Astros Bask In Success: Sports Illustrated Got It Right

You just had a gut feeling when you saw that Sports Illustrated cover a few years back. You know which one. You know, the one with George Springer on the cover and proclaiming the Houston Astros as the 2017 World Series champions. And this was because of a major rebuilding project that stockpiled so much talent in a short period of time.

Who knew at the time?

Yet, Astros fans such as myself, well, we had that gut feeling that it was going to happen. If this entire storybook season the Astros just had was any indication, then I'd say that such a scenario was right on schedule. Springer, plus Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, and August acquisition Justin Verlander, not to mention countless others, made it all possible this year for the creation of a champion. A year that began with Jeff Bagwell's earning his induction into Baseball's Hall of Fame. That was followed by an epic season (followed by an even-more-epic playoff and World Series run) with multiple storylines, injuries to almost every key Astro player, great catches, six Houston players in the All-Star Game, big home runs that mattered, Ric Flair, Kate Upton, and even Vin Scully. You could not have written a better script. This was a season for the ages.

So, now, the Astros are celebrating, as a new sport in Texas has a championship title: Baseball. Houston was the first of the two Texas pro teams to win the Big One. Great ending to a great year. And that's not all. Correa proposed to his girlfriend after the Game 7 victory. And then, during the Astros' victory parade, Verlander was in Italy getting married to his longtime squeeze, the aforementioned Upton, who provided Astros fans with plenty of star pleasure during the season's final days. Sports Illustrated got it right. The 'Stros gave many a baseball fan every reason to be glued to the television, the radio, the computer, and social media.

Players, staff, ownership, and management of the Houston Astros can now bask in the glow of success, that first ring, that first trophy. Justin Verlander gets to have two rings: the World Series and the nuptials. Now, what comes next? Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in just under 100 days, and they get to start again at another run. Sports Illustrated got it right, but can the Astros do it again? How will they plan to handle success? Time will tell, but with this talented roster, put together so brilliantly by Jeff Luhnow, and, also, really, by Ed Wade, the general manager who preceded Luhnow and who was responsible for drafting Springer and overseeing the arrivals of Altuve and pitcher Dallas Keuchel, the Astros are poised at making more playoff appearances.

And, perhaps, more time in more World Series games.