Astros

The Astros logo, as it appeared on Backyard Baseball 2001 and 2003

BBL Champions

## Overview

The Houston Astros are an MLB team in the AL West. At the time Backyard Baseball 2001 and 2003 were released, they were in the NL Central. Since then, they have changed their logo, changed their division, and won a controversial World Series title.

## Season 2

Newcomer WilburWood joined the BBL in Season 2, selecting the Houston Astros as his team. However, he was unable to continue with the season. He was replaced by another newcomer, gmchappe, which turned out to be a very good move.

After having a decent regular season and finishing 7-7, the Astros really turned it on in the playoffs, advancing all the way to the World Series and defeating the Expos 3 games to 1 to claim the Season 2 championship.

The Astros have the worst record of any BBL Champion. This record will be incredibly difficult to break, as all teams were included in the playoffs in S2, but only 8 out of 24 make it in the current format.

For his efforts in leading the team to a championship, Jay Green was named Season 2 MVP. Curt Schilling finished second in voting for the Ace Wilson Award.

## Season 3

The Astros were taken in season 3 by coach psanchez55 and found instant success. Psanchez's method of double after double proved to work well for the 'Stros, guiding them to a 12-2 regular season record.

However, in a coincidental twist, the Astros were eliminated in the NLCS by the Expos, who were coached by gmchappe, the same coach who guided the Astros to the BBL championship the previous season.

## Season 5

### Lulu League

Psanchez55 returned to coach the Astros, but with the new Melonball rules in place, he was hindered a little bit. The Astros still had a great regular season record at 10-4, but they were eliminated in the ALDS by the Melonheads, 2 games to 1.

Unfortunately, stats were not well kept for the S5 Astros.

### Paste League

Coached by psanchez55 in the Paste League as well, the Astros struggled compared to their Lulu League counterparts. They started the season 0-3, but rebounded nicely to finish the abridged regular season at 7-5. However, they did not make the playoffs.

The Paste stats for the Astros were not well kept, either.

## Season 6

Newcomer JorgesBankAccount selected the Arizona Astros as her team and gave them the nickname of the Albuquerque Tapirs, even going so far as to doctor submitted screenshots to show the team's name and logo (a circular picture of a mountain tapir). The Tapirs were placed in the NL Central alongside the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, and Baltimore Bombers, with Sandy Flats as their chosen home field.

In Season 6's draft, JorgesBankAccount had the second pick, but due to prior commitments as well as not knowing when the draft was scheduled to start, ended up not picking and had Jay Green selected for him. After several trades, JBA's next pick was the 50th in the draft (Round 3, Pick 2), which was used on Ashley Webber in an attempt to force Eauxps I. Fourgott (who had selected Sidney with the 41st pick) to make a trade that would benefit the Tapirs. After this, JBA used picks on Bobby Higginson (67th), Gail Weinmann (78th), Dominique Lowe (82nd), and Derek McCattery (89th); the McCattery pick was the 17th pick of the fourth round, and afterwards JorgesBankAccount wouldn't pick again until the 8th, when he made an admitted reach for one of his favorite players in Ricky Johnson. Eventually, JBA ended up with the 211th and 216th picks (6th from last and final pick in the draft, respectively), and selected Olive Haldi and Angelique Harding.

During and after the draft, JBA expressed disappointment and annoyance at not being able to draft her other favorite player, Angela Delvecchio. This was because although Angela was projected as a late sixth-rounder at the earliest, Jarod Johnson took her with the first pick in the draft. Despite this, JorgesBankAccount wasn't finished with the team's lineup, as she engaged in several trades. First, she sent Ashley Webber to GSchlim and got Stephanie Morgan in return (Ashley Webber would later end up on Eauxps's Super-Duper Melonheads in a subsequent trade between GSchlim and Eauxps), which resulted in having Stephanie and her two clones (Gail Weinmann and Dominique Lowe) on the team. This wasn't all, though, as after Yurya allowed a minor extension to the trade deadline after JBA petitioned for it due to having a trade almost completely in place, a blockbuster deal sent Jay Green and Bobby Higginson to GSchlim in exchange for Barry Bonds and Gwen Sears. This meant that when the season started, JorgesBankAccount wound up with none of her first three picks actually on the team.

The Tapirs' first game came against Marco's New York Yankees, in a game charged up by JBA and Marco having agreed before the season to be each other's trash-talk rivals. Although the Yankees played a strong game at home, putting up a run differential of 9, the Tapirs did even better, winning 12-0 and taking the win. However, after that game the Tapirs would struggle, posting a 4-1 score at Steele Stadium against JLund's Baltimore Bombers (who posted a 4-0 score and took the win) and then only recording 5 hits in their first game at their chosen home field of Sandy Flats where although they managed to score 4 runs off of those five hits, the Tapirs lost to elchrisblanco's Seattle Mariners, who posted a 7-1 score.

