Tag Archives: strength

Winners Win: How the Houston Astros Pulled Off A Second World Series Title

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The Golden Age of Astros Baseball

The Houston Astros are no strangers to postseason baseball, having made it to the postseason in every season since 2017, and to the World Series four times in six years. Since their first title win in 2017 and after falling short last year, the Houston Astros were chasing one thing this season: another World Series Championship. In a Game 6 against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Houston Astros won their second World Series title in six years, capping off an incredible season.

Road to the World Series

The Astros finished the regular season with a second-best franchise record of 106 wins, having already accomplished incredible feats such as pitching two immaculate innings in one game and throwing a combined-no hitter.

To start the postseason they swept the Seattle Mariners in the first three games of the American League Division Series (best-of-five), the first two games of which were defined by game winning home runs by Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez. The finale was a tense 18-inning game, a pitching dual from both teams that ended in a 1-0 win for the Astros in Game 3 thanks to a solo home run by Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña. Then, in the American League Championship Series (best-of-seven) they swept their rival team the New York Yankees in four games, one of which was a complete game shutout, punching their ticket to a second straight World Series.

This October met an unlikely matchup in the final series of the season. The Phillies were the #6 seed team in the playoffs, a spot that didn’t even exist before the playoff bracket this year was expanded to include an additional Wild Card spot. The Phillies battled their way through opponents to face the #1 seed Astros in the 2022 Fall Classic. The stars aligned and the Houston Astros were set up for a chance at another World Series run.

Perfect Pitching

The success of this team can largely be attributed to what the team previously lacked: an all-around stellar pitching staff. The Houston Astros bullpen alone finished the playoffs with the lowest single postseason ERA with a stunning 0.83 ERA (earned run average), while the Astros starting pitching staff held their opponents through the postseason to a .172 batting average. In the World Series, Astros pitching got the Phillies to strike out a record-breaking 71 times.

Astros Aces:

Framber Valdez

Dominican-born left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez signed as an international free agent with the Astros at age 21, which is considered “old” for most international free agents. In 2022, he pitched dominantly and had considerably the best season of his career. Valdez relies heavily on his sinker and curveball pitch to record a high percentage of ground balls for outs. In the regular season he broke the record for the most consecutive quality starts, which is when a pitcher completes at least six innings allowing no more than three earned runs. He recorded a streak of 25 quality starts. In the postseason, he held a 1.44 ERA with 33 strikeouts, and was credited with three of the team’s wins during that span.

Cristian Javier

Another Dominic-born Astros pitcher, Christian Javier, was a 16 year old outfielder who decided to give pitching a try. Just shy of turning 18, again considered “old”, he signed a contract worth $10,000 with the Astros in 2015 and made his MLB debut in 2020. This season, he has proven himself to be a reliable ace for this team. Starting the year out as a bullpen pitcher, he soon became a key asset in the team’s starting rotation. While considered only the team’s number four starter, with his electric fastball he’s been nearly unhittable versus opponents. During the regular season he and the bullpen combined no-hit the New York Yankees. Later in the ALCS, the Yankees would see a complete game shutout pitched by none other than Javier and the Astros’ bullpen. Then, in the World Series, he gave the Phillies’ hitters the same treatment. In Game 4 of the World Series, Javier and the bullpen combined no-hit the Phillies, completing the first combined no-hitter in World Series history. He threw his fastball 70 out 97 pitches in this game. His plan was plain and simple: attack the strike zone and get ahead in counts. He finished the World Series credited with a win and a perfect 0.00 ERA.

Bryan Abreu

Yet another Dominican-born player Bryan Abreu, who signed with the Astros as an international free agent in 2013 and made his MLB debut in 2019, became the Astros’ secret weapon out of the bullpen this season. All year Abreu proved to be lights out and only continued this dominance throughout the postseason. In ten postseason games played this year, through 11.1 innings pitched (IP), he recorded 19 strikeouts while allowing zero runs.

Ryan Pressly

Astros closer Ryan Pressly had an incredible 2022 season. As a closer, it is generally the pitcher’s job to record the final outs of the game and preserve your team’s lead with the hopes of securing your team’s win. In this year’s postseason alone, Pressly had 6 saves out of 6 save opportunities (SVO) through 10 games and 11.1 IP. In that span, he recorded 13 strikeouts and a spotless 0.00 ERA.

