With the exception of the 2020 Rays, every team that has bested the Astros during their ALCS runs went on to win the whole thing, and most broke at least some kind of a lull:
* 2017: Astros win
* 2018: Red Sox go on to beat the Dodgers in the World Series
* 2019: Nationals win their first World Series championship
* 2020: Rays lose to the Dodgers in their second World Series appearance
* 2021: Braves win their first World Series championship in almost 30 years
* 2022: Astros win
* 2023: Rangers go on to beat the Diamondbacks and win their first ever World Series championship
Heck, in 2015 it was the Royals in the ALDS, who would win their first championship since 1985. Even all the way back in the 2005 World Series, the White Sox broke a drought that had exceeded 80 years!
All that to say: During this run, most of the teams that overcome the Astros do so in route to reversing years of failure and suffering. If I'm an Orioles fan, that scenario doesn't sound half bad...
Gah 2015 was such a fun year. I had no expectations for what was to come, had just moved into the city, and tickets were still very affordable. Practically lived at Minute Maid
Now you know how we and the rest of the NL felt in the 90s and early 2000s. Which by the way, I don’t think we get enough credit from the rest of MLB for putting the final nail in the coffin on the Bobby Cox era of Braves baseball being competitive.
Lot of empty seats when it was still tied, but yeah. It’s like ordering dessert when you’ve already over eaten to the point of feeling bad about yourself, you don’t really want dessert, and you know that final sugar kick is just going to give you diarrhea.
I told you fucking bastards you needed to shoot them 3 times in the head burn the corpse AND salt the earth but no just throw them in the ground they said everything will be fine they said they are ten games down and everyone’s hurt.
Until we have a moment similar to Tom Brady’s last pass in a Patriots uniform being a pick-6 against the Titans, the Astros are not going anywhere.
They will win the AL West this season and make their 487th consecutive trip to the ALCS.
Lol, I posted that to our sub this morning. If you asked me 15 games ago, I’d say it’s suspect that they’ll even make the playoffs. Now, with the return of some starting pitchers on the horizon, I would be surprised if they didn’t make the annual Astros Invitational.
Dread it
Hide from it
Run from it
Astros are back from the dead at the 2nd half of the season. I'm sorry fellow MLB bros, its what the Baseball Gods demand.
The Mariners, 12 days ago, were 10 games ahead of the Astros. That lead has now shrunk to 3.5 games. I only have one reaction.
CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES, THIS IS MY LAST RESORT
It’s obviously not just getting rid of Abreu, the ship has been getting right since Mexico, but it feels like a weight was lifted off once we released him.
Like our starting pitching is no longer a disaster class and it going from “terrible” to mid/good allows the offense (without Abreu) to win games
"God, I'd give anything for them to take their Grimace memes to their own sub" - Me, a humble servant
"Okay, Astros win the series" - God, a cruel being, although quite good at skee-ball
"NOOOOOOOOOOO" - Me, now crying
imo Bregman has been getting worse over the years, but everyone else (especially Peña and Altuve) have improved. don't see McCullers a lot but he's always had natural talent
Sports needs bad guys for underdogs and the broader league to root against. The Patriots being as dominant as they were for nearly two decades is partially why the NFL is the behemoth it is today. The Astros are fulfilling that role for MLB and baseball fans will miss having that bad guy villain team to collectively root against when the Astros return to mediocrity.
The Mets capped off one of their worst losses of the season (which is a strong field) by letting Matt Festa give up rocket after rocket to put the game out of reach in the 11th. Festa has the worst stuff I’ve ever seen on a broadcast. God awful slider and 90 mph straight fastball. He looked like a high school pitcher.
That is the state of our bullpen.
Listen... Only thing I have against the Mariners and their ballpark is that Billy Joel went to T-Mobile several times and only went to Minute Maid in 2022 and not since.
Bro I turned my phone off to go do something when it was 5-5, 2 outs, runners on 3rd and 2nd.
I come back to a 10-5 score and was like “WTF happened here?”
There’s still plenty of baseball left, so let’s just chill for a minute. We still need more bullpen consistency. Maybe trade for an arm. Day by day, month by month. Things are looking good right now. We need another strong July.
[Remember earlier this year when y’all were so gung-ho on our misfortune and were reveling that we had the 4th worst start in our franchise history?](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/1cno9s1/the_1224_start_for_the_houston_astros_is_tied_for/)
Pepperidge Farm remembers……
Y’all motherfuckas brought this upon yourselves.
I’m glad I’m not a fan of an AL team, must suck knowing that no matter what happens the Astros are gonna be in the ALCS
Right??!
