HOUSTON—Two months after Hurricane Harvey ravaged Southeast Texas with more than 50 inches of rain and widespread flooding, the Houston Astros hope to uplift spirits by winning their first World Series crown.
The Astros seized a 3-2 lead in Major League Baseball’s best-of-seven final with a dramatic 13-12 home triumph in 10 innings Sunday.
The showdown shifts back to Los Angeles for game six on Tuesday.
It was just two months ago that the storm struck while the Astros were on a road trip and the team was forced to move a home series to Florida while Houston residents struggled, many of them seeing their homes destroyed.
“When there’s so much devastation and in particular in Houston… it makes it feel like your home had been devastated and that’s what we had talked about playing for after everything,” Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel said.
“It was just so weird for that three-game road trip to where we had no idea what was going on back home. And at that point when we couldn’t come back home to help out in any way possible.
“That’s when we said, ‘Hey, we’re going to finish this season for all of Houston and everybody who has been affected.’”
That’s why the Astros wear a patch on their jerseys now with the team logo as part of a “Houston Strong” message that became a rallying cry for the city’s rebuilding efforts.
“We represent the city. We wear this patch for a reason. We’re proud to be Houstonians,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “To see the city respond to the team and us respond to this city’s needs is something that I’m most proud of.”
Rewarding fan devotion with the team’s first World Series title in its 55-year history is the goal.
“I think that’s the key for the city,” Hinch said. “I can really appreciate what this city has gone through, what our team has gone through, but we’re going to be able to keep it in proper perspective.”
Supporters, however, might not, as much as they have come to adore the Astros on their deepest playoff run.
“There’s great enthusiasm around our fan base with this team,” Hinch said. “They’ve fallen in love.”
Astros pitcher Chris Devenski said the entire team has been touched by the suffering the storm brought to area residents.
“It’s no secret this city has endured a lot,” Devenski said. “Us being on the road at the time when all that tragedy went on, it touched me and everyone in the clubhouse in different ways.
“We helped the way we could with the resources we had. It made us feel pretty special. And then to do this for them is going to be even more special.”
– ‘People lost everything’ –
Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jnr was among those who watched the team come together by supporting recovery efforts.
“We wanted to help the city of Houston as much as we could,” McCullers said. “We just wanted to show the city how much we love them and care about them.”
Photos and memories of those times linger, images in lockers a lasting reminder of some who lost everything and the greater impact an Astros title could have.
“It kind of became something that we rallied around,” McCullers said. “We still have pictures hanging in our lockers. It’s still something we think about because people here are hard-working people and they went through something that a lot of people can’t understand. A lot of people lost everything.
“So for us to be able to just play baseball for a couple of hours and for those people to be able to have a little bit of joy, to get away from what they are having to go through — it’s pretty special to be able to give that to them.”