Cubs August 27, they trailed Chicago by seven games in the wild card tussle.

This is the account of an unlikely dash to a playoff spot, with no margin for mistakes. With a 36-10 finish from August 15 on, the Astros became the first team since the 1951 New York Giants to compile such a winning percentage in the final portion of the season—a .783 figure. The end result was a one-game margin over San Francisco, with Chicago falling three lengths behind. Along the way, the Astros mounted a 12-game winning streak. Their closing burst included five wins in six meetings with the National League’s best team, St. Louis. They reeled off 18 straight wins at home for a new club record. They knocked off Philadelphia and Cincinnati in all six of their meetings.

It was one of the most surprising turnarounds late in the season in many years, considering where the Astros were when the streak started. There was World Series talk the winter before when Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens signed as free agents. Through the first six weeks of the season, the team was living up to expectations. But injuries and ineffective play had reduced many fans’ hopes. Over a 60-game stretch in the middle of the season, what was expected to be a high-powered offense averaged 3.3 runs per game. What happened after that provided the most remarkable finish in the club’s history?

Even months later, reasons for the turnaround were as elusive reasons for the lack of success earlier. The players did not see it coming. Was it the midseason managerial change from Jimy Williams to Phil Garner? Perhaps over the long haul. But when Garner took over a 44-44 club at the All Star Break, the Astros went 12-16 in his first 28 games. New coaches Gary Gaetti and Jim Hickey came in with Garner to coach hitting and pitching. They all tried to emphasize the positive, but the results were not positive. Not until the day our story begins.

Sunday, August 15
The Expos were going for a sweep of the three-game weekend series in Montreal. The Astros, losers of eight of their last eleven games, had sagged to a 56-60 record. They were seven games behind the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card Race, tied for seventh place. The Expos’ Livan Hernandez took a 4-2 lead to the ninth. As the league leader in innings pitched and complete games, he needed three outs to secure his tenth win. He got one. Luis Ayala came in with two on and one out. Jason Lane singled in one run. Jose Vizcaino’s ground out tied the game, 4-4. Orlando Palmeiro’s two-out pinch single gave the Astros an improbable 5-4 win, snapping the Expos’ seven-game winning streak.

In Garner’s talks with the players, he stressed that the Astros needed to come from behind to win some games in the late innings. Until this game, that element had been lacking. Still, it was one game.

Tuesday, August 17
In Philadelphia, this was a match up of disappointing clubs. The Phillies were ahead of the Astros by one and a half games, and it appeared that the loser of this series would be out of the running for a playoff spot. Roy Oswalt, Mike Gallo and Dan Miceli shut out Philadelphia, 5-0.

Wednesday, August 18
The Phillies built a 4-1 lead after three innings. But a six-run Houston fourth got the Astros back in the game. Roger Clemens left after three innings with a strained right calf. But the bullpen pulled together and Carlos Beltran’s two-run double in the eighth provided another thrilling comeback, 9-8.

The trade for Beltran in late June had brought the Astros perhaps the best athlete in the history of the organization. Some compared him to Cesar Cedeno, with a combination of speed, power, defensive instincts, and arm strength which would make him the top player on the free agent market after the season and one of the best players in baseball. But he came from Kansas City, where he was a well kept small market secret.

Arriving in a late June deal, which sent closer Octavio Dotel to Oakland and catcher John Buck To Kansas City, Beltran had joined the Astros in Arlington. At the time, he joined a team with a 38-34 record, which hadn’t been doing much clutch hitting for a month. He provided an immediate upgrade in center field, allowing Jimy Williams to move Craig Biggio to left field. Biggio had given center field his best efforts, but at age 38 he was learning a new position. A former catcher who moved to second base, he had been an All Star at those positions and had been willing to move wherever his manager wanted him. He was having a good offensive year, and the move cut down on the running required on his surgically repaired left knee. The Astros lost Beltran’s first two games with the club. But he showed off his All Star talent in the third game, a 1-0 win. He scored the game’s only run. And he took a run away from Texas, sprinting back to the center field wall, soaring above it and spearing Michael Young’s deep drive leading off the bottom of the first to take away a run with a highlight reel play. He was to go on to make the rest of the season a showcase for his talents, which were at their best in the postseason.

