Astros’ confidence reaching sky- high levels
Houston eager to face Yanks in wild- card game
There is Houston Astros manager A. J. Hinch, ignoring the live TV cameras in the middle of the clubhouse, giving a profanityladen celebratory speech, as his players sprayed him in the face with beer and champagne.
There is outfielder Colby Rasmus, running around shirtless and feeling too exhilarated to even feel the ice- cold beverages being dumped over his head.
There is general manager Jeff Luhnow, walking around in a swimsuit and flip- flops as if he’s going to the beach and not to the postseason, admiring it all in the back of the room with team President Reid Ryan.
The Astros, who have made their clubhouse celebrations legendary after regular- season wins, saved their best for Sunday, winning an American League wildcard berth— even after losing 5- 3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks — and advancing to the postseason for the first time in 10 years.
They will be the Cinderella story of the postseason, facing the longest odds, beginning with a winner- take- all game Tuesday against the powerful New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
The Astros, with kids barely out of high school, let alone old enough to drink, are convinced they’ll beat the Yankees in that wild- card game.
“Every kid grows up dreaming of having that magical moment at Yankee Stadium,” Luhnow said. “To play a wild- card game there, it’s a script you can’t write. We have a chance to beat them. These guys are young, they’re energetic, they can’t be stopped.”
The Astros think they’re a team of destiny, the team that was the laughingstock of baseball just two years ago.
“When we started this season,” All- Star second baseman Jose Altuve said, “we closed our eyes, and as soon as we opened them, we were in first place, and we knew we’d have a big chance to be in this situation.”
Now, they have it.