To be honest though, with a combination of both work and personal travel and the annoying as shit presence of the Dodgers, I've actually watched way less playoff baseball than I have in years. Of course, that changed a bit with that epic ALCS - from watching in dismay as Seattle raced out to a 2-0 lead, and the spectre of two sweeps loomed, to seeing Toronto rally back with those gorgeous light blue uniforms in Seattle, to the epic Mariners moment that was Game 5, to the Blue Jays winning a calm Game 6.
And then I sat down at my TV on Monday Night to watch Game 7, and was treated to one of the better spectacles in sports in a while, capped off with a long forgetten love in George Springer doing what he did so many times for my team. Yes, the 2025 playoffs didn't feature the Astros - but of course an ex-Astro, one of the symbols (for good or bad, as I'll get to) played a major role, not only in the actual results in the month, but in my emotional attachment to it.
Let's rewind a bit, shall we, to 2014. A now famous Sports Illustrated cover comes out (at the tail end of that actually being a thing - RIP SI). It states on the cover "The Houston Astros, your 2017 World Champions". This was the year the Astros exited arguably the worst three year run ever (admittedly, blatantly tanking in 2012 and 2013) to improve to 70 wins. Of course, SI would be write (as they were similarly in 2011 when they wrote a story predicting the 2015 Royals), but more than that, the guy on teh cover, in that beautiful throwback Astros uniform was George Springer.
At that point, he was a 24-year old rookie, the #11 pick in 2011 (the last pre-Jeff Luhnow draft) picked out of Connecticut - the first real "super prospect" of the Astros rebuild. As much as Correa's call-up a year later cemented the complete end of the rebuild, Springer's callup was the beginning of the end. There was a reason he was on the cover. He was a signature player.
Springer was a remarkably consistent, great player in Houston, and for now most of his Toronto career. His OPS+ in Houston was the following: 126-129-125-141-114-150-141. He was a three time all star. He was also, funnily, the leadoff guy. I think this often gets forgotten, as it just makes sense that diminuative Jose Altuve should've been the leadoff guy - but he wasn't. Springer was. He was the lead, and it never showed more than in the 2017 World Series.
It's easy to remember Springer was the 2017 World Series MVP, but I think it gets lost just how good he was that series. Ironically, he was dreadful for 1.5 games - with a golden sombrero in Game 1 and an equally bad start to Game 2, but then something clicked. He finished the last six games of that series slashing .440 / .533 / 1.160, with five HRs and 11 hits overall. He hit homers in Games 4-7 of the series. Three of his overall five are so memorable to me. The first being the Home Run that finally basically settled the first of two epic games in Game 2. The last being his HR to make it 5-0 in Game 7, and for all intents and purposes end the series. The middle one was one of the msot pure, sweet swings and no-doubt-about-it-ever home runs in that epic Game 5. Springer was just insane.
Springer stayed great for the rest of his Houston career, but then walked in Free Agency to Toronto - another sign of things to come for Astros fans (and me). It wasn't a surprsie that Springer went away - as good as he was, he wasn't Altuve, Correa or Bregman. And the logic was they would let Springer walk after 2020 to save money for Carlos Correa. But of course they let Correa walk, in theory to save money for Bregman, who of course they let walk to in theory save money for Kyle Tucker, who of course they traded away to save money for god knows who. In that sense, the loss of Springer became a harbinger as well.
Truthfully, the Astros aren't cheap. They've consistently run one of the higher payrolls in baseball for near a decade now. Owner Jim Crane said as the team came out of their rebuild that when they got good and it became time to spend, he would spend. He has, but he has an edict, annoyingly one incepted in him by disgraced GM Jeff Luhnow, that he won't go long term. The Astros have still not given out more than a 5-year term. Of course the Springers, Correas, Bregmans, Tuckers want more (even if Bregman didn't get it last winter). Crane wouldn't budge - and instead re-invested those savings on mostly terrible contracts to the Jose Abreu's and Brian Abreu's and (seemingly) Christan Walker's of the world.
Anyway, I digress - but when Springer left for Toronto, it was easy for me to move on and forget about him. It helps when you go to the World Series each of the next two years. But I truthfully never lost my soft spot for George - further helps when I have a soft spot for Toronto the city. And as I circle back to his home run, man did it feel so good to see that fanbase react to Springer's HR this year, the way I did to so many eight years ago.
It was a classic Springer home run - so well hit, so well struck, that you wonder how he doesn't have 40 a year (to be fair, he's at 293 for his career!). It was such an incredible moment watching that crowd go crazy, watching them stay crazy for the remaining six outs. Watching Springer get his due. It's been weird as the various ex-Astros have ventured out to such mixed success. Correa's was super up and down in Minnesota before weirdly now coming back (though I still love that!). Tucker was graet for half a season but was mired in such a slump to end it. I had the most mixed feelings ever for Bregman being a clubhouse leader for the Red Sox of all teams (and hope to God he goes somewhere that allows me to actually root for him again). But seeing Springer become this veteran clubhouse leader, this beloved figure in another market, has given me so much joy.
It will bring me even bigger joy to watch him in the World Series, to watch his home fans go crazy for him again, to watch him loudly booed at Dodger Stadium, and to know he doesn't fear the Dodgers - if anything their fans have nightmares of Springer.
This of course brings me to a brief aside on the never-ending hate of the 2017 Astros players. Maybe it is because it's easy to forget about the Blue Jays, and he never played a real game in front of fans in an Astros uniform after the scandal broke, but until now I never realize that Springer engendered so much hatred. The guys taht stayed on the Astros for years - let alone were part of their two pennant winning clubs (Correa, Altuve, Bregman) - of course get copious amounts of boos forever. But I never realized that Springer would still draw the ire - even moreso because after the scandal broke, while Correa and Bregman were a bit defiant, my memory is Springer stayed pretty silent. But man-o-man was I met with so many tweets and stories about him being a cheater and how no one should celebrate his moment.
Of course, I am biased, but screw all that. We are eight years and two presidential administrations away from the scandal year (let alone the fact it is still heavily debated how much it actually helped Houston, and even more debated if they were doing it in the palyoffs). Springer though is a sharp enough, great enough guy to not worry about it. I don't think he'll let the boos get to him. If anything he'll relish it.
Anyway, back to the moment. I think people will lose sight of just how incredible that home run was. It was the first ever home run in the 7th or later in a Game 7 to give a team the lead when trailing by more than one run. Granted, there's a lot of qualifiers in taht condition, but still. that is about as clutch as it gets. We can quibble with teh Mariners bullpen choice, but it is a lasting moment that will live on in highlight reels, and one of my ex-Astros, one of my quietly favorite players got to do it. I don't care if I can't celebrate it as an Astros fan, I celebrate it none the less. It's been a fairly staid October (other than the Red Sox losing fairly embarrassingly), but Springer's home run got me back in. A perfect moment to me, and for him, and truthfully, for baseball.