Thursday, August 19
Pounding out 15 hits, Houston roared from behind again. Trailing 7-2 after five, a seven-run seventh sent the Astros on to a 12-10 triumph which put them at .500, 60-60.

Friday, August 20
The Chicago Cubs came to Houston with a chance to improve their five-game margin over the Astros and effectively drop Houston out of the race. The Cubs were a half-game behind the Giants. Glendon Rusch pitched Chicago to a 9-2 victory to darken the picture at Minute Maid Park. The Cubs blasted six home runs.

Saturday, August 21
Now six behind the Cubbies, the Astros sent Brandon Backe to the mound against Mark Prior. In his first major league start, Backe blanked the Cubs for seven innings and drove in a pair of runs with a single. He left with a 2-0 lead. But the Cubs rebounded with one in the eighth and got two in the ninth off Brad Lidge for a 3-2 lead. Vizcaino and Lane had RBI hits in the last of the ninth off Latroy Hawkins, with Lane’s the game winner after an intentional walk to Mike Lamb. Putting the season under a postseason microscope, this was one of several games that might have provided the difference. On this occasion and several others, a loss in this game might have meant a roadblock to the spectacular finish. The Astros were stubbornly refusing to be put away.

Backe had seized the opportunity created by Pettitte’s left elbow injury. Relying on the game calling of veteran catcher Brad Ausmus, he induced double play grounders in the sixth and seventh to keep the league’s top home run hitting team at the time off the scoreboard.

Sunday, August 22
Again the Cubs dealt the Astros a crushing setback by blasting Oswalt and quieting another sellout crowd, 11-6. Oswalt lasted only two and two-thirds innings, ejected from the game when he hit Michael Barrett with a pitch after Aramis Ramirez blasted a home run in a five-run third. Kerry Wood also was tossed after hitting three Houston batters. Manager Dusty Baker joined him in an early shower. But the Cubs left Houston in an enviable position. The Astros fell behind the Giants by six and a half games.

After the game, reporters asked Bagwell if the home plate umpire Bill Hohn should have thrown Oswalt out of the game. Bagwell said he would have done the same thing. He also made some remarks, which seemed to be critical of Oswalt for not avoiding the ejection and staying in the game to save the tired bullpen. Oswalt and Bagwell discussed the situation the next day without any apparent resolution. Was there a split in the clubhouse? Garner diffused the situation for the media, reminding the media that players didn’t have to agree all the time. He recalled the 1974 World Series, when he was a member of the Oakland A’s. The A’s were famous for their clubhouse fights. Garner mentioned that before one of the Series game that year, pitcher John “Blue Moon” Odom landed a right cross on the jaw of closer Rollie Fingers after an argument and knocked Fingers into a laundry basket. After being revived in the training room, Fingers later saved the game. The argument revolved around how the players were going to spend their World Series checks. After the Cubs won this series, the Astros players found no need to argue about postseason pay.

Monday, August 23
The second Philadelphia-Houston series gave both clubs another chance to mount a late run. But with the two teams six and six and a half games out respectively, it seemed that one club would have to sweep the other to have any kind of an outside chance. Clemens pitched Houston to an 8-4 verdict to start the sweep. The win ran his record to 13-4. He won his final six decisions on the way to an 18-4 record. His winning percentage of .818 was the best in the majors and was the best ever for a pitcher older than 40. His seventh Cy Young Award was waiting for him at the end of the season. But he had downplayed the personal achievements all season long and focused on why he returned as a free agent a few months before – to get to a World Series. With five World Series appearances, he was a fierce competitor who was uncompromising when the Astros needed him to be at his best.

Beltran entered the 30-30 club with his 30th home run. He went on to pile up 38 homers and 42 steals, going 28-for-28 as an Astro in base stealing.