Stepping Up to the Plate

With the loss of veteran shortstop Carlos Correa prior to the 2022 season, it was unclear if the Astros would be able to find a player of value to fill his shoes. But, rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña set off to make a name for himself in his first season as an Astro. He became the first rookie shortstop to win a Gold Glove, winning the award for his exceptional defense. In the regular season he lead all shortstops with 16 total defensive runs saved (DRS). Offensively he hit 22 home runs (HR), with 63 runs batted in (RBI). In Game 4 of the ALDS, he put an end to the Seattle Mariners season with a solo home run to snap a 17-inning scoreless game, completing the sweep and allowing the Astros to advance to the ALCS. After the Astros swept the Yankees, Peña was named MVP of the ALCS. Peña hit one home run during the World Series, becoming the first roookie shortstop to hit a home run in the World Series. His batting average through the World Series was .400 and his on-base percentage (OBP) was .423. He hit a total of four postseason home runs. As the Astros were crowned the 2023 World Series Champions, Peña was named MVP of the World Series, becoming just the third rookie, and first ever rookie position player to do so. If this is just the beginning of this 25 year old’s MLB career, the future is bright for this Astros star.


“Do it for Dusty!”

In 2020, Dusty Baker became the new manager of the Houston Astros. Prior to the 2022 World Series, 73 year old head coach Dusty Baker had managed the most MLB games without winning a World Series title. Both his 2002 San Francisco Giants and 2021 Houston Astros lost in the World Series. Since becoming manger of the Houston Astros, Baker has been successful in guiding his team to the postseason in each season he has managed, but his teams had just fallen short every time. That all changed when this year the Houston Astros prevailed against the Philadelphia Phillies and rewarded Baker with his first managerial World Series win.

H-town vs. Everyone

Ever since the Astros’ 2017 Championship was tarnished by scandal, this team has been fighting to put the past behind them and show everyone that they are a force to be reckoned with. On November 5th, after steamrolling their way through their two previous opponents, the Astros silenced the haters and in six games remarkably won the World Series trophy for the city of Houston. The final blow was executed by Astros power hitter, Yordan Alvarez, who hit a 450 ft. bomb to center field to put the Astros on top.

“Bury Me in the H”

I have followed this team all season long and never once doubted that this would be the outcome in the end; winners win. If this so-called “Golden Age” of Astros baseball and their postseason success is not to last for much longer, then I, as a true fan of my hometown Astros, call myself proud to be able to witness these days in which we can revel in the taste of sweet victory.

Flight Risk: Why We Should Care About Airlines Mishandling Wheelchairs

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It’s not often that I feel personally affected by a social media post, but when I came across Tammy Le’s heartbreaking viral video, I was stunned. It was the second video I had seen, within weeks of each other, that showed a young woman in distress after an airline company had mishandled and damaged her wheelchair. Lately this has become a recurring issue and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. It was important to me that I help in getting this woman’s story out. I was lucky enough to contact the woman shown in the video and get to know her, as well as interview her about her experience on that dreadful day.

Above is the viral video captured by @gsp_bobby on Instagram that captured an audibly dejected Tammy discussing with United Airlines employees about her damaged wheelchairs.

Tammy is a C4/C5 quadriplegic who was injured in a car accident at age 17. She gave me insight into what it’s like to have to adjust to living with a disability. She shared “It was almost…culture shock. Disability as well as spinal cord injury was a community, as well as an injury and a part of my anatomy that I was completely unaware of. I was extremely insecure and unwilling to accept my new body and ‘reality’. But as years went on, working hard and putting work back into myself helped me heal and find acceptance and a newfound sense of confidence.”

Now, it is her strong conviction that we keep disability in conversation and advocate for people with disabilities. She expressed to me “It’s important to raise awareness by amplifying the voices of the disabled community because we live in a world filled with diverse human beings with different bodies and level of functionality. Everyone will meet disability at some point in their life, so it’s important to build an inclusive society, community, and world…[So that] everyone can enjoy life.”

When I asked her about her hobbies and interests, she shared with me “I enjoy being creative. My favorite outlets to be creative is through videography, photography, and designing new logos and apparel for my clothing line called ‘RESILIENT’,” and resilient, she is.

Above are photos taken of Tammy’s primary wheelchair, the power chair that suffered damage when it rolled off a 10 ft. lift after the brakes had not been locked.

