Good Guys Don't Always Finish Last

Well, it's come down to this. It's the last day of the regular baseball season and the Houston Astros are leading the National League Wild Card race by only one game. It's not the end of the world by any means, but it is the time to take control and make things happen. If the "Good Guys" (as the Houston Astros are known regionally) win today and their rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, lose, the Astros move on to play the Atlanta Braves in the play-offs next week. If the Phillies win and the Astros lose, there will be a one-game tie-breaker on Monday to determine the winner. If both teams win or lose, our local heroes will be flying to the Peach State after the game. It's not really confusing, but sure is nerve-racking. For better or worse, they seem to do this to us every year. Why can't there be a year where the Astros just run away with it from the start? I mean, really pile up the lead and hold on to it the way that St. Louis did this year. It probably wouldn't be as good for sales of TUMS and Corona, but a little padding would be a welcome change from the regular nail-biting end-of-season escapades that Astros fans have endured in the past. Today at work I'll be glued to MLB's Game Day Audio playing on my office computer and listening to Hall of Fame announcer Milo Hamilton call the most important game of the year. I hope to hear Milo shout "Holy Toledo!" the way he did when Hammerin' Hank hit #715 and broke Babe Ruth's homerun record in Atlanta around 30-years ago. If he does it's a good sign that the Houston Astros have taken up where they left off in 2004 on their quest for a championship. Maybe this is the year of the Good Guy. I still believe . . . I believe in this team, I believe in this city and I believe that Good Guys don't always finish last.