Tuesday, August 24
Running out of time to put a string of wins together, Garner plucked Oswalt out of the Houston bullpen and used him in relief for one inning. The tactic resulted in Oswalt getting his 14th win. The faltering Astros’ bullpen got a scoreless eighth from Oswalt after seven fine innings from Carlos Hernandez. Oswalt had volunteered for bullpen work because of his brief start two days before. Lance Berkman and Lamb drove in eighth inning runs off former Astro Todd Jones for a 4-2 win.

The Oswalt-Bagwell mild disagreement was quickly smoothed over. The rare gesture of a starting pitcher working in relief between starts provided evidence of a player’s desire to contribute something extra, even though his tender rib cage area required injections before his starting assignments. Oswalt was on his way to a 20-win season, the only such milestone in the National League in 2004.

Wednesday, August 25
For the fifth time in six meetings with the Phillies, the Astros came from behind to win. This time a four-run eighth against Felix Rodriguez and Tim Worrell pushed Houston on top, 7-4. Kent’s three-run long ball provided the margin of victory. The Astros swept the six-game season series from the Phils, but they remained six games behind the Cubs and departed for Chicago after the game.

Kent, a fiery player who wasn’t afraid to step on toes, led the club in RBI with 107 and played through some leg injuries. At 36, he frequently talked of retirement being a possibility. On this veteran, aging team many players thought their World Series future prospects were limited.

Thursday, August 26 
Once again the Astros had an opportunity to confront the team they had to beat. The Cubs led the Giants by one and led Houston by six, with San Diego two behind. Bagwell’s two-run homer off Prior in the first gave the Astros a promising beginning. But a five-run Cubs’ third off Backe included back-to-back long balls by Sammy Sosa and Ramirez. The Cubbies won their fifth in a row, 8-3. The 38,216 at Wrigley Field celebrated the Cubs’ move to 71-56, the first time they moved 15 games over .500. But the next day the Astros were to begin one of the most remarkable late-season rallies in recent history.

Friday, August 27
If asked to pick one single game, which signaled the spirit in the clubhouse and the determination to play hard to the end, many would later choose this game. In a rematch of the Oswalt-Wood fiery encounter from Sunday, the Astros turned their emotions loose on the field. They tagged Wood with a four-run first, including a Beltran homer and a Morgan Ensberg two-run double. Beltran later hit a second long ball and the Astros hammered a total of five. Oswalt went eight innings in a 15-7 rout. When he came to the plate in the second inning, Barrett was waiting for him. Barrett said, “It’s just too bad we can’t do anything (to you) in this game.” Oswalt looked at him and said, “What’s keeping you from it?” Home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor diffused the confrontation with the players jaw to jaw and players starting to leave the dugouts. The Astros banged out 15 hits. Reliever Kent Mercker hit Oswalt with a pitch on the thigh in the sixth inning. The Astros kept their cool. Entering the clubhouse after the game, Mercker heard Cubs’ TV broadcaster Chip Caray praising Oswalt for his work. Mercker called the press box at Wrigley to complain to a Cubs’ media relations representative about the remark, since he didn’t consider Oswalt’s outing of eight innings and six runs to be worth that kind of praise. The Cubs’ broadcasters were to learn of the phone call later, and it would cause bad blood. Now the rivalry between these two groups of players was at a high pitch. The Cubs had been in the driver’s seat. But they showed signs of cracking and losing their composure. Beginning the game seven games in arrears in the wild card scramble, the Astros channeled their efforts and seemed to draw energy from their final chance to play the team leading the wild card race.

Saturday, August 28
As each game followed, each seemed to present the Astros with one more chance to lose a game they could not afford to lose. This game took on those overtones as well. They were still six games behind the Cubs. With two games remaining in this four-game series, it seemed obvious they would have to win both or forget any hopes of a miracle finish. They were facing Carlos Zambrano, a spirited competitor with the fifth best ERA in the NL – 2.88. A 5-0 lead in the second for Roger Clemens set a strong tone, with Zambrano unable to work around six walks and two errors. Clemens left with a 6-5 lead and the Houston bullpen pulled together in a 7-6 dandy. Now the next game would be the biggest of the year. It would mean a chance to shave another game off the Cubs’ lead, now down to five games.

