Jeff Kent wasn’t one to show a lot of emotion on the baseball field, but when he crossed home plate after walloping what was, at that time, one of the biggest home runs in Astros postseason history, he didn’t hold back.
Not when he flew around the bases after launching a 381-foot three-run walk-off homer. Not when he joyfully tossed his helmet into the air as he got closer to home plate. And not when he seemed to disappear under a cluster of jubilant teammates who mobbed him as soon as he touched home.
When Kent finally pulled his head back up after the chaotic celebration, he held up his index finger and screamed a phrase that fans still remember to this day: “One more. One more.”
That homer off Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen lifted the Astros to a 3-0 win in Game 5 of the 2004 National League Championship Series. It dug them out of an 0-2 hole, after they had dropped both games in St. Louis to open the series. And it was the final act of a comeback effort that resulted in the Astros taking three straight in Houston.
While the Astros fell short of winning the NL pennant -- they lost Games 6 and 7 to the Cardinals when the series moved back to St. Louis -- Kent’s homer still stands out among the Astros’ greatest October moments. Even now, among all of the postseason success of more recent teams.
"There were pictures of me coming from third base to home plate, and I don't know if I've ever been so excited in my whole baseball career, even in the World Series [with the Giants in 2002]," Kent said in a past interview. "I guess I got ahead of myself, because I thought we were going to win and go to the World Series. We didn't, and it was humbling knowing we lost against St. Louis a few days later."
Kent will be honored this weekend, along with former Astros teammate Carlos Beltran and Braves Gold Glover Andruw Jones, as the newest members of baseball’s Hall of Fame. Kent’s career spanned 17 years and included stints with six teams, including the Giants, who he’ll represent on his cap when he’s inducted.
But through the weekend celebration, his time with the Astros will surely be remembered. That’s what one massive and perfectly executed swing will do -- even 22 years later.
The Cardinals and Astros were locked in a scoreless tie in the bottom of the ninth of Game 5 when Beltrán singled and stole second, opening up a base with Lance Berkman on deck.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa opted to walk Berkman and take his chance with Kent, eyeing a double play.
“At that point it just becomes a rhythm of not watching [Berkman] walk, but instead closing your own eyes and not listening to the crowd getting all amped up, not listening to the music, not playing into the thought that La Russa thinks you can't do it, and Berkman can,” Kent said, in a 2014 interview. “You fight back.
“Berkman walked and it was all a blur and I already had my plan. I had my plan in my own head of what I wanted to do. Just control all your emotions and all your thoughts so you can execute your plan, which was look for the first pitch that I can drive. And I got one.”
Before 2004, the Astros’ postseason fortunes fit into one of two categories: disappointment, or heartbreak. They had chances – lots of them. But until they finally broke through with their first-ever postseason series win against the Braves in the NLDS that year, playoff baseball in Houston was usually a one-week affair: it started around Oct. 1, and was over quickly.
This time was different. The Astros were still playing on Oct. 18, 2004 -- when Kent gave Astros fans the chaotic finish they craved.
“When you give people hope, that's an accomplishment,” Kent said. “And that's what I felt I did. I felt I gave the city of Houston hope they've never had before.”