Time Travel to Favorite Astros Moment.
Please Note. We don’t think our SABR fellow, Cliff Blau, is a Houston baseball fan, but Cliff definitely stands as the archetype for those who think like him – but who ARE Houston Astros and/or Colt. 45s fans – but who ARE NOT Cliff Blau.
The reason this explanation is needed stems from the fact our website column headline, Time Travel to Favorite Astros Moment, is written to imply two facts that may not be observable to some: (1) that the single word “Astros” includes the three-year period of time (1962-64) in which our only MLB franchise to date was known as the Houston Colt .45s; and (2) that the word “Moment” includes literal moments of history to other extended periods of time or simply single games in franchise history.
My newspaper grandfather, whom my father and I were both named for, taught me many things about getting out a periodic column in newsprint that still apply in the 21st century to the digital world of blogs, And I’ve hungered for a lifetime to learn from the man who died (1913) nearly a quarter century prior to my birth (1937) through the files of work he did (1886-1913) for his own real newspaper, The Beeville (TX) Bee.
“If you have written a great headline that cannot fit into a nice-sized one-line space, figure out a way to cut it back until it, at least, rests easy on the front page as a good-enough one-liner.” ~ William O. McCurdy, Editor, The Beeville Bee, 1886-1913.
W.O. McCurdy
Publisher and Editor
The Beeville Bee
1886-1913
For this exercise, let’s use that little whirly-lights machine from the current NBC series, Timeless. On Timeless, the characters even have a wardrobe department that allows them to dress for the time period they plan to visit on planned trips. In that show, they are restricted from traveling to any time period in which they were already alive as an earlier version of themselves. Apparently, their program bosses feared that catastrophic events might occur from any of the travelers meeting up with those earlier faces of their still ongoing lives. – We are going to suspend that limitation here due to the fact it would eliminate many of the places some of you older H.G. Wells types might want to visit in the all fairly recent history of the Houston MLB franchise. All we ask in return, is that you try hard to stay away from any version of your former self – and that you promise not to try to seek out any old lost loves – and that you neither make any effort to erase all traces of anyone you actually met and mistakenly married.
Can you dig it? – If so, here are some moments to consider as destinations for your one trip back in Astros History travel time. Of course, you are free to name anything Astros that’s more important to you. Your travel itinerary is not restricted to the ideas from this list.
All we ask is that you play fair in return by posting a comment below on where you plan to go. Otherwise, this attempt at digital interactive play is a failure and The Pecan Park Eagle is totally wasting your time and ours.
Thank you. – Thank you very much.
Some Suggestions for Astros Time Travel
- First Game in Regular Season History, April 10, 1962: Houston Colt .45s defeat the Chicago Cubs, 11-2, at Colt Stadium.
- Don Nottebart Wins 1st Franchise No-Hitter, 4-1, over Phillies at Colt Stadium; May 17, 1963.
- Ken Johnson loses, 1-0, no-hitter to the Reds at Colt Stadium, April 23, 1964.
- Larry Dierker’s 1st Game as a Houston pitcher: September 22, 1964, his 18th birthday, vs. the San Francisco Giants.
- First Game in the Astrodome, April 9, 1965: Houston Astros defeat the New York Yankees, 2-1; Mantle hits first Dome HR.
- First Season Astros Game in the Astrodome; a 2-0 loss to the Phillies; April 12, 1965.
- Jimmy Wynn Hits 3 Homers in Astrodome, 6-2, win over the Braves; June 15, 1967.
- Don WiIson wins 1st Astrodome No-Hitter by 2-0 over Braves; June 18, 1967.
- Astros Win 24 inning marathon with Mets in Dome by 1-0; April 15, 1968.
- Larry Dierker Gets 6-0 no-hit win over the Expos at the Astrodome; July 9, 1976.
- Ken Forsch No-Hits Braves at the Astrodome by 6-0; April 7, 1979.
- J.R. Richard Fans 15 Reds in 13 innings; 3-2 win in 13 innings keeps playoff hopes alive; September 21, 1979.
- Astros Lose, 5-3, in 10 innings to Phillies in Astrodome; October 11, 1980: miss 1st shot at 1st World Series.
- Astros Lose, 10-9, in 10 innings to Phillies in Astrodome; October 12, 1980; Miss 2nd shot at 1st World Series.
- Nolan Ryan Gets 5th No-Hitter at Dome by 5-0 over Dodgers; September 26, 1981.
