Houston Astros: The franchise all-time bracket
By Bill Felber
Houston Astros: The Franchise All-Time Bracket
No. 1 vs. 8 seed
The obvious place to begin is with the tainted 2017 World Series winners. Many can recite the guts of that ballclub from memory: Second baseman Jose Altuve hit .346 – a figure that gave him his third batting title — and was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player. Center fielder George Springer led the team in RBIs with 85, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa played key infield roles.
On the mound, veterans abounded. Dallas Keuchel, Charlie Morton and Brad Peacock all won in double-digits, Keuchel with a 2.90 ERA. Ken Giles recorded 34 saves.
Managed by Larry Dierker, the 2001 Astros battled the Cardinals to the wire in the NL Central, each finishing with matching 93-69 records.
Future Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio provided the veteran leadership and punch at the top of the order, Bagwell producing 39 home runs and 130 RBIs.
But outfielder Lance Berkman was the offensive star with .331 average, 34 homers, and 126 RBIs.
Roy Oswalt and Shane Reynolds both won 14 games, and Wade Miller stepped up to go 16-8 in his 32 starts. Billy Wagner closed out 39 saves.
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Game 1: The 2017 team’s 10-61 record works out to a .623 regular-season percentage, and that’s eight games better than 2001’s .574.
Game 2: The 2001 Astros lost their division series to Atlanta in three straight. The 2017 team, of course, won the World Series, compiling a .611 post-season percentage.
Game 3: The 2017 Astros had a fierce team OPS+ of 123. The 2001 club’s OPS+ only totaled 100.
Game 4: In 2001, the staff ERA+ was 106. That’s good enough to beat the 107 team, whose 99 ERA+ was slightly below average.
Game 5: The 2001 Astros compiled 39.7 WAR. For a championship team, that’s not especially high, and it’s certainly not enough to keep pace with 2017’s 52.3 WAR.
Result: 2017 in five games