The Houston Astros have now made seven post-season appearances, and four in the past five years since Larry Dierker has started managing the team. The team has never reached the World Series and, even worse, have yet to advance past the first round of the playoffs.
Even though success has been hard to come by, there have certainly been plenty of memorable post-season moments for the team. In 1980 and 1986, the team played very well but it seemed that fate was not on their side. Injuries, questionable umpiring, and freak plays seemed to follow the team during those post-season games. In other years, however, the team has simply been overmatched and has watched their offense wilt in the face of outstanding pitching.
Each of the team's seven trips to the post-season are listed below, ordered from "best" to "worst" in terms of success. Each entry has a link to a full-blown description of the post-season series, with far more photos and detail than you'll find anywhere else. I hope you enjoy them.
| 1980 | Astros vs. Phillies |
 (c) Houston Astros |
It was probably the most exciting post-season series in all of major league history, and was all the closest that the Astros have ever come to reaching the World Series. All five games were hard fought, and the last four required extra innings to decide. The Astros jumped to a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series and needed to only win one of the last two home games to reach the World Series. Not only that, but the Astros had a two-run lead in the 8th inning in both games, only to watch the lead disappear and lose in extra innings. Game Four was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable games the team has ever played. Terry Puhl (pictured) was outstanding, leading all hitters with a .526 average during the series. |
| 1986 | Astros vs. Mets |
 (c) Houston Astros |
The Astros pushed the Mets to six games in this best-of-seven series before succumbing in a dramatic, 16-inning marathon that inspired a book called "The Greatest Game Ever Played". Houston was no underdog in this series, matching the Mets blow for blow, with bad umpiring tipping the scales to the Mets in the final two games. A good thing, too, for Mike Scott (pictured) was unhittable in his two starts and was scheduled to start Game 7. Instead, he became the first player to be named MVP for a losing team in a Championship Series. |
| 1981 | Astros vs. Dodgers |
 (c) Houston Astros |
Thanks to a mid-season player's strike, the baseball season was split into two halves which the winner of each half playing in a post-season series to determine the division champion. Considering their poor start, the Astros benefited greatly from this arrangement and responded by winning the second-half championship. A one-dimensional team, Houston's incredible pitching could not compensate for an offense that scored only six runs in the five-game series. Runs were scarce for both teams; neither team batted .200 for the series. Houston won the first two games at home, but lost three straight in Los Angeles. |
| 1999 | Astros vs. Braves |
 (c) Houston Astros |
In their third straight trip to the post-season, the Astros had only marginally better luck than in the previous two seasons. Atlanta continued its post-season mastery of the team, winning the best-of-five series, 3-1. Ken Caminiti (pictured) was the offensive star for the team, batting .471 with three homers and eight RBI. But his bat was not enough to overcome the continued post-season slumps of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, along with a remarkable game-saving play by Atlanta shortstop Walt Weiss that kept the Astros from winning in Game Three. |
| 1998 | Astros vs. Padres |
 (c) Houston Astros |
Houston took what many considered to be the best team in franchise history into the 1998 playoffs with big expectations. The offense had led the league in scoring despite playing in the Astrodome, and fireballer Randy Johnson (pictured) had been picked up at the trading deadline explicity to improve the team's chances in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the offense ran into a buzzsaw named Kevin Brown who, through a post-season scheduling quirk, was able to start Games One and Three, winning both. Although he pitched very well, striking out 17 in 14 innings with a 1.93 ERA, Johnson nevertheless fell victim to an anemic post-season offense. The Astros won only Game Two, losing the series 3-1. |
| 1997 | Astros vs. Braves |
 (c) Houston Astros |
At first it seemed that the euphoria of reaching the post-season for the first time in 11 years would be enough for Houston to overcome the heavily-favored Braves. But, in reality, this team had a lot of offensive holes and had needed only 84 wins to take first place in a weak division. To make matters worse, the Braves had a lot of great pitching. When Houston's only real offensive threats, Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio (pictured), suddenly lost their stroke, any chances of the team winning were lost. The Braves swept all three games. |
| 2001 | Astros vs. Braves |
 (c) Houston Astros |
The Astros entered the 2001 playoffs as the #1 seed, just completing a dramatic division race with the Cardinals. But the Atlanta Braves had their number again, capitalizing on costly errors by Julio Lugo (pictured) in the first two games, ignominiously sweeping the Astros away in just three games. The second-guessing and missed expectations led manager Larry Dierker to step aside and let someone else hold the reins. |