Astros Strong

by Houston Chronicle

  “‘Hey, I’m not trying to take too much of your time up. You won’t regret your decision to come here,’” Keuchel recalled this week of his message to Verlander. “‘Obviously, your window for winning in Detroit is damn near closed, and ours is wide open.’

  “I figured the only thing left in his legacy is to win a World Series, because he’s pretty much done everything else. I was hoping that would resonate in his mind rather quickly, and I think it did.”

  It was all smiles at Justin Verlander’s press conference following the trade to the Astros. He turned out to be the missing piece in the team’s quest for a World Series title. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle)

  Ultimately, Verlander has said, his decision came down to the opportunity to win. The Tigers’ trade of Upton earlier in the day signaled a full rebuild in Detroit. If that move doesn’t happen, the Verlander trade probably doesn’t, either.

  “You’re looking at our team (in Detroit) thinking, ‘We still have a decent core of guys here. It’s not a full rebuild. Who knows what can happen with the right pieces in place?’” Verlander said of his mindset at the time. “And I made these comments: I said, ‘As long as I’m wearing a Tigers jersey, I plan on winning with the Tigers.’

  “I was still looking at it from a very optimistic point of view of ‘We’ve got guys that if the right pieces fall into place, we can still win.’ And then when (Upton) goes, then it’s kind of like, ‘I don’t think that’s possible anymore.’ That definitely was one of the things on my mind in the decision-making.”

  Verlander doesn’t remember the exact time he made the decision to accept the trade. It couldn’t have been much earlier than 11:50 p.m. Eastern, 10 minutes until the deadline, he said.

  “I knew in my brain that I had all of the information. I had everything that I was going to have,” he said. “I’m not exactly sure what time it was, but it was late, and in the middle of one of my paces I look at Kate and go, ‘Screw it. We’re going to Houston.’ And she goes, ‘OK!’ and got excited. It was a pretty cool moment, really.”

  Avila, who according to a Tigers spokesman wasn’t available to comment for this story, had planned ahead and sent baseball operations officials to Verlander’s apartment with the necessary paperwork for the pitcher to sign.

  As part of accepting the deal, Verlander retained his full no-trade rights and also asked the Astros to void the $22 million option for 2020 that would have vested if he finished among the top five in AL Cy Young Award voting in 2019. Verlander, who continues to defy the aging curve, viewed it as essentially a club option. If he places in the top five, he will be worth much more than $22 million on the open market in the 2019-20 offseason.

  Once that was hashed out, Verlander signed, and a photo of the document was emailed to the MLB commissioner’s office for approval.

  “I don’t know how this would’ve worked before cellphones,” Verlander said.

  The trade required MLB approval because of the money changing hands between the teams. When midnight Eastern time hit, Luhnow was in the dark as to whether the deal had actually gone through in time. It was out of his hands at that point. There was nothing more he could do.

  On his and his wife’s 10-minute drive to dinner, Luhnow sat in the passenger’s seat in the hopes he would receive a franchise-altering phone call from MLB. At about 9:15 p.m. Pacific, 15 minutes after the deadline, it came. The deal was done.

  After he hung up with the commissioner’s office, Luhnow sent word to Crane and then to Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who was on the back patio of his home in The Woodlands catching up with his wife, Erin, after a hectic week. Hinch texted his coaches. Already asleep by then, Astros pitching coach Brent Strom awoke to the news in the middle of the night.

  At last, Luhnow sat down at The Brentwood Restaurant & Lounge feeling like he “just went through a traumatic experience.” He ordered a cocktail – Tito’s and soda with a lime – to unwind and celebrate.

  “It tasted great,” he said.

  The West is Won

  Astros Clinch First Division Title Since 2001

  By Jake Kaplan • September 18, 2017

  At about a quarter after 5 p.m., after the final champagne-soaked player had left the field and headed back into the clubhouse, the last of the couple hundred Astros fans who stayed behind trickled up the stairs toward the Minute Maid Park exits.

  They had remained in the sections directly behind the Astros’ dugout for more than an hour after shortstop Carlos Correa caught the final out of Sunday afternoon’s 7-1 victory. On the day their team clinched its first division title in 16 years, they stayed to witness the celebration.

  For some, it was their first. Before these Astros clinched the American League West in their 149th game of the season, 16 years had elapsed since the franchise had last won a division title. Sunday’s win sealed the team’s second postseason appearance in three seasons and to the organization served as validation for long, hard years of rebuilding.

  “We wanted to do it in front of our home fans,” lefthander Dallas Keuchel said. “I had been joking before that the clubhouse (attendants) wanted us to do it on the road because they didn’t want us to trash the clubhouse.

  “But to clinch in front of our home fans, who have supported us the last couple years as we’ve gotten better and better, it just means the world. We’re hoping to lock up some home-field advantage as well so we can get some more home crowds behind us.”

  By number of games, this year’s team was the fastest of the Astros’ seven division-winning teams to clinch. At 91-58, they are 15 games better than the AL West’s second best, the Los Angeles Angels. Since even May, the celebration that took place Sunday seemed only a matter of when, not if.