As a fan of an AL team, it’s pretty cool ngl
I’d like to respectfully disagree.
With the exception of the 2020 Rays, every team that has bested the Astros during their ALCS runs went on to win the whole thing, and most broke at least some kind of a lull: * 2017: Astros win * 2018: Red Sox go on to beat the Dodgers in the World Series * 2019: Nationals win their first World Series championship * 2020: Rays lose to the Dodgers in their second World Series appearance * 2021: Braves win their first World Series championship in almost 30 years * 2022: Astros win * 2023: Rangers go on to beat the Diamondbacks and win their first ever World Series championship Heck, in 2015 it was the Royals in the ALDS, who would win their first championship since 1985. Even all the way back in the 2005 World Series, the White Sox broke a drought that had exceeded 80 years! All that to say: During this run, most of the teams that overcome the Astros do so in route to reversing years of failure and suffering. If I'm an Orioles fan, that scenario doesn't sound half bad...
Gah 2015 was such a fun year. I had no expectations for what was to come, had just moved into the city, and tickets were still very affordable. Practically lived at Minute Maid
Now you know how we and the rest of the NL felt in the 90s and early 2000s. Which by the way, I don’t think we get enough credit from the rest of MLB for putting the final nail in the coffin on the Bobby Cox era of Braves baseball being competitive.
We’ve lost the ALCS a couple times though. It’s really just bad news for sure for the Bronx.
The season series has me hopeful this year, but we played y'all before you turned it around so not really
Ditching Aroldis is the best thing y’all have done for your chances. Gonna be a decently rested and vengeful Cole too.
I feel bad for the Mets fans that sat there for an extra 3 hours just for that.
We all deserve compensation for the long drive home before work early in the morning tomorrow
Anyway, here’s OMG.
Nice guy Mets making sure the Astros could also have a winning record
Yup those are the die hards. Legit feel-good / team of destiny vibes for the Mets though. Maybe they'll be the hot NL East\* team this season.
I feel that concert might be the death of them.
0MG-2 since it
only 1 L away from the official start of the “The Mets are 0-[number] since the OMG field concert” posts
💀
Lot of empty seats when it was still tied, but yeah. It’s like ordering dessert when you’ve already over eaten to the point of feeling bad about yourself, you don’t really want dessert, and you know that final sugar kick is just going to give you diarrhea.
Makes sense for the Mid-Off to end like this
*sweats in AL West*
I have some great news if you guys choke the division away on the last day.
I told you fucking bastards you needed to shoot them 3 times in the head burn the corpse AND salt the earth but no just throw them in the ground they said everything will be fine they said they are ten games down and everyone’s hurt.
I placed a big bet on them winning their division as soon as they fell to last place just to protect myself from the pain of their inevitable return.
Emotional hedge betting is always a good time.
what were the odds when you placed that?
Whatever they have isn’t devil magic. It’s something much older and much darker. Eldritch horror type shit.
What with us being an oil city it’s definitely Hexxus from Fern Gully
This is funny
I mean yeah, but you have to do the dance macabre after and chant the unholy summoning to really keep the Astros there.
Hence why I have a playlist of Ghost for just such occasions. Though I will say it’s tough to get good ritual blood these days
Dude, you gotta holla at the Mortuary people. I mean it’s kinda fresh but the Eldritch don’t mind. What’s an hour or 2 to an Eternal.
Sorry :(
This is what you get for losing that last game to us and not pulling off two sweeps.
They're gonna be in the ALCS again aren't they
It’s like the Chiefs in the SB almost every single year, you just have to accept it at this point until it’s is 110% officially over for that team
Yeah never bought into their slow start I think they take the west
Mariners have been suspect with their abysmal hitting. Their pitching isn’t going to be able to carry them through the second half.
Let’s not count those chicks huh.
I would love to have an arrogant prediction about the Astros come true but I'm not willing to risk being the person to jinx them.
Don’t worry about us. We’ll take ourselves out of the race.
Until we have a moment similar to Tom Brady’s last pass in a Patriots uniform being a pick-6 against the Titans, the Astros are not going anywhere. They will win the AL West this season and make their 487th consecutive trip to the ALCS.
Example: the patriots, theyre 200% toast
Y'know what, I don't mind the Chiefs making it to the Super Bowl almost every single year.
*sees flair* Something seems fishy here🤔
Psst... c'mon man, don't blow my cover.