Bagwell had three hits and drove in two runs. Playing at age 36 with an arthritic right shoulder which caused him to rethink his defensive plans, he had to take the easy out at first base instead of throwing across the diamond or to second base as he used to do before his surgery in 2001. He plowed through a difficult season with a .266 batting average; with his shoulder feeling jolts of pain on some swings of the bat. Never wanting to claim it as an excuse, he suffered through his toughest year. But with a chance at the reprieve given to a struggling hitter on a surging team, he focused on what he do to help win. His batting average was a low .257 before this game. But he was to be a factor in the future.

Sunday, August 29
Carlos Hernandez notched his first win at a critical time. With Andy Pettitte and Wade Miller on the disabled list for months. Hernandez was one of the starters who got opportunities to step in. This was his fourth start, and he took the mound with a 5.82 ERA. He survived a leadoff homer by Corey Patterson, allowing three runs in a 10-3 thumping which was Houston’s 11th win in 14 games. The last three games of the series in Chicago were to provide a springboard for a team, which defied the odds in the pressure-filled final month.

August 30-September 8
The twelve-game winning streak included three from Cincinnati, three from Pittsburgh, three more from Cincinnati. During the streak, the Astros scored at least six runs in all of the first eleven games. They outscored their opponents, 109-52. They belted 31 home runs to their opponents’ 13. Their starting pitchers were 11-0. They moved to within one game of San Francisco and one half game of Chicago. By the time their streak ended, they had the attention of the baseball world. Like a huge meteor bearing down on a heavily populated area, they were being watched constantly. Would they flame out, or would they be able to sustain this incredible string of pressure performances?

Having generated some momentum, they were trying to keep their attention where it needed to be, not on the building attention they were generating with the league’s longest winning streak.

September 9-16
Losing three of five at Pittsburgh created a challenge. The next series was at St. Louis. But, although the Redbirds were 48-23 at home, they dropped two of three to the resurgent Astros. With Dan Wheeler and Chad Qualls added to the bullpen, the relief corps was more of a factor now. They pulled together for important work in the final game of the series.

Thursday, September 21
The excitement was constant now. The entire city was captivated by this team. But losing the first two in San Francisco had dropped the Astros three games behind the Giants, who had moved a half-game ahead of the Cubs into the wild card lead. This was to be another of those defining moments against a team the Astros were pursuing.

Houston trailed 3-0 after 6 against Jason Schmidt. But the offense rallied for runs in the seventh and eighth. Dustin Hermanson took over in the eighth and got the final out of the inning to preserve a 3-2 lead. Beltran singled to open the ninth. The karma was hovering over Bagwell‘s topped grounder rolling slowly toward third base. Twice it rolled from the fair side of the third base line onto the chalk stripe and appeared to be headed into foul ground. Both times it teetered on the foul line but didn’t cross into foul territory while catcher Torrealba hovered over it. With Bagwell safely at first and Beltran at second, Berkman hit a high fly ball to right. Michael Tucker appeared to be settled under the ball, and then he kept moving deeper until he was at the warning track. As if a sudden gust of wind had arrived, the ball wound up drifting into the right field seats for 5-3 lead, which turned into a 7-3 victory. It was the first game-winning, final at bat homer of Berkman’s career. After the game, Berkman said, “God must have blown on it.”

Wednesday, September 29
The Astros blew a 4-2 lead at Minute Maid Park against St. Louis with Roger Clemens on the mound but regrouped to win 6-4 on RBI hits in the 7th by Bagwell and Berkman. The Cardinals’ lineup did not include Larry Walker, who had shin splints – or Albert Pujols. But Roger Cedeno – a career .400 hitter against Clemens – got two hits and drove in a run. Kent hit his 300th homer and Ensberg went deep off So Taguchi’s glove in right field. The crowd of 43,186 was stoked from the beginning of a game, which might have been the last of Clemens’ career. This was the 15th consecutive home win for the Astros.