Things would look up for the Tapirs after those first three division games, however, as they managed a 12-0 score in their next game against Jarod Johnson's Montreal Expos (who lost 1-0), and then upset takenotes011's Anaheim Angels by a final score of 15-13 (Tapirs: 16-1, Angels: 11-0). The Tapirs would keep up their momentum as the All-Star Break, with final scores of 19-2 at home against jmacdrums's New York Giants (Tapirs: 16-0, Giants: 2-0) and 14-1 on the road against T-Boz's Tampa Bay Devil Rays (Tapirs: 15-1, Devil Rays: 4-3). After the break, they would falter slightly against Shrewsberry's St. Louis Cardinals at home but still win by a score of 8-1 (Tapirs: 8-1, Cardinals: 1-0) before putting up a massive performance at home against JibboDaHibbo's Montreal Marlins in one of the highest scoring games of the year and the only one in the NL where both teams scored over 20 runs with a final score of Tapirs 25, Marlins 22 (Tapirs: 21-0, Marlins: 22-0). After that, the Tapirs played their last two out-of-division games on the road, beating Nodakkian's Atlanta Braves by scoring 11 while the Braves fell to the Tapirs AI by a run (Tapirs: 12-1, Braves: 5-6) and the Crazy Cubs in EclipsedxShadow's only game by a score of 27-8 (Tapirs: 27-0, Cubs: 10-4).

Upon returning to divisional play, however, the Tapirs would suffer their third loss of the season and first since Week 3, falling to the Mariners on the road by a score of 16-7 (Mariners: 14-0, Tapirs: 7-0). This was the Tapirs last road game, however, and they'd bounce back at home a week later, knocking off the division leading Bombers 16-6 (Tapirs: 14-0, Bombers: 6-0). The Tapirs followed it up by defeating the Yankees in their final game 21-1 (Tapirs: 18-0, Yankees: 2-1) and clinching the division and #1 seed when the Bombers fell to the Mariners (both teams finished with 10-4 records, and although the Angels also finished 11-3, they lost the tiebreaker for home-field advantage on the basis of the Week 5 head-to-head result).

In the playoffs, the Tapirs drew the #3 seed Devil Rays in the first round by virtue of the Mariners taking the wild card seed and a rule that states that if a #1 seed and the wild card team are from the same division, they don't play each other to start the playoffs. This round went by quickly, as the Tapirs easily swept the Devil Rays, winning at home by a score of 15-3 (Tapirs: 13-0, Devil Rays: 3-0) and on the road by a score of 39-7 (Tapirs: 39-0, Devil Rays: 7-0) in a game that saw them garner 8 total Crazy Bunts and explode in the 5th inning. This would be the end of the easy games for the Tapirs, however, as in the NL Championship they'd face off against the Anaheim Angels, who had lost only once since the Tapirs beat them in Week 5 (in the playoffs against the Mariners, where they put up an uncharacteristically weak performance and only scored one run on the road; despite the dud game, they still easily won their other two games to take the series). Game 1 of the League Championship saw good games from both sides, as both teams scored 15; however, as the Tapirs were the home team, they got an extra three runs due to not batting in the sixth, and the win was further reinforced by the Angels having given up two runs to the Tapirs AI, leaving Game 1 with a final score of 18-13 in favor of the Tapirs (Tapirs: 15-0, Angels: 15-2). Game 2 saw the Angels take home field, and while the Tapirs arguably put up an even better score (18-2), in this game the Angels did much better, winning 21-1 and taking the second game by a score of 24-16. This sent the series to a decisive game three with the Tapirs listed as the home team; there, the Tapirs put up their best game of the series, scoring 17 runs on 5 innings of batting and allowing none, while the Angels put up their weakest game offensively, scoring only 12 runs while allowing 2. This gave the Tapirs a 20-10 win and the NL title and sent them to the World Series.

In the World Series, the Tapirs faced off against the AL Champion, crazyei8hts's Crazy Indians. In order to simplify play, it was decided that instead of following a format where the teams would trade the title of home team every game, they would instead follow a setup where the Tapirs would play as the away team, then the home team, then the away team, then the away team again, and finally the home team, *assuming that the series ran to five games*. While this did mean that the Indians would be the home team in 3 of the first four games, it also meant that if the series happened to go to five games, the Tapirs would hold the possibly decisive home advantage; furthermore, and more importantly, it meant that less futzing around with the file would be required if both players beat the AI in their games (which, given that neither JBA nor crazyei8hts had lost to the AI this season, was a good assumption).

