Houston Astros: Reflecting on the anniversary of Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey landed nearly one year ago. The Houston Astros were a bright spot for the city when not much else was. Let’s reflect back.

The city of Houston is coming into the one-year anniversary of the worst natural disaster in a decade by the name of Harvey. From August 25th until November 1st, Houstonians were given a ride on the emotional roller coaster from sadness and despair to hope and triumph by the underdog Houston Astros. It’s hard to imagine life without Hurricane Harvey. But love it or hate it, we have to appreciate what it did for us.

We near the anniversary of Hurricane Harvey on August 25th. It sure seems like it was yesterday when the storm hit Rockport and traveled all the way to Houston. For everyone who encountered Harvey, there will be stories to be told. Even those that weren’t around, they still find ways to help and inspire. Whether that was through donating, rescuing others, or in some cases, writing emotional messages.

Looking back at all of my previous entries from this website, I came across one of my favorites titled discussing the Houston Astros and Harvey, you can take a look below. To this day, I don’t know what possessed me to write an entry like this. For some readers, it sounds like a desperate attempt for attention. For others, it could be something that shouldn’t have been written at the time. Me personally, I just felt like I had to get something off my chest at the moment.

I can still remember the day well. The Houston Astros played the Angels, who we will be playing this weekend. They were coming off a tough loss the night before and jumped ahead 4-0. The Angels rallied to lead 5-4 going into the eighth inning. Then the Astros pulled out some magic and grabbed the lead again. Former Astro Ken Giles came in and despite loading the bases, was able to pull out a huge win for us.

So, what’s followed since then? Well, it turns out it was one of the greatest sports stories in recent history.

The Houston Astros went to Arlington looking to swap a home-and-away series with the Rangers. That ended up failing. Houston then flew to Tampa for a neutral site series against Texas and lost two of three. Then, they arrived back in Houston and the Justin Verlander trade goes down.

Next, the Houston Astros spent a day with refugees. Following that, the Astros swept an emotional series against the Mets at Minute Maid Park, including a thrashing of Matt Harvey. The Astros then demolished the Rangers at Arlington. The Astros then clinched the AL West against the Mariners. Houston then defeated three hurricanes in the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series.

That pretty much sums it up. But the question that I go back to is why did I write the entry that I did? I think I have the answer now. But to understand why I posted the entry, we need to go back further months before that August day.