1980 Houston Astros

 The path from mediocrity to pennant contender takes a lot of pieces falling into place from good draft picks, smart trades and the right free agent pickups. Even after all that, it takes a bit of luck. And while the modern day Astros had replaced "luck" with "cheating" it would be unfair to associate every postseason appearance for Houston as underhanded. Aside from steroid allegations on specific people, the National League days of the Astros are considered pretty clean, which means their first ever push into October had them accomplish it the old fashioned way.

The Astros had come oh-so-close to the playoffs in 1979, falling just 1.5 games short of the Cincinnati Reds. Seeing a chance to build on some momentum, Houston signed major names Joe Morgan and Nolan Ryan for Manager Bill Virdon to utilize. The results were successful in the early goings, with Houston staking out a lead in the NL West after fending off the Reds, but a late swoon allowed the Los Angeles Dodgers to close the gap. The final three games of the season pitted the Astros and Dodgers against each other in LA. All Houston had to do was win one of those games, but the Dodgers swept (winning each game by one run) to finish the season in a tie for first at 92-70 each.

For the NL West tie-breaker, the Astros gave the ball to their ace Joe Niekro, who shut down the Dodgers to attain a 20 win season and give the Astros their first division title with a 8-1 thrashing. The series of events between LA and Houston would just be an appetizer for their rematch next season in the NLDS, As for now, the Astros were off to Philadelphia to face the Phillies for the pennant. After the teams split the first four games, it all came down to the winner-take-all Game 5.

Nolan Ryan had the ball for the most important game in team history to date. A back and forth start led to the Astros taking a 5-2 lead into the 8th inning with Ryan still going strong, but the Phillies had a rally in them. Ryan got chased from the game and the Phils put up a crooked number on the scoreboard to lead 7-5. The Astros would manage to tie it up in the bottom of the 8th, ensuring extra inning when both teams failed to score in the 9th. The Astros lacked any home field "advantages" this time, however, so when the Phillies pushed across a run in the top of the 10th, they were unable to muster any offense as the eventual World Series champions took the pennant and the Astros were sent home.

#4 in Cy Young voting and even netting some MVP votes, Niekro paced the Astros rotation with his 20 Wins and 256 Innings. He was the guy the Astros turned to to lead them for the first time into October.

Nolan came home to Texas in 1980, becoming the highest paid player in history (peanuts by todays standards). He put up a team high 200 Strikeouts.

Fellow rotation arms in Houston. Combine their Strikeout totals and they fall well short of Ryan's 200. Heck, combine their charts and Ryan still strikes out more on his own.

The primary Closer with 17 Saves, Sambito finished 5th for the Cy Young award. He was less reliable in the NLCS, as he failed to pick up a Save, including in the Game 5 defeat where he was called upon in the 8th inning to bail out Ryan and was unable to stop the Phillies comeback. LaCorte got 11 Saves of his own during the season.

Other arms for the pitching staff. Dave Smith came in 5th for Rookie of the Year. Even with 2 Closers on the staff, the Astros still needed a new arm to lock down a Save in Game 2 of the NLCS when in extra innings. Joaquin Andujar got the final 3 outs, and remained the only pitcher in Astros history until 2004 to record a Save in the postseason.

The heart of the Houston offense, Cruz led the team with 185 Hits and 91 RBI. The all star finished 3rd in MVP voting.

Morgan actually began his career in Houston, but the Astros decided they didn't need a future Hall of Famer. Now in 1980, they brought him back for one season before he decided he didn't like playing for Bill Virdon and signed elsewhere for 1981.

Other regulars. Cesar Cedeno would get a few MVP votes as he led the team with 48 Stolen Bases and a .309 BA. Terry Puhl led the team of not-really-power-hitters with just 13 Home Runs.

Off the bench for the Astros. Bruce Bochy joined Art Howe as future big name managers that the '80 Astros touted.

Either inspired by the signing of Ryan, or feeling jealous of the big money contract, J.R. Richard came to play in 1980. He put up 10 Wins in just 17 starts as he piled up 119 Strikeouts and gained an all star invitation. Unfortunately, health complications that ultimately led to a stroke would derail his season and he'd never pitch again after 1980.