HOUSTON -- Where were you when the final out of the 2022 World Series was recorded? Or how about when Jose Altuve hit his walk-off homer to eliminate the Yankees in the 2019 American League Championship Series? Perhaps you were in the stands for the final out of Mike Scott’s division-clinching no-hitter in 1986?
From the Astrodome to Daikin Park, from the National League to the American League and from the Colt .45s to the Astros, there has been no shortage of memorable moments in the franchise’s history, which began in 1962. Everyone has their favorites, but here’s my list of the Top 10 moments in Astros franchise history:
1. Final out of the 2017 World Series
In the franchise's 56th year of existence, the Astros won their first World Series title, taking down the Dodgers in seven games in the Fall Classic. George Springer -- the World Series Most Valuable Player -- belted a two-run homer in the second inning of Game 7 to give the Astros a 5-0 lead, and Charlie Morton threw the final four innings to get the win. When Corey Seager grounded out to Altuve to end the 5-1 victory, the Astros mobbed each other at Dodger Stadium while fans in Houston cheered and cried. The Astros finally had their championship.
2. Final out of the 2022 World Series
The Astros won their second World Series title in six seasons by beating the Phillies in six games, with closer Ryan Pressly getting Nick Castellanos to fly out into foul territory in right field for the clinching out in Game 6. That sparked a huge celebration in Houston, where the Astros became the first team to clinch a World Series at home since the 2013 Red Sox. In Houston's dugout, the coaching staff mobbed manager Dusty Baker, who finally got his elusive World Series ring.
3. Yordan Alvarez’s 450-foot HR in Game 6 of the 2022 World Series
Alvarez turned the 2022 World Series around when he hit a mammoth three-run homer 450 feet to straightaway center field at Minute Maid Park in the sixth inning of Game 6, putting the Astros ahead, 3-1. Houston eventually won, 4-1, to clinch the championship. The homer came on a 98.9 mph sinker from Phillies lefty José Alvarado. At the time, it was the second-longest World Series homer, per Statcast, which started tracking in 2015. Only then-Brave Freddie Freeman’s 460-footer in '21 was longer.
4. Alvarez’s 3-run walk-off HR in Game 1 of the 2022 ALDS
Down to their final out and trailing by two runs, the Astros stunned the Mariners in Game 1 of the 2022 ALDS when Alvarez hit a three-run, walk-off homer off Robbie Ray. It was the first walk-off homer in postseason history by a team that trailed by multiple runs. Houston went on to sweep the best-of-five series, igniting its run to an 11-2 postseason and a World Series championship.
5. Marwin Gonzalez’s game-tying homer in Game 2 of the 2017 World Series
Gonzalez, the switch-hitting utility player who was starting in left field, rescued the Astros in Game 2 of the World Series with a solo homer in the ninth inning off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. The homer tied the game at 3, and Houston eventually won in extra innings to even the series at one game apiece. It was only the 10th game-tying home run in the ninth inning in World Series history and the first ever hit on the road.
6. Springer’s 3-run homer in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series
After going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in a Game 1 loss to the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series, Springer erupted and was 11-for-25 (.440) over the next six games with five homers and seven RBIs en route to winning the MVP Award. He homered in four consecutive games, including a three-run homer in the second inning of Game 7 to give the Astros a 5-0 lead at Dodger Stadium. Houston won the game, 5-1, to beat the Dodgers behind Springer’s 1.471 OPS in the Series.
7. Altuve’s walk-off HR in the 2019 ALCS
After Yankees first baseman DJ LeMahieu hit a stunning two-run homer in the ninth inning to tie Game 6 of the ALCS, Altuve crushed an Aroldis Chapman slider for a towering walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-4 pennant-clinching win. It was the third time in five years the Astros had eliminated the Yankees from the playoffs.
8. Chris Burke’s walk-off HR to clinch the 2005 NLDS
The Astros rallied from a five-run deficit in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS on a grand slam by Lance Berkman in the eighth inning and a game-tying homer by Brad Ausmus in the ninth, but it was Burke’s solo shot to left field in the 18th inning that clinched the series. Burke entered as a pinch-runner for Berkman in the 10th inning. Eight innings later, he sent a line drive off Joey Devine into the front row of the Crawford Boxes to spark a massive celebration and send Houston to its second consecutive NLCS.
9. Craig Biggio gets his 3,000th hit
In the final season of his Hall of Fame career, Biggio cemented his legacy when he became the 27th player to reach 3,000 hits with a seventh-inning single off Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook on June 28, 2007, at Minute Maid Park. Biggio was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double, but that didn’t diminish the celebration or the accomplishment. He finished the game with five hits for only the second time in his career.
10. Final out of Mike Scott’s no-hitter in 1986 that clinched the NL West
Scott wrapped up the 1986 NL Cy Young Award by becoming the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in a clinching situation, which came on Sept. 25, 1986, in the Astrodome. Scott plunked Dan Gladden with the first pitch but proceeded to become the first pitcher in baseball history to throw a no-hitter in a clinching situation, beating the Giants, 2-0. Scott leapt into the air when he got rookie Will Clark to ground out to first baseman Glenn Davis and give the Astros the NL West crown.