History not kind to Astros

HOUSTON — Hold on, Astros fans. Remember 1980? How about 1986?

Of course you do.

While the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs get plenty of mileage out of their tortured pasts, Houston’s baseball fans have a lot more to lament than the old rainbow jerseys. After all, at least the Red Sox and Cubs have been to the World Series.

Not the Astros, now one victory away from beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series. Houston has had big league baseball longer than any other city without a World Series — 43 years. The Colt .45s-turned-Astros were 0-for-7 in postseason series until this year.

And add in the heartaches: players dying (Jim Umbricht at 33, Don Wilson at 29), a pitcher who had a stroke in the prime of his career (J.R. Richard at 30), and a manager’s seizure in the dugout (Larry Dierker in 1999).

The accumulated agony is enough to prompt a former leader of the free world to say an Astros appearance in the World Series “would mean everything.”

“It would be great for the city, great for the club and it would be great for all of baseball,” former President George H.W. Bush said Monday as he headed to his usual front-row seat behind home plate.

By beating the Atlanta Braves to get out of the first round, the Astros took a baby step forward.

But that’s just a good start to anyone who has been rooting for the team since the pre-wild card days, when winning a playoff series meant going to the World Series.

If the Yankees and Red Sox weren’t hogging the spotlight with their thriller of an American League Championship Series, Houston’s plight would be a compelling October story, perhaps even making the Astros sympathetic favorites.

The team’s saga began in 1980, the year Nolan Ryan brought his heater home.

The NLCS was best-of-5 then, and the last four against Philadelphia went extra innings. Houston’s general manager in those days, Tal Smith, quickly rattled off Monday seven things that went wrong, from injuries to blown calls by the umps. Houston still barely lost.

“But it was our first time in the playoffs,” Smith said, “so people were saying, ’You’ll have more chances.’”

Their best came in 1986, the year of Mike Scott’s unhittable splitter and a club-record 96 wins. It felt like the year because of all the improbable, memorable victories, such as Scott’s no-hitter to clinch the division title.

Scott beat Dwight Gooden and the Mets 1-0 in the NLCS opener, then won again in Game 4. He gave up just one run on eight hits over two complete games.

But the Astros were a different club with anyone else on the mound. They lost Game 3 in the bottom of the ninth and Game 5 in extra innings. With Scott ready for Game 7, everyone figured Game 6 would decide the pennant.

Houston blew a 3-0 lead in the ninth, and New York went ahead with a run in the 14th. Billy Hatcher tied it with a home run that barely landed fair, then the Mets scored three more in the 16th.

The Astros got two back and had two on with two outs for Kevin Bass, their best hitter in the series. Jesse Orosco struck him out, and Houston hasn’t been so close to a World Series again.

Until now.

Like the ’86 club, this group has all the compelling characters and story lines to make even casual baseball fans go retro and don bright orange caps.

They came into the season as favorites with a pitching staff featuring local boys Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens. Then injuries and ineptness got manager Jimy Williams fired at the All-Star break. Still, not even adding Carlos Beltran and making ’86 alum Phil Garner the skipper could get them rolling.

Then came a 36-10 finish, with 18 straight home wins. The Cubs collapsed, the Dodgers helped knock out the Giants, and Houston clinched the wild card in its 162nd game.

The Astros went right at the Braves, as if seeking revenge for playoff defeats in 1997, ’99 and ’01.

Then, with Clemens trying to close out the Braves in four games, the Astros lost and returned to Atlanta. Before they went to bed, they found out former teammate Ken Caminiti had died.

Despite heavy hearts, his closest pals on the team, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, shed their postseason reputations and delivered big hits that sent Houston back to the NLCS. The Astros fell behind the Cardinals 2-0, then won three straight.

The home team has won every game, which doesn’t bode well for the Astros, with the final two in St. Louis. All the Astros have to do is win one to make a dream come true for them, their organization and their fans.

We’ll exhale when it happens.

AP Texas sports editor Jaime Aron grew up rooting for the Astros.