Remember 2017? Specifically remember Game 6 of the World Series in 2017? The Astros had torn the Dodgers’ hearts out with an insane win 13-12 in Game 5. They needed a road win behind their ace Justin Verlander to take the series. Sound familiar?

Doubt is the avid fan’s closest friend and biggest antagonist. We agonize over every pitch; self torture ourselves over every small setback or change in the narrative. This is probably doubly true at playoff time as the Sword of Damocles dangles over our favorite team’s season and legacy.

Earlier in the day Sunday, the other active Houston team, the Texans had a redemption Sunday where they came back from turnovers and mistakes to beat a tough KC Chiefs team.

If Dan P was at home working on the computer this would be a bit of a stat filled analysis of a very intriguing series. But this will be an on the fly, on the phone look at the Astros and Yanks from the heart as much as from the brain.

Coming into the playoffs Astro fans had concerns about the back end of the starting rotation, the offense’s inability to hit with RISP and some concerns about pieces of the bullpen.

Talk about your small sample sizes. Here are some observations after two whole games, both wins (6-2, 3-1) by the home team Houston Astros.

The Division Series are always uncomfortable affairs for the favored teams. They are only best 3 out of 5 series and that means things like momentum, luck and even umpiring crews can have an effect on the final outcome. The Division Series for the top team in the league has all that, plus the fact…

This period between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs is rather strange. It reminds one of the All Star break. Everyone is flying forward at full speed, pauses for a few days and then hits the ground running again. This pause and a little research has resulted in today’s…