The most satisfying regular season win in Astros history
Despite the roar of a mob of 50,000 hateful fans, booing, jeering, and yelling “cheater, cheater,” for something he didn’t do eight years ago, Jose Altuve reminded Dodgers fans of the real reason they hate him. No, not cheating. More like that extra-inning, game-winning homer in Dodger Stadium in Game 2 of the World Series, that’s why they hate him.
It feels so righteous to call him a cheater, but Jose doesn’t care. Amidst the angry jeers that sounded like another LA earthquake, in the third inning, Jose silenced the noisy crowd with a bomb to deep left-center, bringing back traumatic memories of Altuve homers past against the Dodgers in prime time.
And then he did it again in the sixth.
But he wasn’t alone. The Astros launched five homers, including one grand slam, en route to an 18-1 humiliation of the Dodgers. They had 20 hits, 10 for extra bases. It was the worst loss at home in LA Dodger history. And it may be the most satisfying regular-season victory in Astros history. Satisfying for the magnitude of the win, when it happened, where it happened, and especially against whom it happened. It will forever be remembered in Houston as the July 4th Massacre.
Of course, Dodgers fans couldn’t just tip their hat and accept their beatdown to a team that doesn’t have three prime MVP players on the roster, the greatest of whom isn’t even counted against the salary cap.
These same fans who think it was heroic when one of their pitching goons tried to decapitate Astros hitters in 2020.
Oh no. They doubled down on stupid. Here’s a sample of fan reaction in LA.
Orel Hersheiser, on Dodger TV, even made a similar insinuation.
It was a beatdown heard around the World. Here’s a headline from the London, England, Daily Mail:
Let’s enjoy the moment, because they seldom last in baseball. Tonight, the two teams face off again, and you know the Dodgers want vengeance. It’s a classic face-off on the mound: Shohei Ohtani, the $700 million deferred pay modern-day-Babe Ruth, against red-hot Astros ace, Framber Valdez. Expect only two or three innings from Ohtani.
For old-timers, baseball purists, and historians, I offer here another candidate for the most satisfying Astros regular-season victory.
Mike Scott’s NL West pennant-clinching no-hitter in 1986.
See you on the thread.