Game 1 saw the Tapirs putting up their worst performance since Week 3, as they ended up beating the AI by only 5 runs on the road (6-1). The Indians didn't have their strongest performance of the season, or even of the playoffs, but they didn't have to, as their 12 runs in a home shutout were more than enough to guarantee them the first game in the series, 14-5. Things changed abruptly in Game 2, though, as the Indians struggled in a game where the AI Tapirs seemed to constantly have them on the wrong foot and the Indians only managed to win by 1 run (4-3). Not much would be needed for the Tapirs to win, but they got more than enough, scoring 22 runs at home in a shutout and taking Game 2 by a score of 26-1. Game 3 gave the advantage back to the Indians, however. Prior to the reveal of results, JBA asked for guidance on the possibility of a rules violation she committed, posting two videos of possible violations; unlike previous instances where JBA had submitted possible rules violations for scrutiny, it was decided that one of these displayed a clear violation of the rules, and the Tapirs were penalized five runs. Both teams won 14-0, but due to the Indians home bonus and the penalty assessed on the Tapirs, the final score was 16-9 in favor of the Indians. This meant that Game 4 would be decisive, as the Indians could very well take the series without ever having to win without the home bonus; however, the Tapirs would stand in their way, as they put up the most runs in the series yet, scoring 26 runs and allowing only 1 for a differential of 25. The Indians, meanwhile, had one of their weaker outings, winning 10-0, meaning that the game ended with a final of 25-12 and the series was sent to a decisive Game 5.

## Season 10

### 2001

The Astros returned after a three-season absence in Season 10, when they were named the Humongous Astros and coached by rBBL rookie Freakshow55. They played in the AL West and their home field was Tin Can Alley. This proved to be a wise choice, as the Astros went 6-1 at home. They were known for having a potent offense, scoring 247 runs, the second most in the league. Their offense carried them on their way to an 11-3 record and a division title, earning them the #2 seed in the AL playoff bracket.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Astros used their home field to their advantage as they did in the regular season. Against the Royals, the Astros won Game 1 at home but fell in Game 2 on the road. But in the decisive Game 3, the Astros exploded for a +23 run differential, taking down the Royals and advancing to the ALCS.

The ALCS was a humongous battle as the Humongous Astros faced the Humongous Giants. Both teams were well known for scoring a ton of runs, and this series did not disappoint. The Astros won Game 1 19-15, but the Giants responded with a 24-13 victory in Game 2. In Game 3, the matchup was as tight as ever as the Astros won on the home team multiplier, 16-16!

The World Series featured the Astros going up against the Monsters, who represented the 2001 league in the Season 9 World Series. The Monsters were a more defensive oriented team, and that showed as the Monsters upset the Astros 7-6 in Game 1. But that was about all the Monsters would get, as the Astros took the next two games, 13-1 and 19-1. With a two games to one series lead, the Astros saved the best for last and walloped the Monsters 33-3, giving rookie coach Freakshow the World Series Championship!

Frank Thomas earned some individual hardware for his efforts on the mound, as he won the American League Ace Wilson Award.

### 2003

In the 2003 league, the Astros were coached by bobbyJONES2370. They were named the Texas Astros and they competed in the FL East with a home field of Dubois Diamond. The Astros were notorious for having a stalwart AI defense, allowing the fewest runs to user coaches in the history of rBBL, just 69 runs over the 14 game season. This was a big reason why they dominated the Frontyard League, going 11-3 and capturing the #2 overall seed.

However, their luck would soon run out as they were upset in the first round by the 3 seeded Diamondbacks, two games to none.

## Season 11

### 2001

Freakshow returned for his title defense as coach of the Humongous Astros once again. He tried to get the band back together, taking the same home field of Tin Can Alley and drafting four of the same players. The Astros seemed to pick up right where they left off, starting off 7-2 atop the AL Central. But the Astros suffered a devastating second half slide, finishing 1-4 over their last five games in a tie for the AL Central lead with the Pirates.

Due to some wild card teams having the same records as the 8-6 Pirates and Astros, an interesting tiebreaker setup was used. The Pirates and Astros played a tiebreaker game for the AL Central, and the Fishes and Marlins played a tiebreaker game for the 5 seed. The losers of each game would meet to play for the 6 seed, with the loser of that game eliminated. The Pirates beat the Astros in a close AL Central tiebreaker match, 7-5. The Astros would then face the Marlins, who lost to the Fishes. In a simul-streamed affair, the Astros were absolutely crushed by the Marlins, 20-3. Counting the tiebreaker games, the Astros ended their season on a 5 game losing streak in which winning any of those games would have clinched them a playoff spot.

The Astros accepted a bid to the Consolation Tournament to try and end their season on a high note.

### 2003

In the 2003 league, the Astros were also rebooted by their previous coach, bobbyBONES2370. Bobby went a slightly different rout with his Astros in Season 11, making their home field Tin Can Alley and only drafting one player from the S10 2003 Astros. However, the Astros' revamping had similar regular season results, as they once again finished 11-3. This time, they clinched the #1 overall seed in the Frontyard League and earned a bye in the new 6-team playoff format.

The Astros welcomed the Monsters in the FLDS after the Monsters advanced past the Wild Card Round. This series is currently ongoing.