  “One of the messages I gave our team is, ‘You never know if you’ll be on a better team ever,’” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “‘You’ve got to enjoy this because it’s hard to do.’ We won the division this year. The Astros haven’t won the division since 2001. That shows how hard it is to win in this league.

  “There are teams around the league that have expectations and don’t live up to it. There are teams that surprise. We went wire to wire with expectations, and it feels pretty good to finish the job that we started.”

  Appropriately, the Astros closed out the division with Justin Verlander on the mound. In his first home start for his new team, the newly acquired ace righthander struck out 10 in seven innings of one-run baseball. Hinch called on Chris Devenski and Ken Giles to close out the win despite the lopsided score.

  George Springer hugs Jake Marisnick, with a cast on his hand, as they celebrate on the field after clinching the American League West crown by beating the Seattle Mariners 7-1. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle)

  After Giles allowed three consecutive singles, he induced a game-ending popup that Correa tracked into his glove at 4:01 p.m. The All-Star shortstop, one of four Astros to homer in the game, clapped his right hand against his mitt three times. The players, those already on the field and those who were in the dugout, mobbed each other behind the pitcher’s mound.

  Blue T-shirts and hats commemorating the division title were handed out on the field to players and coaches. Players and coaches hugged. Minutes later, the players ran down the first-base line to high-five fans. They crossed the field and did the same down the third-base line before retreating to the clubhouse.

  Once in the clubhouse, they doused each other with bottles of Korbel and Budweiser. The furniture had been cleared out, the lockers covered by plastic sheets. Outfielder Josh Reddick hugged Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow while wearing an American flag speedo. The relievers wrapped bullpen catcher Carlos Munoz in duct tape.

  “There’s no need to hold back,” Reddick said.

  Players and coaches lit cigars. Some Facetimed on their iPhones with family members. Outfielder Jake Marisnick walked around with saran wrap covering his
right arm. He was only two days removed from surgery to repair a fractured right thumb.

  It was a scene of pure jubilation.

  “The stage of my career that I’m at right now, I came here for this reason. I came here to win a world championship,” catcher Brian McCann said. “This is step one.

  “The type of players we have on this team, we love to show up to the ballpark. We love each other. We play for each other. We have a group of older guys. We’ve got a group of younger guys. We’ve got some guys who are in the middle, and everybody produces. It’s just a great dynamic.”

  By about 4:50 p.m., the players were back on the field with their families as the fans who remained in attendance cheered. When Jose Altuve sauntered back toward the dugout, fans chanted, “MVP. MVP. MVP.” Keuchel and Verlander were two of the last to head back inside for more celebrating.

  “For us, this is just the beginning of it,” Correa said. “We’ve still got bigger goals.”

  Justin Verlander waves to fans after the team clinched the AL West. Verlander was the winning pitcher in his home-field debut. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle)

  Josh Reddick

  22 | Right Fielder

  Spidey, Speedo and Splendid Production

  Reddick is Big on Fun, but Seriously, He Can Play

  By Brian T. Smith • September 22, 2017

  He is the 912 area code (Savannah, Ga.) thickly tattooed in black on his left arm.

  He’s the Spider-Man logo on his T-shirt and webbed superhero costumes proudly hanging inside the locker of a 30-year-old man.

  He’s the king of the woos, who celebrates hard by wearing only an American flag Speedo, then puts on an American eagle shirt when the cameras zoom in.

  He also crashes into walls, runs out grounders, guns out would-be advancers, and entered Thursday evening at Minute Maid Park tied for the team lead in RBIs.

  There really is no way to fully capture Josh Reddick in a few paragraphs.

  But one quote from manager A.J. Hinch says everything about just how essential No. 22 has become for the 2017 Astros.

  “The most underrated player on our team, to be honest,” Hinch said before his club went for a three-game sweep of the White Sox. “He’s not getting near enough love for what he brings to the ballpark every day.”

  There are perfect fits. Then there is Reddick.

  He hits behind leadoff man George Springer and ahead of should-be MVP Jose Altuve, blending precision and line-drive power at the plate. He plays with the passion, electricity and fun that defined the young 2015 Astros but has nine years of MLB experience and 64 postseason at-bats, which will soon be critical for the ’17 team. He can teach the younger Astros and regularly messes with Springer, another Hinch favorite. But Reddick’s also still young enough to look left in the clubhouse and realize the importance of sitting next to 40-year-old Carlos Beltran.

  “He’s crazy,” said Hinch, using that word as a compliment. “He blends in perfectly. On a team of really big, fun personalities, he might be the biggest, and he might be the most fun. And it comes out every now and then, especially during celebrations.”

  “Speedo,” Reddick said. “It’s not a bikini. It’s a Speedo.”

  Josh Reddick celebrates in his signature American flag Speedo after the Astros 4-0 win over the Yankees in Game 7 of the ALCS. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle)

  When the Astros signed the Savannah native to a four-year, $52 million free-agent deal last November, the move was applauded but not universally praised. Reddick hit 32 home runs for Oakland in 2012 and batted .364 with the Dodgers during a National League Championship Series defeat to the eventual World Series champion Cubs in 2016.