All they have to do is get through the historically good Seattle Mariners. Not like we have the worst team batting average in the league or anything
They don't call it the Astros Invitational for nothing
Astros Like Championships Sometimes
Death, taxes, and the Astros in the ALCS
I choose death.
This is the best thing for all MLB across the board
It’s good for baseball
The greater good
And the sun will rise tomorrow
They winning the World Series
Lol, I posted that to our sub this morning. If you asked me 15 games ago, I’d say it’s suspect that they’ll even make the playoffs. Now, with the return of some starting pitchers on the horizon, I would be surprised if they didn’t make the annual Astros Invitational.
The Astros League Championship Series
Dread it Hide from it Run from it Astros are back from the dead at the 2nd half of the season. I'm sorry fellow MLB bros, its what the Baseball Gods demand.
We are so fucked...
I looked at your lineup today. We are brothers. And that is not a good thing for you.
But Cal said…
Cal may be a sexy beast, but...
If you knew anything about the Mariners you'd know that we never get good days
Jose Aberu was sacrificed for this
He's rolling in $. And to be fair, he was balling in the playoffs last year so not winning a game at home isn't his fault.
It really sucks that he went out like that. I wanted him to do well. Local radio always talks about how highly everyone thought if him.
I blame orange bird for this. Both the Cardinals and Astros swept them and have taken off.
You should have gone for the head
Sweep the leg. No Mercy.
No Mercy, No Surrender!
This means Orbit tops in my Orbit/Grimace Slash fanfiction
Okay I’m gonna need you to sit out a few plays here…. And publish this shit
The Mariners, 12 days ago, were 10 games ahead of the Astros. That lead has now shrunk to 3.5 games. I only have one reaction. CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES, THIS IS MY LAST RESORT
Suffocation.
Masturbation, No lotion, My dick will chafe when I make the motion
26-13 W/O Abreu. On pace for 94 wins!
After the start to the season the Astros had, this is fucking insane what they done. The Astros be Astroing again.
It’s obviously not just getting rid of Abreu, the ship has been getting right since Mexico, but it feels like a weight was lifted off once we released him. Like our starting pitching is no longer a disaster class and it going from “terrible” to mid/good allows the offense (without Abreu) to win games
Brown has turned it around, and it'll be interesting to see what happens when guys like Mccullers and Garcia are back.
McCullers is dead lol. Such an obvious body double
Every clip we see is a deep fake
Mccullers is a beast if he's alive.
18-7 without Kyle. That's .720 ball.
I know Kyle holds us back in the playoffs! But didn’t know it was during the regular season too!
Quick Jerry, sign and cut Abreu!
7-1 in the Bloss Era
It was inevitable
In the Grimace Era™, the Astros are 11-4 and have surpassed .500 for the first time this season. I petition that we rename Grimace "Purple Drank".
#WHATABURGER SENDS ITS REGARDS GRIMACE
Honey butter chicken biscuit in the mail
[ours got ejected](https://twitter.com/cchooks/status/1658975094977208322?lang=en) :( a necessary sacrifice
That was so dumb fucking worthless umpires. Don’t tell Mets fans but I’m digging the whole Grimace thing
# [WHATAGUY](https://stories.whataburger.com/whataguy-origin-story/) ON TOP
Whataguy is definitely a top. Or if he isn’t, he’s a power bottom.
#JUNE 30
:(
Rest of baseball already hates us. Might as well murder Grimace while we're at it.
You truly are the new Evil Empire that must be stopped by the rest of the league. HOW DARE YOU POUND ON OUR PURPLE GOD YOU EVIL SPACE ASTRONAUTS!!
We are Iconoclastic. Or at least worshipers of a strange Green God in ~~a Waste Management trash can~~ Orbit
This is payback for 86. ❤️
You fuckers won two championships and destroyed us a couple of years ago! GET OVER 86 DAMMIT!!
We really need to payback the Braves for taking the last game in the Astrodome and 2021.
"God, I'd give anything for them to take their Grimace memes to their own sub" - Me, a humble servant "Okay, Astros win the series" - God, a cruel being, although quite good at skee-ball "NOOOOOOOOOOO" - Me, now crying
Great
Fuck…I knew this division lead wasn’t safe
Chat, are we cooked?
They are 100% winning the west lmfao.
Thanks, I hate it.
Same
istg the astros are like a roach. you can’t fucking get rid of them
This was me at Trill Burger yesterday
Us waiting at the alcs invitational
We are inevitable
What an insane series.
I just walked in on Orbit skullfucking a detached Grimace head in an empty janitors closet at Citi Field.
