The Pecan Park Eagle

10/09/2005: Astro mates pull Chris Burke to earth so he can score after he rounds 3rd following his iconic 18th inning HR to carry his club to a 7-6 final win over Atlanta in the 2005 NLDS.

Good friend and affable curmudgeon Bob Hulsey of Astros Daily just could not let t e after I wrote that column the other day on the six worst days in Houston sports history. Bob has written to suggest that these following moments were correspondingly also the yang to my ying as the seven best days in Houston sports history – and, we shall presume, in order of their appearance as he has listed them. So. here they are, with the addition of my own interspersed commentary along the way:

Bob Hulsey’s 7 Best Days in Houston Sports History.

(1) June 22, 1994: First NBA Crown / Houston, TX / The Houston Rockets defeat the New York Knicks in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, 90-84, th capture the city’s first major sports title. (Those earlier  AFL titles by the Houston Oilers and old Houston Aeros minor league hockey crowns apparently did not count for diddily by Hulsey’s yardstick.)

(2) October 19, 2005: First National League Pennant / St. Louis, MO / Winning 5-1 behind ace Roy Oswalt, the Houston Astros defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Six of the NLCS to take their first NL pennant and advance to the World Series against the Chicago White Sox. In the process, Oswalt signs up for history as the last winning pitcher in the last two games ever played at old Busch II Stadium in St. Louis. Oswalt also had been the winner in Game Two of the Series. That one was played on October 13th and also went to Houston by a 4-1 score. For all you trivia fans, please note: Jason Lane of the Astros left two marks in Game Six: (a) Jason Lane  hit the last home run in Busch II history, and (b) Lane also recorded the last putout in Busch II when his capture of a fly ball in right field in the ninth ended the game.

(3) December 29, 1979: Oilers Win Playoff Road Game in Spite of Major Injuries / San Diego, CA / Despite injuries that take out starting OB Dan Pastorini, superman RB Earl Campbell, and stellar wide receiver Kenny Burrough, the Houston Oilers defeat the San Diego Chargers on their home turf by 17-14 to advance to the heartbreaking Renfro-incident AFC final game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, Later, Oilers defensive coordinator Ed Biles admits that the Houston staff had stolen the Chargers’ signals and that the Oilers knew what was coming on every play. That information may have helped seal a win that otherwise seemed improbable at the first half kick off.

(4) September 25, 1986: Mike Scott’s No-Hitter Clinches NLW Title on Last Day / Houston, TX / As San Francisco hitter Will Clark rolled out to Astros first baseman Glenn Davis to end the game and seal Mike Scott’s 2-0 no-hit win and the club’s division title clincher, the Houston ace did a sideways-stepping dance and bunny hop run to first with both hands reaching high for the fountains of joy. It may have been the greatest moment of elation in Astros history, had it not been for the Chris Burke homer that came down the road 19 years later. Any way you slice it, it was a fine, fine, fine day to be resident of Astros Nation.

(5) September 08, 2002: Texans Defeat Cowboys in Their First Official NFL Game / Houston, TX / The Houston Texans defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 19-10, in their first regular season game ever played at Reliant Stadium – or anyplace else. A young rookie QB named David Carr threw for 145 yards against the bad guys from North Texas and all seemed bright for a great future of early success for the newest club in the NFL. It’s a good thing that joy in the moment never has to answer to the hands of the clock.

(6) October 09, 2005: Burke’s Homer in 18th Defeats Braves, Advances Astros to NLCS Versus Cardinals / Houston, TX / Argue the joy meter comparison to Scott’s no-hitter all you want. My only reason for preferring Burke’s feat was that no one saw it coming. We were all pulling for Scott do what he finally did – but Burke just did it – blasting all of us out of the mind-numbing nine extra innings that had stunned us all on the heels of Houston’s dramatic late innings rally to send the game into the baseball netherworld. The relief of all that tension on the sudden win side was exhilarating to the nth degree.

(7) January 20, 1968: UH Stuns UCLA in Game of Century – Changes Face of College Basketball / Houston, TX / The UH Cougars (14-0) and Elvin Hayes defeated UCLA (13-0) and Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) before 52,693 people (including TPPE)  by a score of 71-69 to also end the Bruins’ 47-game winning streak and vault the Cougars to the number one ranking in the nation. It was the first nationally televised regular season collegiate basketball game – and it would change the face of how the game was carried on the way to its creation of March Madness. It was also the largest crowd ever assembled to that date to watch a basketball game. So glad I was there. And so happy that the wise Mr. Hulsey had the common sense to include at least one Cougar moment in the general history of the city’s greatest moments. Left to my own devices, I would have included UH’s 1967 football romp over Michigan State at East Lansing by a score of 37-7 on my personal list.

Hulsey adds that “you could also include the 1980 one-game playoff over the Dodgers or Craig Biggio’s 3,000th hit (game).” I agree. Both of those days were happy moments – as were both of Craig Biggio’s state championship moments at St. Thomas High School during his first two years as head coach of my old school, the Eagles.

Wonder how long it’s going to take for the Astros to bring Biggio back as their field manager on the big league level? Now there’s some potential for another great day in Houston sports history.

For now, I say, “Thank you, Bob Hulsey, for helping us to inventory our reasons for Houston sports gratitude during these tough times for our Houston Astros.