- Jim Deshaies strikes out first 8 Dodgers he faces in 4-0 Dome win; September 23, 1986.
- Mike Scott No-Hits Giants, 2-0, on last day of season; September 25, 1986.
- Astros lose, 7-6, in 16th to Mets at the Dome; miss chance for NLCS Game 7 with Scott the Mets-Killer pitching; October 15, 1986.
- Darryl Kile No-Hits Mets, 7-1, at the Dome; September 8, 1993.
- Jeff Bagwell Cranks 3 HR (2 in one inning) at Dome; Astros win, 16-4; June 24, 1994.
- Astros in Biggest Comeback Win Ever (from 11-runs down); Beat Cardinals, 15-12; July 18, 1994.
- Astros win 1st Game at Enron Field by 6-5 over the Yankees; March 30, 2000.
- Astros Defeat Braves in NLDS at Minute Maid Park by 7-6 in 18 innings; October 9, 2005.
- The Pujols Game: Monster HR beats Astros, 5-4, at MMP; forces NLCS Game 6 in St. Louis; October 17, 2005.
- Astros win 1st NL pennant, 5-1 over Cards in SL behind Oswalt; October 19, 2005.
- Astros Swept, 4-0, in World Series by White Sox; October 22-26, 2005.
- Craig Biggio gets 3,000th MLB hit at MMP; June 28, 2007.
- Game 4, 2015 ALDS: Astros Blow Great Shot at the ALCS with 6 outs to go; must see again to believe; October 12, 2015.
- PLEASE DISREGARD THE # 29. This wonderful self-numbering program would neither allow me to stop at “28” nor to simply erase # “29” without erasing all of the other numbering that preceded it. Go figure.
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Just punch your own time-travel clock please and then post a copy of your time-warp wormhole exodus plan.
____________________
Publisher, Editor, Writer
The Pecan Park Eagle
Houston, Texas
The Pecan Park Eagle 
February 28, 2017 at 10:30 pm |
Selecting option No.4, I would board the Way Back Machine with Sherman and Mr. Peabody and return to April 9, 1965.
After the game while wandering the bowels of the stadium, I found the locker room of the New York Yankees and saw Mickey Mantle’s locker and his cap sitting on the shelf. I was tempted to take the cap, but went back down the stairs to find my friends. At the bottom of the stairs, I saw Joe Garagiola looking for the Yankee dressing room. I called out to him and asked if he was trying to find the entrance. He said, “Yes,” but when we reached the top of the stairs, an attendant was standing there and welcomed Garagiola and asked if I was with him. When Garagiola said he didn’t know me, I was thrown out.
On my return trip in the Way Back Machine, I would “steal” the cap.
March 1, 2017 at 1:09 am |
Tom – What a great time warp adventure! For a while there, I thought, maybe, you also were going to find the now famously lost Tom Brady’s Jersey – lodged in some tiny place in the caverns of the next door Astrodome in the same place the escaping thief may have stopped in to hide it a month ago – after running into the dark night in hasty flight from the now standing NRG Stadium next door after the 2017 Super Bowl. – What it may have been doing in the Astrodome over a half century ago – after arriving there only 30 days ago is – well – simply another of those compelling time and space curiosities that cries out for further study and resolution. – Let me know when you get your investigative plans organized – and we will arrange another ride for you through the time and space worm hole aboard the happy and always humming mother-ship of all time and space plane mobility – The P.P.E. Time Banger.
March 1, 2017 at 3:25 am |
I’m proud to say I attended 8 of the 27 games or series on this list. My one objection is that it does not include the first no-hitter in franchise history, which I also attended. (It was by Don Nottebart. Why list the first no-hitter in the Dome when you don’t list the all-time first?) As for time travel, there’s only one answer for me: Game # 1, Cubs vs Colt 45s, April,1962. Who doesn’t want to return to the Garden of Eden?
March 1, 2017 at 3:31 am |
Tom – Sorry about the Nottebart oversight. Now I’ll need to see if the system will allow me to insert it up front, in the proper place. When you do this kind of column on a short-deadline basis, one risks the errors that would be caught by editors like yourself before the book ever went to print. Thanks for the early important catch. – Bill
March 1, 2017 at 1:20 pm |
PS. Tom – Your “Garden of Eden” descriptor for the very first official Colt .45s game of April 10, 1962 is aptly expressed. Just make sure you bring your own “Eve” and apple to bite. – Clarification. – You only bite the apple from home. You don’t bite Eve – unless she tells you it’s OK – and it’s more of a love nibble.