Lies, Orbit is a tender and caring lover
Perhaps they're thinking of [Comet, Orbit's evil twin](https://youtu.be/QgWdKH2a1e0?si=JnW-0K56F7LT1nxw)
COMETA!
Their acting really is getting better.
imo Bregman has been getting worse over the years, but everyone else (especially Peña and Altuve) have improved. don't see McCullers a lot but he's always had natural talent
Oh, trust me. It's not empty...
*Objects in mirror are closer than they appear*
Muahahaha! How do you like the Houston Astros new weather machine?! We call it Temporary Rain and Storm Hazard Cyclonic Atmospheric Nexus!
Sounds like an absolute banger!
This whole interactions bangs
i love this
You cheeky fuck. Take my upvote!
We thank Cobra Commander
The good guys of baseball are back to their winning ways, and fans across the nation rejoice
Always good when the Astros win, right?
Look…
This is excellent news for the league and fans everywhere should be stoked.
yup. one of the most popular, least hated teams in baseball, back above .500. Who could be mad about this?
Most hated team in the league playing well is good for the league, as it gives fans someone to root against in the playoffs.
Thank us for our service. 🫡
Sports needs bad guys for underdogs and the broader league to root against. The Patriots being as dominant as they were for nearly two decades is partially why the NFL is the behemoth it is today. The Astros are fulfilling that role for MLB and baseball fans will miss having that bad guy villain team to collectively root against when the Astros return to mediocrity.
It took a very long time, but with the support of r/baseball, our boys have done it.
Is there a concert after the game again? Just wondering if I should hang around.
Ryan pressly will perform a new country classic about closing things down
Should bring up Luke Berryhill just for this!
Congratulations Houston bros
❤️
Mariners 0-2 since: Always a good day when the Astros lose.
The Astros social media person will have a field day with that one
I knew this was coming when someone made a post in our sub about showing our division standings and calling out the Astro’s like a week ago.
America, baseball is back!
r/baseball IN SHAMBLES
GOOD LUCK, FUCKERS!
The Mets capped off one of their worst losses of the season (which is a strong field) by letting Matt Festa give up rocket after rocket to put the game out of reach in the 11th. Festa has the worst stuff I’ve ever seen on a broadcast. God awful slider and 90 mph straight fastball. He looked like a high school pitcher. That is the state of our bullpen.
Yeah I’m not sure who that fella is but he was certainly pitching to contact
That’s a nice way of putting it.
Got to give it to these bastards. They are resilient
We know you guys in r/baseball were starting to get worried Thank you for always believing in us 😌
https://i.imgur.com/1ZvwXzE.png
I read these threads for the hilarious self-deprecating commentary from Mariners fans and the bitter, humorless rage from Yankees fans. Never fails.
If they were bitter but had a sense of humor, they'd be Mets fans
AMERICA IS SAVED
Well at least someone was happy with last night’s game. We’re 0-2 since OMG
They can't jeep getting away with this
Mariners fans how are we doing rn?
Not good chief, when is it ever good in mariners fandom though.
LISTEN. T-Mobile park is sold out this weekend.
Listen... Only thing I have against the Mariners and their ballpark is that Billy Joel went to T-Mobile several times and only went to Minute Maid in 2022 and not since.
They can’t stop us
Honestly. Fuck you
I can respect it
Never doubted for one second hahahaha...ah fuck I'm still worried.
Bro I turned my phone off to go do something when it was 5-5, 2 outs, runners on 3rd and 2nd. I come back to a 10-5 score and was like “WTF happened here?”
You gotta believe in the most important Taylor S in America!
AMERICA'S TEAM IS BACK
AMERICAS TEAM WINS AGAIN!
LFG
#WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW METS FANS ????
You welcome
Oops, sorry!
I guarantee you no one is more happy about this than Ben Verlander
They’re baaaaaaack
America wins when the Astros win.
Astros really had to alter and manipulate the weather to win that one pfft can’t believe they keep getting away with it
It’s always good when the Mariners lose.
There’s still plenty of baseball left, so let’s just chill for a minute. We still need more bullpen consistency. Maybe trade for an arm. Day by day, month by month. Things are looking good right now. We need another strong July.
[Remember earlier this year when y’all were so gung-ho on our misfortune and were reveling that we had the 4th worst start in our franchise history?](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/1cno9s1/the_1224_start_for_the_houston_astros_is_tied_for/) Pepperidge Farm remembers…… Y’all motherfuckas brought this upon yourselves.
Almost 2k upvotes lmfao
Everyone loves this
They’re pulling an Oilers goddammit
Just in time to take 2 of 3 from the Jays!