Astros Land On Solid Ground

So, the Astros will head to the Series with Clemens mourning his mother, who died during the season, and Oswalt praising his father and all the rest of the Astros toasting those who went before them, from Ryan, the Express who was denied in the postseason of '80 and '86, to veteran team president Tal Smith, who established the team's tradition of solid winning, though, until this night, never quite winning enough to win a prize of consequence.

"We had a bunch of veteran leaders who wouldn't quit and a bunch of kids who didn't know how to quit," said Garner, who got a solo homer from Jason Lane, but also a suicide squeeze bunt from No. 8 hitter Adam Everett.

While the Astros got the glory in this rematch of last year's NLCS, the Cards were left with altogether too much irony. For two days, La Russa has not been able to contain his joy and hasn't even wanted to try. Normally intense or analytical in October, he was still telling Pujols homer stories an hour before this game. Why not? His phone's been ringing for two days.

"I was so happy I had to call myself," said La Russa.

Did he reach himself? "I left a message," he quipped.

Within a few hours, another message had been delivered. Famous moments in October do not always turn the tide for keeps. When Kirk Gibson hit his home run in Game 1 of the '88 World Series, La Russa's Oakland A's crumbled. When Henderson hit his homer, the Angels fell apart. When Mariano Rivera had back-to-back blown saves last October, New York came home to Yankee Stadium and lost twice, dispiritedly.

But such momentum-shifting events haven't always been determinative. Carlton Fisk's famous foul pole home run in the '75 Series was merely a prelude to Red Sox defeat. In '01, the Yanks had back-to-back, game-saving, ninth-inning homers by Scott Brosius and Tino Martinez. The Bombers even led the Series. Yet they lost the last two games.

Momentum is an elusive concept in baseball. Earl Weaver said it first and probably said it best, too. "Momentum?" he'd snort after a tough loss. "Momentum is the next day's starting pitcher." Then Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar or Dave McNally would pitch a five-hitter the next game and nobody'd mention "momentum" to Earl anymore.

La Russa told that old Weaver story here this week, trying to temper his own post-Pujols glee while underscoring that nothing would suffice if his Mark Mulder couldn't outpitch Roy Oswalt.

And he couldn't.

After a strong first inning, Mulder lasted only 4 2/3 lame frames, allowing three runs, six hits and several ringing outs. Just as telling, he looked nervous all night and uncorked two wild pitches, one entirely behind Biggio that bounced to the screen to bring home a Houston run.

"When I pitched Game 5 in Yankee Stadium [in '01], I felt like I was sitting in the clubhouse for 10 hours. The game just never seemed to start. You just get anxious," said Mulder this week, tipping his state of mind.

What was wrong with Mulder, La Russa was asked.

"That's a good question," he said icily.

Now, baseball's season will end as appropriately as many have hoped. Clemens and Pettitte, Bagwell and Biggio, all get their showcase. Sluggers Lance Berkman and Morgan Ensberg, as well as the still relatively little-known Lidge, will get to show that they are genuine stars. And an Astros team with no pennants to show for 44 years will face a White Sox franchise that hasn't won a world title for 88 years.

In a week or so, one team will be ridiculously happy. Perhaps it will even be the unlikely Astros, who just 32 days ago were only 2 1/2 games ahead of the humble Nationals for the wild-card spot. But whatever happens from here on, both Houston and Chicago will spend the rest of October making up for lost time. There'll be decades worth of dancin' in the streets.