DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
The Yankees and Astros have met in the postseason just once, in the 2015 AL Wild Card Game, but Houston and New York have a deep sports connection. Here are the most noteworthy:
The Yankees faced the Astros in the first game at the since shuttered Astrodome in an exhibition April 9, 1965. Mickey Mantle hit the building’s first homer in a 3-1 Yankees win. It was a highlight of a forgettable season, as the Yankees won just 77 games.
The Mets and Astros met in the 1986 NLCS, one of the most memorable playoff series in baseball history. There were two walk-off victories by the Mets, who won the series in six games, two extra-inning games including a classic Game 6 that went 16 innings, ending when Jesse Orosco struck out Kevin Bass with the winning run on base as the Mets reached their first World Series in 13 years. Earlier that year, four Mets — Ron Darling, Tim Teufel, Bob Ojeda and Rick Aguilera — were arrested after an altercation with two Houston police officers at a bar and spent 11 hours behind bars.
It was Patrick Ewing’s best chance to win that elusive NBA title, seven games against Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets in the 1994 NBA Finals. With Michael Jordan temporarily retired from basketball, the Knicks reached their first finals in 21 years, and held a 3-2 series lead headed back to Houston. Their best chance to close out the series came in Game 6, but trailing by two in the final seconds, a John Starks 3-pointer was partially blocked by Olajuwon. Starks infamously shot just 2-of-18 in Game 7, as Ewing and the Knicks fell painfully short.
Yogi Berra, one of the all-time great Yankees, spent five years coaching with the Astros, from 1984-89, wearing those awkward-looking rainbow pullover uniforms.
Mike D’Antoni and Jeff Van Gundy have coached both the Knicks and Rockets, each going from New York to Houston. Van Gundy had more success with the Knicks, reaching the 1999 Finals and 2000 Eastern Conference finals, while he never got out of the first round in four years in Houston. D’Antoni is in his second season with the Rockets after coaching for parts of four years with the Knicks, and making the playoffs just once.