back in the day

Houston makes its first appearance in the postseason in 10 years tonight when it plays New York at Yankee Stadium in the American League Wild Card Game. The Astros had been bad for so long that it seems hard to believe they were once a playoff regular. Between 1997 and 2005, they were in the playoffs six times. They won three straight National League Central championships from 1997-99 and another in 2001. And, yes, a bunch of former Jackson Generals – 26 at one time or another – played on those four teams. (For the record, ex-Jackson Mets Tim Bogar and Chuck Carr and Mississippians Dave Clark, Jay Powell and Charlie Hayes also made appearances in that period.) Houston’s Double-A club played at Smith-Wills Stadium from 1991-99, won Texas League pennants in 1993 and ’96 and produced some outstanding big league talent that aided in winning those NL Central titles. Jackson’s Houston connection included Bobby Abreu, Lance Berkman, Billy Wagner, Richard Hidalgo, Julio Lugo, Chris Holt, Shane Reynolds, Chris Truby, John Halama and Tony Eusebio, who was the first General to reach the big leagues in 1991. The Astros won only the one NL pennant during that run of success, in 2005, when they got in the playoffs as a wild card. There were only two ex-Gens left on the roster by then: Berkman and Raul Chavez. It was fun while it lasted.