Houston Astros: We're A Playoff Team...It Feels SO Good!

For the first time in 10 years, your Houston Astros are heading into the postseason!

It has been a long time coming and this team is finally enjoying the fruits of their labor.

It’s amazing how just one week ago, we wondering if we actually had a chance of contending for the postseason.

We were in the doldrums, wondering if all the hard work that these guys had put in was all for naught.

More from House of Houston

I can’t envision how many times I’ve told my friends, “maybe next year … next year will be OUR year” not really knowing if that was the truth or not.

Think about it — this season has took us by surprise.

As this team was piling up the wins early in the season and stayed perched atop the AL West division, we started to believe again just as we did some 10 years ago and beyond.

It wasn’t just some fluke — these guys were winning meaningful baseball games and were not relenting.

There was a different fire in their eyes, one that could not be extinguished as these guys wanted to win.

I’m positive that this early success took general manager Jeff Luhnow by surprise — he likely envisioned that this team would be good in a couple of more seasons as he continued to stockpile on prospects to make this team better.

I’m pretty sure the deals he made at the trade deadline were ones he wasn’t expecting to make — yes, the acquisition of Scott Kazmir and the harpooning of Carlos Gomez were like crafty moves of a knight on a chess board.

If Luhnow has his way, he’ll eventually be yelling out “CHECK MATE” to the entire MLB.

Think about it — what Luhnow has been doing over the past couple of years, hasn’t been done before.

He completely gutted this team, re-sodded the farm and added a decent mix of vets to turn this team into the offensive juggernaut that is today.

He went out and sought A.J. Hinch — a relative nobody on the managerial side but well-respected in front offices across the MLB.

Hinch has instituted a culture that not only breeds success and winning but one of comfort.

He’s has been in the position of top farm hand before in other organizations so he knows how to deal with prospects as well.

The “Club Astros” theme is something I’ve never seen before tried out of a Astros’ manager and it goes to show he wants his guys to have fun doing what they do for living — playing baseball.

Live Feed

Astros appear to be content to let the rest of the league pass them by this offseason /

Climbing Tal's Hill

5 Astros players that are primed for a much improved 2024 seasonClimbing Tal's Hill

Could Ohtani contract deferrals set stage for Astros with Alex Bregman?FanSided

World Series Odds: Which Teams Have Value after Shohei Ohtani Signing?Betsided

5 Astros relievers who will have a much bigger role in 2024Climbing Tal's Hill

3 rumors that would be disasters for the Astros with Ohtani off the market Climbing Tal's Hill

But even as the Astros seemed to slide a bit being up-and-down after the All-Star break, he still had his guys in check and you just knew these guys were going to pull something off.

So it took all 162 games to prove that we were a playoff team — and you know what?

It doesn’t matter to me.

It made things a lot more exciting down the stretch and it made me even prouder that this team has come through down the stretch.

So Astros’ fans have to remember that whatever happens from here is pure gravy — we are playing with house money!

Houston Astros: We’re A Playoff Team…It Feels SO Good!

By Brian K. Patterson | Oct 5, 2015

More from House of Houston