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Oh, those Astros woes Playoffs remain a house of horror for Houston
Updated: Friday October 12, 2001 9:21 PM
ATLANTA -- This is not how things are supposed to go for such a high-powered team. Such a high-powered offense with such a great pitching staff. Such a high-powered, well-staffed team that, by the way, had the best record in the National League this year. But, you know, these are the Houston Astros, the hardest-luck playoff team of the last couple of decades. If there's one thing you can count on, it's that you can't count on the Astros in the playoffs. Or you shouldn't, anyway. So maybe this is the way things are supposed to go for the Astros. To be fair, the Astros, bless their little game hearts, are not as bad as they looked in their National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are not as bad as the Astros looked in their 0-3 wipeout at the hands of the Braves. Take, for one, the 16 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings the Astros suffered through. Break out your calculator and you'll find that 16 1/3 consecutive innings, in three games, is ... well, it's way too long to go without scoring. Especially for such a high-powered team. For two, we might point out that the Astros had had a lead after just two innings in the three games. Unless those two are at the end of a game (and they weren't; they were after the sixth and seventh innings of Game 1 on Tuesday), that, as they say in baseball, is not good. For three and four and five ... Moises Alou, .167, Craig Biggio, .167 and Lance Berkman .167. But enough with the numbers. Well, one more. Oh-for-seven. The Astros have been to the postseason seven times. They've never won a series. "It's a recurrent theme, no question about it," says Jeff Bagwell, the dejected voice of the Astros. "I don't know. I don't have an answer for you." There was a lot of that going around Friday at Turner Field. "People are going to paint us as chokers," said Berkman, who had such an outstanding year (.331, 34 homers, 126 RBIs) and such a hideous playoffs (that .167). "You got to realize ... there wasn't a man in this clubhouse who choked. We weren't so nervous we couldn't swing, or that we couldn't take good swings. It just didn't work out. That's all you can say about it." Well, not quite. After four NL Central titles in the past five years -- and four first-round exits -- folks are looking for some answers. Gerry Hunsicker, the general manager, is looking. Manager Larry Dierker, who may lose his job because of this, is looking. Every man in the Astros' clubhouse Friday was looking for something -- anything -- that could explain this phenomenon. The Astros, who ranked second in the NL in hitting (at .271), hit .299 against Atlanta this season. In three playoff games, they hit .200. Atlanta hit .303. "Right now, I feel pretty bad," Hunsicker said. "Ironically, the strength of our team, mainly the offense and the bullpen, didn't perform like they did much of the season." Not even close. Setup man Octavio Dotel had a 1.93 ERA as a reliever this season. He pitched twice in the postseason and had a 4.50 ERA. Mike Jackson had a 4.70 ERA during the season. And a 27.00 ERA in his two playoff appearances. Closer Billy Wagner, 2.73 in the regular, 5.40 in two appearances post-regular. Enough with the numbers already. Hunsicker talks about the need for more team speed, about finding one of those high on-base percentage guys that everyone wants. Wagner and Alou are free agents. Dierker is twisting in the wind (at least for now). The offseason filled with questions has started. The best team in the NL, a team that won 93 games, has been swept from the playoffs by a team with the worst record in the playoffs. "What're you going to do?" asks Berkman. That's the question, all right. What are the Astros going to do? John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer. Comments? To e-mail Donovan, click here.
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