All you people that say when people talk about the 86 Astros can tune in to see one of the greatest playoff games in baseball history
Houston pitcher Mike Scott overwhelmed the Mets in Games One and Four, and would have faced them a third time in Game Seven if the Astros had won Game Six. They tried, scoring three runs in the first as Bob Knepper shut out the Mets on two hits through eight innings. But in the top of the ninth New York tied the game and held on into extra innings. No one scored again until the Mets put a run across in the fourteenth. Astro Billy Hatcher tied it up again later in the fourteenth with a home run just inside the left field foul pole. Two innings later the Mets (aided by a pair of wild pitches) scored three runs. Again the Astros came back, scoring twice, but fell just short as Jesse Orosco struck out Kevin Bass with two men on base to win his third game of the series and give New York the pennant.
I watched every inning, every pitch of that game. I really honestly don't know if I could stand to watch it again.
It was hard to watch it the first time. It's been on a couple of other times and I avoided it. I will watch this time around. One replay I will never ever watch is the Oilers choking to the Bills. That one still hurts.
my 7th-grade football team and coaches were all standing around in our gym watching the game between school and practice that day. eventually, they tore us away from the sets and made us go practice. but nobody, coaches included, could stand not to be watching the game, so we had a very abbreviated workout. I got home in time to watch Hatcher's home run and the rest of the debacle.
i already loved the 'stros before this game...but this game had me so hooked, it's silly. amazing how a tough loss can do that just as well as a championship drive. i watched this game again a few weeks back...just amazing. the hatcher homerun i think remains my personal most memorable baseball moment.
Quite possibly the most painful moment of my sports fan life. We were actually watching it in my 5th grade classes (IIRC it was like a 2 PM start time) and had to catch my ride home right about the 4th inning. That ninth inning was painful to watch although in my then youthful eyes Knepper and Dave Smith got squeezed in the ninth inning. Then Billy's homer where it looked like the Dome was shaking the fans were so loud. Finally, the end of the game, the crackhead Mets celebrating on our field and our rainbow gut hometown boys sitting in the dugout staring at the floor. So depressing. I still have the front page and sports sections of the Chronicle for the day after. It's just as painful now to remember.
Gee, thanks keely... Up next on ESPN Classic, the 1983 NCAA men's basketball championship game followed by 1993 Oilers/Bills wildcard game with game 7 of the 1993 Rockets/Sonics Western Conference Semifinals as the nightcap. For non sports fans, you can tune to CNN for a special documentary, "Andrea Yates and Enron: Houston Launches Into the 21st Century"