The Cubs blew a 2-1 lead in the 9th when Austin Kearns drove in a run with a two-out double off Latroy Hawkins, whose blown save was his ninth. Then Kearns hit a game-winning homer in the 12th off John Leicester. Earlier, Kearns had jumped high and held on to snatch Sammy Sosa’s bases loaded fly ball out of the ivy covered right field wall after Sosa gave his home run hop coming out of the batter’s box. A few days earlier, Sosa had been thrown out at second base after going into his home run hop on a fly ball to field in a game the Cubs won.

The previous Saturday, Hawkins had blown a save with two outs and two strikes in the ninth in New York on a two-run homer by rookie Victor Diaz. Ryan Dempster had walked the previous two batters and the Cubs were forced to remove him. Later Kent Mercker surrendered a game-winning homer in extra innings by a Mets rookie left-handed hitter who had never homered in a major league game—Craig Brazell.

In the Giants’ loss at San Diego late Wednesday night, the winning run scored in the 10th on a Mark Loretta foul sacrifice fly. Edgardo Alfonzo and Yorvit Torrealba had made errors earlier in the inning. With one out, Loretta’s fly ball near the visitor’s bullpen outside the right field line was caught by a sprinting Dustin Mohr. The strong-armed outfielder could have allowed the ball to drop, since it appeared to be of sufficient depth to score speedy pinch runner Kerry Robinson. But that’s a play almost never seen in major league baseball. Mohr crossed the foul line and caught the ball. Then he stumbled over the pitcher’s mound in the bullpen, falling face down and staying down with a knee injury, writhing in pain as the winning run scored. Dustin Hermanson was the loser on an unearned run.

Hermanson had been handed a three-game suspension a few days earlier for hitting Kent with a pitch after the Berkman home run at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco a week earlier. Hermanson was appealing the suspension. On this day, the Astros leapfrogged ahead of both teams after trailing by one-half game the day before.

NL Wild Card Race Through September 29

Thursday, September 30 
The Cubs made it five losses in six games when they dropped a tough 2-1 game in extra innings to the Reds again on a winning hit by Javier Valentin. The Reds got great starts in that four-game series by Ryan Hancock, Luke Hudson and Aaron Harang. The Cubs had been home run-dependent throughout the season, with the largest percentage of runs scored via home runs in the National League. The usual method of beating them was to keep the ball in the ballpark. The Cubs had major problems manufacturing runs because of a heavy strikeout load. The Giants rebounded to win late Thursday night, 4-1 over the Padres to move into a tie with Houston for the wild card lead, one game better than the Cubs.

The Final Weekend
Friday, October 1
With three games to go, it came down to a three-game season for Houston, Chicago and San Francisco. The Cubs’ and Giants’ recent losses had allowed the Astros to storm into the wild card lead with the unlikely sweep of high-flying St. Louis, which came to Minute Maid Park with 103 wins, working on a five-game winning streak. The Redbirds were leading the league in runs scored, slugging percentage and ERA. They also had swept an earlier three-game series at Houston and were 5-1 at Minute Maid Park.

On Friday, October 1, the Cubs dropped two games behind both the Giants and Astros and were on the verge of elimination. Kerry Wood allowed home runs to Mike Hampton and Dewayne Wise, the eighth and ninth hitters, in a 5-4 loss that afternoon to Atlanta.

The Astros beat the Rockies that night, 4-2. Starter Pete Munro lasted 2.2 innings and was one of seven pitchers used. Biggio lost a fly ball in the twilight sky above Minute Maid Park with the roof open again. Munro pitched around that pop fly double. Twice Astros’ relievers escaped jams with two on base. They won their 16th straight at home and notched their 90th win. A lively crowd of 41,717 sent them over the 3 million mark in home attendance for the second time in club history.

The Giants won late that night 4-2 at Los Angeles behind Kirk Rueter. Eric Gagne, who had a sore shoulder, got a night off for Los Angeles. The Giants and Astros were tied for the wild card lead, two ahead of the Cubs with two to go.

