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John Pirkle on Astros v. Braves (10-9-2005)
From: John Pirkle
To: Joe Raymond (among a multitude of other recipients)
Date: October 10, 2005
Re: how bout them oranges?
We got there early, an hour ahead, and the free parking was already taken. I've never paid for Astros parking before, ever, but we did Sunday. That is the earliest arriving Houston crowd I've ever seen for anything -- basketball, football, baseball, concert, you name it.
The same guy caught both homeruns. What are the odds? And he's going to give Burke's ball back to Burke and said he will give Berkman's back if he asks for it. What are the odds of that? Most people would put them up on Ebay or try to get season tix out of it. He said he arrived early for batting practice with his glove but no ball came near him. He was there ~ 8 hours total.
ESPN did a great breakdown of all the different things that had to happen for that ending. (1) The perfect relays and slow running of LaRoche that got him thrown out at the plate in the 7th; (2) The two gutsy umpire calls with the Braves pulled off base + Luke Scott's check-swing-ball-four that loaded the bases for Berkman's grand salami; (3) The gutsy umpire HR call on Ausmus' shot in the 9th. He made that call on the hoof. I could barely see it hit the wall; (4) Pulling Berkman for the pinch runner after a double in the 10th with 2 outs. Uh-ohh. That took a big bat out of the lineup. But that pinch-runner was Chris Burke; (5) The Braves put runners on base in the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th innings but couldn't score; (6) It was Clemens' first pinch-hit appearance ever and first relief appearance since 1984. What an unusual person he is. I'm proud he's a Horn (although I admit we used to make fun of him when he was in Austin).
So much happened it is hard to remember it all, and I cant remember the Sat Night game at all except that Oswalt pitched and we won.
They shut off beer sales in the 7th, as well as most concession stands (this move easily cost Drayton McLane $1 million as there were plenty of people with plenty of money who wanted beer in a bad way). And I am pretty sure they shut off the AC in the 8th or 9th. You could see and feel the fan's energy drain over time as it kept going and going, exasperated by the fact that Braves pitching no-hit us from the last out of the 10th to the first out of the 18th, or 7 2/3 innings. It was a double-header without the break. I kept saying it was starting to look like the Superdome. I poured the last of my secret whiskey stash in the 10th. With them not selling anymore sodas, it went down straight, except for the couple of specks of peanut shell. Yummy. I was spent mentally and emotionally. Still, each time an Astros pitcher got 2 strikes, everyone stood and cheered for the strikeout.
I moved downstairs around the 16th, leaving my friend Tommy, et al., to go sit with my other friend Randy who was sitting alone. He lifted me in the air after Burke's HR. I saw several people crying. We gave them a standing O for about 15 minutes -- I don't know if that showed on TV. The crowd was still roudy and loud with lots of group cheers as we finally exited.
If the Angels had beaten the Yankees on Sat, this game would have started at 7pm, ending around 1 am.
Randy had cold beer and hot dogs (leftovers from his son's birthday on Saturday) in the trunk of his car, which we were pretty happy to see. We stood in the parking lot, eating and drinking for 1/2 hour waiting for the traffic to die and listening to replays of Milo Hamilton on the radio.
What a game. With the Greekfest Friday, UT slapping ou and Oswalt winning on Sat, it was quite the weekend in Houston for me.
Maybe we can beat the Cards this time? Andy Pettitte thinks we have a better chance this year.
***The phrase "How bout them oranges" was one of the pet phrases of Loel Passe, an old-time Astros radio announcer who was well-loved in East Texas.***
[Note: As you may gather, John is a Houston native and huge sports fan. He is the author of Oiler Blues: The Story of Pro Football's Most Frustrating Team. In a prior life, we were both trial attorneys in the DOJ, Tax Division based in Washington, D.C. I am the recipient of this email due to my status as a St. Louis native and Cardinals fan. It's now St. Louis v. Houston in a rematch of the extremely close 2004 NLCS (which St. Louis won).]
Part 2: Astros v. Cards (NLCS)
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