In late June, while traveling home from a vacation, Tammy had the unimaginable happen to her. Shortly after being seated, not only one, but two of her personal wheelchairs (a power chair and a manual wheelchair) were damaged when they were mishandled on a flight with Southwest Airlines. Even after specific instructions to handle the chairs with care, it was alleged that the wheelchair lift had malfunctioned and the chairs slid off it from a 10 ft. height. In her own experience, this incident could have been avoided if the emergency brakes had been locked as soon as the chairs were placed on the lift. She told me “my chairs were damaged…late Friday night, after a five hour delay.” Although a wheel had bent on her manual chair causing it not to roll smoothly, she had to rely on it until the airlines could provide her a loaner chair. She shared “I almost developed a pressure sore because as a higher level quad, I’m not able to weight shift myself in my manual chair…When they finally brought me my my first loaner my feet dangled…It was not the correct measurements for my weight and height.” In expressing her feelings about this experience, she stated she was overcome with immediate “disbelief, then stress and anxiety…I didn’t know how long it was gonna take and I had to think about how I was going to get by in a manual [chair] for the unforeseeable future…This whole ordeal stripped me of my independence…”

Images shared by @stfd_podcast on Instagram.

As a person with a disability, we are constantly met with discriminatory barriers that hinder our ability to live our life as “normal” as possible. When public places do not follow through with standard regulations needed to support people with disabilities, this only adds to our troubles. Prior to this incident, Tammy felt she had meticulously researched the right options for her to be able to travel alone. From the start, the airline company told her “they weren’t allowed to touch me and help me weight shift during my flight because I am a liability.” When you live with paralysis, shifting your weight is crucial when sitting in one place for extended amounts of time in order to prevent pressure sores or even worse, blood clots. Southwest also told her they would not be able to help her empty her catheters when they get full. Despite this, Tammy had put faith into this company and trusted them to handle her and her needed assistive equipment with care, so she could simply enjoy and return home conflict-free from a fun vacation.

Once home, she was able to get in contact and file a claim for both of her damaged chairs with a repair company, Global Repair Group. This is Southwest Airlines’ “third-party company…[that] helps look for vendors for loaner rentals that Southwest compensates for. They also send out technicians to get measurements for your chair replacements.” She informed me, “I pushed for my own vendor that I worked with for years because I didn’t trust a stranger to know much about spinal cord injury and my level of injury, and I’m glad I did.” Despite her valid frustration, she wants to highlight this repair company that worked with her during this difficult time. She believes “…Global Repairs is a really good third-party company. They are on top of reaching out to you and coordinating loaners/vendors. I think the issue is the airlines and the vendors that are greedy. The vendors charge up to $1200 a day for an extremely basic chair that does not fit you.”

Critics of Tammy’s dejection over this situation must understand that our wheelchairs are built to fit our specific bodies’ needs. To mishandle and break our wheelchair is like callously breaking someone’s legs. To be without our own chair is uncomfortable and devastating. It’s apparent that time and time again, airlines have gotten by with a hasty apology. No amount of compensation can mitigate the permanent ramifications of these unfortunate accidents caused by people who are misinformed and indifferent. In regards to her personal chair, Tammy feels “Ergonomically and functionally it provides me…independence and comfortability. I’m able to lean forward to stretch my back, recline in order to circulate blood and relieve pressure off my bottom, I’m able to elevate, I’m able to dress in my chair. I am more safe and secure due to the specific measurements and contouring.”

When asked what she wishes would be done about this issue, Tammy stated “I wish the world could slow down and empathize. Empathize and understand that every human being is worthy of being able to experience life. [The] disabled community should not be excluded and looked over as some pity party just because we need/want to feel included and heard. Something as simple as a ramp or to stay in our power chair to fly, or just simply asking others to slow down when taking care of our mobility aids — essentially our arms and our legs – our livelihood.” It’s disappointing that even 31 years after the signing of ADA, or the Americans with Disabilities Act, that some public places and means of travel still don’t provide quality assistance or follow proper protocol when handling mobility aids. It is paramount that in the near future, we see change in this seemingly unrelenting “flight risk” — the way airlines handle assistive equipment belonging to people with disabilities. It is time we care.

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Shoutout to Tammy for giving me the opportunity to share her story! Show your support by following her on Instagram @/resilient.comm or check out her YouTube channel Resilient. quad! Also, click the link below to shop her apparel: https://resilientquad.bigcartel.com