Saturday, October 2 
The Astros got the final opening they needed. The Giants built a 3-0 lead over the Dodgers going to the bottom of the ninth. Brett Tomko had pitched shutout ball and turned the game over to the heavily used Giant bullpen. The Dodgers, who won their 53rd come-from-behind victory, loaded the bases in the last of the ninth. Felipe Alou put out the call to the bullpen, wheeling Scott Eyre and Dustin Hermanson into the game. The Dodgers went right to work and scored three times to tie it. The yellow number “3” was posted on the left field hand-operated scoreboard at Minute Maid Park and a lusty cheer went up from the Houston fans in the early innings of the Astros’ game. The Astros had an early lead and the fans were riveted to the scoreboard. Then a load roar caused all eyes to turn again to the Dodger ninth inning number. The scoreboard operator had changed the numeral from “3” to “7” and the Dodgers had won, 7-3! How had it happened? Fans were on their cell phones checking the Internet, and tuned into the local radio broadcast to find out how the Dodgers had won. They found out that former Astro Steve Finley had connected for a game-winning grand slam off former Astro Wayne Franklin with one out. This development gave the Astros a clear path to a playoff spot if they won the Saturday and Sunday games, no matter what the Giants did.

Oswalt became the only 20-game winner in the National League that night, beating the Rockies 9-3. The Astros blasted a season high six home runs, four off 15-game winner Shawn Estes. Biggio hit two and Kent two. Kent’s home runs sent him past Ryne Sandberg into sole possession of the major league record for home runs hit while playing second base with 278. He had only 10 home runs at the All Star Break, giving the National League All Star second baseman 17 after the break. The Astros’ karma continued when Biggio barged into the wall along the left field foul line and reached in among the fans to snag Todd Helton’s foul fly. Unlike at other times, the fans didn’t put up a fight and allowed Biggio to retire a .349 hitter.

Sunday, October 3 
Fans again packed into Minute Maid Park with high anxiety. The Astros needed only to win to make their eighth trip to the playoffs. And they had Roger Clemens scheduled to pitch against Jamey Wright. Clemens, with his 18-4 record, had stamped himself the favorite to win a record seventh Cy Young Award. Garner had told the media several days before that he had studied the results of games with starting pitchers working on three days’ rest instead of the normal four. The results were not favorable. He had preferred not to start the Rocket on three days’ rest. But Roger had convinced him that it was the best choice. He had not pitched on three days’ rest for at least three years in his memory, but his determination and career performance dictated that the Astros give him this start. And, if things went well early in the game, the bullpen could be relied upon to come in and slam the door. The lineup card on the clubhouse wall that Sunday morning had Clemens in the ninth spot for Houston. But by late Sunday morning, word circulated in the press box that Brandon Backe was going to start the game. Some conspiracy theorists immediately thought that this had been the plan all along. Why? To give Backe a good night’s sleep thinking he was coming to the park to be available as a reliever. This had worked with Carlos Hernandez in 2001, when he found out a couple of hours before his first major start that he would face the Pittsburgh Pirates and he proceeded to pitch a gem of a game.

When reporters sought explanations, they learned that, in fact, the Astros were forced to start Backe because Clemens had been attacked at midnight Saturday by a stomach virus. Roger’s sister had called Garner Sunday morning to tell him that it had been a sleepless night for the future Hall of Famer. When the Rocket arrived at the clubhouse, he told Garner he could pitch. Garner had experienced playing games in a dehydrated, sleep-deprived state during his playing days. It was his experience that after a few innings he “hit a wall” and ran out of energy quickly. He theorized that the effect would be even more pronounced on a pitcher. He briefly considered having Clemens pitch just a couple of innings, then quickly locked onto Backe as his starter. Pitching coach Jim Hickey found Backe at his locker in mid-morning and informed him that he would start the game. Backe went into the training room, where Clemens was hooked up to an intravenous solution. Clemens reassured Backe that all would go well for the young hurler. The crowd, which came to see a “hometown” boy pitch their club to a playoff berth, checked the lineups on the scoreboard and saw a different name entirely. Instead of a 328-game winner who grew up in Katy, Texas and went on to star at the University of Texas, they were watching a 26-year-old right-hander from Galveston, Texas who grew up following the Astros and had won five major league games. He took the field for the biggest game of his life in a festive, playoff-like environment.

