It was a nice visit to St.Louis for the locals. It was even nicer for me.
I wasn't in THE LOU but I watched both of the Houston wins and it made my life just a tad easier. I have many pals and former college mates who are all Cardinals fans. They are even more faithful as the Rams and Bowling's Hall of Fame have moved out of the Cards area. As a student we often made trips to Busch Stadium to see the Redbirds and mostly I didn't care which team won unless the Birds were playing the Cubs, then it was do or die. That changed to the Astros versus Cards when I became an older adult and TV TYPE.
I was mostly on the losing end and when it came to 2005 every fan IN HOUSTON held the beer breath in that NLCS which meant the winner went to the World Series. The Cards, for what seemed like the 100th time, just the first for Houston. You probably know where I am going with this. The Astros in Minute Maid all are set to clinch when ALBERT PUJOLS lifted one to Lufkin with the bases loaded to keep Houstonians in their seats. Brad Lidge is still looking for that moon shot. I happened to be right behind home plate with a pal who was best buddies with MGR. TONY LARUSSA. My friend had me sitting in the middle of the entire Cardinal front office. I was the only one still sitting when it was launched.
The next night, IN ST. LOUIS, the Astros did clinch thanks mostly to Roy Oswalt who had the Birds number his entire career. I know a mini sweep of 2 is no big deal, but I sure liked the way it turned out. St.Louis is 300 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central, but it still fun to watch the Astros do to the Cards what the Rangers always do to Houston.