Astros, Dodgers set to face off in World Series

This is one hot World Series — the Houston Astros, fresh off a Game 7 victory over the Yankees, taking on the narrowly favored Los Angeles Dodgers, well rested after a postseason romp.

HOUSTON » Just four years ago, the Houston Astros weren’t just bad, they were embarrassing — so embarrassing that many dubbed them the “Lastros.”

Now Houston is heading to its second World Series in franchise history after beating the Yankees in the AL Championship Series, and its time as the league’s laughingstock seems like a distant memory.

“You always picture yourself in the World Series, but to be here after my debut in 2012 with the team that we had, with the players that we had, I never thought we would be here,” left-hander Dallas Keuchel said.

Keuchel is one of just four Astros who remain from a 2013 team that hit rock bottom by losing a franchiserecord

111 games in its first year in the AL. Houston became the first team since Kansas City from 2004-06 to lose 100 games in three straight seasons. Those bumbling Astros, who had the league’s lowest payroll as the franchise shed its veterans to rebuild, often played in front of fewer than 10,000 fans and routinely faced boos from the few people who did show up. All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve, super-utility man Marwin Gonzalez and right-hander Brad Peacock are the other holdovers from the lean times.

“When I got here, no one talked about winning,” said manager A.J. Hinch, who took over in 2015. “And that was one of the first things that Altuve told me in my office, that he wanted to win. And that represented what the next step was for this organization. And obviously in 2015 we got to taste it a little bit, 2016 we had some disappointment, 2017 we’re going to the World Series.”

An example of just how terrible that 2013 team was came on the night they dropped their 100th game. The 10-0 defeat by the Cincinnati Reds featured numerous lowlights from the “Lastros.” The first came when starter Jordan Lyles badly overthrew first base for a two-base error. In the bottom of the first inning, Jonathan Villar singled, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Simply being thrown out for a baserunning error was pretty routine on this terrible team, but the way Villar was thrown out was so humiliating that it went viral and even made it on NBC’s “Today” show the next morning.

Villar slid into second base, but Brandon Phillips already had the ball before he began the slide. The always flamboyant Phillips reached backward between his legs to apply the tag as Villar crashed headfirst into Phillips’ backside, a moment many still refer to as the “butt tag.”

The Astros began to slowly improve in 2014 and ended their 100-loss streak by going 70-92 in the last season under manager Bo Porter. Houston surprised when the team went 86-76 in 2015 in the first year under Hinch to reach the postseason for the first time since 2005.