The Houston Astros are going to win the World Series. This is a fact.
You can be mad if you want to, but I am merely the messenger for this Very Important information. Consider that destiny has smiled upon them in the exact same way that it did the last time they hoisted the coveted piece of metal.
Confused? I got you.
The Astros beat the Mets on the road on June 29th and that means a lot
Cards on the table here I am a Houston Astros fan. I cover the Dallas Cowboys here at SB Nation (shout out to Blogging The Boys the GOAT) and that upsets people. Yes, last year’s ALCS was very awkward for me. This is who I am and you will accept me for that or else (I don’t really have an else in mind).
To the point I loved the 2022 Houston Astros because they won the World Series. That season was such vindication and sweet sports honey in every single way and a big part of the journey was a summer trip that took them to New York for road series contests against both the Yankees and Mets.
At the time the New York teams were the most dominant in baseball and yours truly had a great time tweeting about the Astros rolling through Queens and the Bronx relatively untouched. Also let me remind you like my tweet does that Houston’s trip through New York then featured a combined no-hitter from the team led by Cristian Javier, a feat they would replicate in the World Series against the Phillies.
Houston Astros stretch against the New York teams aka “the best teams in baseball”
– Mets ✅
– Mets ✅
– at Yankees ❌
– at Yankees ✅
– at Yankees ✅ (no-hitter)
– at Yankees ❌
– at Mets ✅
– at Mets ✅
– Yankees ✅Total: 7-2#LevelUp
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) July 1, 2022
THIS BRINGS US TO JUNE 29TH. OF 2022.
Why does that day matter so much? I’m so glad you asked.
Wednesday, June 29th, 2022 was the final day of that particular Astros/Mets series and it was kind of a super boring game. I remember it very well.
But why do I remember it well? You see in the top of the ninth inning Jason Castro hit a two-run homer for the game’s first runs. Houston won 2-0 and Castro didn’t play at all the rest of that season. My guy walked it off in epic fashion.
You obviously know (because I told you) that the Astros would go on to win the World Series that year and did so against the Phillies as mentioned. Beating Philadelphia was significant as it put an end to Houston’s inability to take down NL East teams in the playoffs (aka the World Series). 2019 saw the Astros lose to the Washington Nationals and 2021 the Atlanta Braves… the NL East was terrifying and the break in the dam was first made by Castro with his home run against the Mets.
I recognize that this is silly but this is sports where things like this matter a lot and basically determine history. These are the rules, I didn’t make them. The June 29th win on the road against the Mets served as the catalyst for the Astros in a significant way that season.
THIS BRINGS US TO JUNE 29TH. OF 2024.
You will recall that last week featured the Yankees and Mets tangoing with one another in the latest edition of the Subway Series. Both New York teams are hot. Things aren’t quite as intense in that sense as they were two years ago, but they are the relative toast of MLB’s town.
The Astros visited Queens last weekend riding a 7-game winning streak themselves which saw them get to .500 for the first time this season (lol). Momentum was up and a loss on Friday night was no big deal given that we are still on the front side of the All-Star break.
Houston and New York squared off on Saturday, June 29th with the Astros looking for a win and unfortunately they fell down early and things were looking rather bleak. This is when a Crazy Sports Thing happened that is clearly and undeniably this year’s Jason Castro moment.
At the top of the eighth inning the Astros were trailing 4-6 and looked set to fall a couple of games below .500. It was a tough scene. Jake Meyers and Jeremy Peña both walked, but then Chas McCormick and Mauricio Dubón upped the pressure by failing to do anything. Jake and Jeremy both advanced to put runners on second and third.
This is when My New Guy entered in Trey Cabbage. Pinch-hitting in a big spot, Cabbage needed to do something special in order to keep this rally alive.
Do you ever wonder how certain things happen in sports? Not amazing things, dumb things.
With a full count Cabbage took a pitch for a ball… that the umpire improperly counted. Seriously. We are making counting errors in the year 2024. He mistakenly called it ball 3.
Cabbage was able to rightfully take first base and shortly after a wild pitch sent Jake Meyers home to narrow the deficit to a single run. Jose Altuve walked to load the bases again and then Alex Bregman broke it open. Houston added to their lead in the top of the ninth for more breathing room and got back to .500 on the season.
Baseball is notorious for producing wild and crazy things and these two happened on the same day between the same two teams in the exact same spot on earth. Destiny!
In case you aren’t already convinced… what if I told you that this year’s win in 2024 (the Trey Cabbage game) at Citi Field was the first time that the Astros won there since the 2022 game with Jason Castro?????
THE HOUSTON ASTROS ARE GOING TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES AGAIN.