  But he was also limited to 115 games or fewer in three of his previous four seasons, and he spent his initial three pro years trying to prove himself in Boston.

  In 132 games with the Astros, Reddick has gone from initially proving himself against lefthanders to a locked-in outfielder and one of Hinch’s most trusted weapons. His .316 batting average is a career high and ranks second on the team behind the MLB-leading Altuve. Reddick’s .851 OPS is also a career high, and he’s fourth on the club in runs (77) and games and fifth in on-base percentage (.365).

  “The comfort level since getting here has been fantastic, and I knew I was coming to an already good team,” Reddick said. “My goal was just to come here and try not to screw things up.”

  Becoming a critical part of the second-best team in the American League has allowed Reddick to be himself even more.

  During those three seasons with the Red Sox, Reddick played an average of 47 games and was surrounded by big-name proven veterans: David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis, Josh Beckett, Dustin Pedroia.

  “In Boston, I kept my mouth shut. … I was the only young guy,” Reddick said.

  He came of age in Oakland, winning a Gold Glove and finishing 16th in AL MVP voting during his first season with the Athletics in 2012 – and growing a mountain man-like beard that makes Dallas Keuchel’s look like a trimmed mustache.

  Reddick injured his wrist early during the next season by crashing into a Minute Maid wall and never regained his full ‘12 form.

  “I should have shut it down right away,” he said. “It was hurting so bad, and I just kept trying to play through it.”

  Reddick credited former A’s teammate Coco Crisp for teaching him when to speak up and when to “keep my mouth shut.”

  Reddick was a force in the lineup in his first year with Houston, hitting .314, with 13 homers and 82 RBIs. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle)

  As his first season in Houston has unfolded, the man who was showered with “woos” during his first-inning at-bat Thursday – Reddick’s walk-up music is simply the trademark expression of former wrestler Ric Flair – has felt more and more at home at Minute Maid.

  “That’s me,” Reddick said. “What you see is out there. What you saw in the (AL West title) celebration. What you see now is what you’re going to get. This is a childhood dream still for a lot of us, and I’m going to enjoy it.”

  As for the famous swirling sound that will only grow louder in October?

  “Going back to that first homestand, it’s just crazy that fans would even start doing that randomly,” Reddick said. “I turned around, and I was like, ‘That’s kind of weird.’ Because I know Texas is a big wrestling state. … But I didn’t expect it to be a WWE field event, where people are just wooing around.

  “I went home and talked to my buddy. I said, ‘Man, if they’re out there like that, imagine if I walked up to it the next day.’ Sure enough, here we are months later, dealing with it. But it’s been great, because it shows you how much they want to get into it.”

  Springer and Reddick constantly get into it – for fun.

  “I love it. He’s been awesome here,” Springer said. “He’s always on my case. He’s always on everybody’s case. It’s funny.”

  Hinch and Reddick text almost nightly after games, with the Astros’ right fielder still going over the previous game.

  “I’m proud he’s on our team,” Hinch said. “He signed here for this reason – to be on a playoff team – and he’s contributed much more than people talk about.”

  Three hours before Keuchel threw the first pitch Thursday, Reddick was already into it. The man with the 912 tattoo, Spider-Man costumes and American flag Speedo was hunched in front of a computer, breaking down old at-bats in a makeshift tunnel space between the Astros’ clubhouse and dugout.

  It was another part of Reddick, just as real as all the rest.

  Jose Altuve

  27| Second Baseman

  The Crown Fits Him

  Altuve Wraps Up Third Batting Title in Four Years

  By Jake Kaplan • October 2, 2017

  Jose Altuve’s winning the American League batting title has become so much the
norm that there was little attention or fanfare surrounding the latest accomplishment of the Astros’ star second baseman.

  The fact it has become basically expected is perhaps the best indicator of Altuve’s greatness.

  “Going into any year, I would say most experts would expect him to win the batting title,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said before the AL West champions finished their 101-win regular season with a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox. “Which is insane to think about, given how many good hitters there are in the league.”

  Altuve wrapped up batting championship No. 3 and his third in four seasons with a major-league best .346 average in 590 at-bats. The clip set a career high and was the best by an Astro since Moises Alou hit .355 in 2000. Altuve batted .341 when he won his 2014 batting title and .338 last year.

  The Astros plan to toast their AL MVP candidate in the clubhouse after the pre-American League Division Series workout at Minute Maid Park.

  “This one is a little bit more special. This is the first time I win a batting title and the team is going to go to the playoffs,” said the 27-year-old Altuve, who joined Miguel Cabrera (four) and Joe Mauer (three) as recent AL players to win at least three career batting titles. “I’m just trying to do everything I can to help this team.”

  Altuve is the first major leaguer to win back-to-back batting titles since Cabrera won three straight from 2011-13. Between the two of them, a Venezuelan has won the AL batting title in seven consecutive seasons. A Venezuelan has won in either league for eight straight years, as Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez was the 2010 NL batting champion. Altuve takes pride in that.

  “I feel happy to be part of that small group,” Altuve said.