[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 22931]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   CONGRATULATING HOUSTON ASTROS ON WINNING BERTH IN NATIONAL LEAGUE 
                                PLAYOFFS

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, there are some times on the 
floor that we cannot help but celebrate our hometown heroes. Let me 
simply, among the many heroes that we have and certainly those fighting 
for us around the world, be able to acknowledge our great team in 
Houston, the Houston Astros, the 2004 National League wild card 
winners.
  We are delighted that in early September the Astros won 12 straight 
games to pull even in the race for the National League wild card. Yet 
somehow they still had another gear left in them and they became 
baseball's hottest team down the stretch. We congratulate Drayton 
McLane and all of his stars. We are glad that our friend Roger came on 
home.
  The Astros won their final seven games of the regular season and nine 
of their last 10 to overcome Chicago and San Francisco in the race for 
the wild card.

                              {time}  1515

  From August 14 to the end of the regular season, the Astros had a 
Major League best 36-10 record. The Astros currently have an amazing 
18-game home winning streak, the longest such streak in baseball in the 
last 10 years. While this streak is extraordinary, it is not hard to 
see why the Astros do well at home. This year, the Astros had a 
franchise record for attendance with over 3 million fans coming to 
watch baseball in the beautiful Minute Maid Park in my own 18th 
congressional district. Clearly, the great fans of Houston are excited. 
Go Astros today, Saturday, and tomorrow. And we are looking forward to 
the World Series, maybe not in Houston but certainly our Astros playing 
the game. We are happy. Congratulations to the Houston Astros.
  I rise today to honor my hometown baseball team, the Houston Astros, 
the 2004 National League Wild Card winners. Since 1975 the Astros have 
been a part of the heart and soul of the Houston community. There have 
been many great players in the history of the Astros. Hall of fame 
players like the early greats Nelly Fox and Eddie Mathews who made 
baseball our national pastime. Players like the great Joe Morgan who 
finished as one of the best second basemen of all time. Of course we 
all know about the legendary Nolan Ryan, baseball's all time strikeout 
king. Among these Astros greats is my good friend Enos Cabell who 
played third base over eight seasons with the Astros. At six foot five 
inches tall they aptly called him `Big E' and today he is a successful 
businessman in the city of Houston. With all this great history for the 
Astros franchise it would be hard to take the team to a new level, but 
this current squad of players has done it.
  When this current team entered Spring Training there were great hopes 
that this Astros team would be amongst the best in our history. With 
the addition of hometown star pitchers Andy Petite and Roger Clemens 
there was no reason to believe that the Astros couldn't compete for a 
championship. This team never gave up; they never looked at the 
standings and thought their hopes and that of their fans were futile. 
No, instead this team took one game at a time and slowly built up 
momentum. First there was a four-game winning streak to get the Astros 
back to a .500 record. Then in early September, the Astros won 12 
straight games to pull even in the race for the National League Wild 
Card. Yet, somehow they still had another gear left in them and they 
became baseball's hottest team down the stretch. The Astros won the 
final seven games of the regular season and nine of their last 10 to 
overcome Chicago and San Francisco in the race for the Wild Card. From 
Aug. 14 to the end of the regular season, the Astros had a major 
league-best 36-10 record. The Astros currently have an amazing 18-game 
home winning streak, the longest such streak in baseball in the last 10 
years. While this streak is extraordinary, it's not hard to see why the 
Astros do so well at home. This year the Astros set a franchise record 
for attendance with over 3 million fans coming to watch baseball in 
beautiful Minute Maid Park. Clearly, the great fans of Houston are the 
tenth man on the field, the ones who have cheered our Astros on to 
victory.
  I am so proud of this year's team because of how they overcame 
adversity this year. Despite the high expectations and the early season 
troubles this team never got down on itself, like true Texans they 
lifted themselves up off the dirt and played to their potential. Much 
of the credit for this year's success should go to Astros owner Drayton 
McLane who assembled this current team and has been such a great 
franchise owner in Houston for many years. Also, the work of Astros 
Manager Phil Garner to resurrect this team will go down in baseball 
legend. He came in to a very difficult situation, one in which most 
others are content to mediocrity, but instead he decided to lead. His 
calming influence and superior baseball knowledge gave the players the 
confidence to go out on the field and succeed day in and day out.
  For the last decade the heart and soul of the Astros franchise has 
been Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio and this year is no different. Both 
players have been perennial All-Stars and have won numerous awards over 
their long careers, but their leadership in the clubhouse is what makes 
them such great Astros, there is no doubt that one day both of their 
uniforms will be retired in Minute Maid Park. I also want to recognize 
the great Roger Clemens, who undoubtedly will go down as one of the 
greatest pitchers of all time. He has been many things over his 
illustrious career, he started out as Boston Red Sock, then a Toronto 
Blue Jay, and then as a New York Yankee, but no matter what uniform he 
was wearing his heart was always in Houston. This year he postponed his 
retirement to help his hometown Astros try to win a World Series, with 
an astounding 18-4 record this year he has clearly helped pitch the 
Astros into the playoffs. This Astros season, especially their comeback 
from the bottom of the division has been a total team effort.
  This inspiring team is now in the National League Division Series 
against the Atlanta Braves. They have already managed to take one of 
two games from the Braves in this best of five series and gain the home 
field advantage. With all due respect to my colleagues from Atlanta, I 
have to say that I am confident the Astros can finish off the Braves at 
home in Houston this weekend. Because the one advantage this team has 
that fewer others can claim is that if their backs are against the wall 
in these playoffs you know this team will never quit. It is that 
inspiring spirit that has many of us Houstonians dreaming of a World 
Series Championship.

                          ____________________