Among the signs in the charged-up crowd was one referring to Finley’s grand slam the day before beating the Giants. The sign said, “Thanks, Steve. We’ll take it from here.” Backe got off to a good start with five scoreless innings. A converted outfielder who began pitching in 2001, he looped a two-run single to right center off Wright in the second. The game was going according to script for the Astros’ owner, Drayton McLane, Jr. He was convinced before the game that this would be to the Astros’ advantage to achieve a final victory without Clemens, keeping Clemens available to pitch the opener of the Division Series in Atlanta. That would make it possible for Roy Oswalt to pitch the second game in Atlanta. If Clemens had pitched Sunday against the Rockies, the plan was for Oswalt to open the playoffs Wednesday on three days’ rest. The Wizard of 0’s had worked 237 innings, pitching most of the season with a strained left intercostal muscle. The injury required him to received pain-killing injections on the day he pitched. If Clemens had pitched Sunday, he would not have able to pitch until Game Three against the Braves on Saturday at Houston.

The Astros were making plans to have Clemens and Oswalt be available for four of the five games in the best-of-five series, with Backe to pitch the third game. That would mean Clemens and Oswalt would be pitching on three days rest in games four and five.

When Backe allowed the first two to reach in the sixth inning Sunday with a 5-0 lead, Garner used a quick hook. He proceeded to use six relievers to nail down the 5-3 win. Brad Lidge struck out the final 4, making him the National League’s all-time strikeout leader among relievers, breaking Dick Selma’s record set in 1970. Lidge, who whiffed 157, had piled up 80 appearances and 94.2 innings, an abusive pace for a closer. But he had begun the season as a setup man, pitching two innings 13 times. When closer Octavio Dotel was traded in late June to obtain Beltran, Lidge became the closer. By that time, the Astros were nowhere close to being contenders but thought they might be able to rescue the season. With Hidalgo traded to the Mets for Weathers, the Astros didn’t get much bullpen help from that deal. Dan Miceli had been bumped up to eighth-inning roles, but the bullpen was dangerously thin. Beltran’s power hitting, base stealing and gazelle-like coverage in center field had an immediate impact on the club. But without Lidge’s immediate success as the closer, the Astros would have been packing their bags for vacation just as Oakland and Philadelphia were. Dotel had helped the A’s, but was not a dominant force. Former Houston closer Billy Wagner had been traded to Philadelphia for young pitchers over the winter. But he had been unavailable during two stretches in 2004 with injuries.

Innings Pitched by Top National League Closers in 2004

The only National League reliever who pitched more innings in 2004 than Lidge was Florida Marlins’ setup man Guillermo Mota. In 78 appearances, Mota threw 96.2 innings He had four saves in eight opportunities.

When Lidge whiffed Aaron Miles for the final out, the Astros mobbed each other on the field while the fans went delirious. The team with World Series expectations over the winter had been written off by most in mid-summer. The managerial change from Jimy Williams to Phil Garner at the All Star Break had worked – one of the few mid-season moves of its type to result in a playoff berth. Like the Florida Marlins the year before, the Astros had changed skippers on the fly and barged into the playoffs with a seven-game winning streak. They had gone 48-26 under Garner for the third best winning percentage in club history in the second half of the season. Their 36-10 finish was the second best record in the National League for that portion of the schedule since 1945. Only the 1951 New York Giants had been better since 1945 at 35-8. The Miracle Mets of 1969 had a comparable 38-11 finish.

The Astros had not lost at home since August 22. They were about to begin a new season. The pressure-packed environment of the playoffs was awaiting. But for a team which had been playing playoff-type games with no margin for error for weeks, playing a game with urgency would be nothing different.

In a period of six weeks they had captivated the baseball world with their passionate play, reaching the postseason against all odds. One little stumble could have cost them this playoff opportunity. They were to go on to beat Atlanta in a hard-fought Division Series in five games. They fell just short of their first ever World Series appearance when St. Louis captured the final two games of the National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium and came from behind to win the seventh game. But after the disappointment of the loss was dulled a little by time, the players realized that their finishing kick had provided them and their fans with memories of a dash to the playoffs which comes along once in a lifetime.