I was on the phone and had the sound from the tv muted. In mid-sentence I interrupted myself, "holy f---!"

Interesting that you mention 1986. I thought of 1986, too, but I thought of the ALCS. Like the Astros, the Angels were one strike away from going to the World Series, but then a home run proved to be a dagger through the heart. We'll see if the Astros react better than the Angels did. For their sake, Oswalt had better be on tomorrow.

Was I the only person thinking they were crazy to pitch to Pujols, before he slammed that pitch? I was going nuts whenever they'd pitch to him. "Why? Why?" That's all I could yell. Fortunately I'm rooting for the Cardinals, but from Houston's POV, that made NO sense. In fact, it was absolutely insane. I'd almost go as far as to say they threw that game.

Him and Bonds are arguably the best hitters in the NL, why would you pitch to either, when there's 2 outs and a base open in the bottom of the 9th in a game where you're about to go to the World Series? What's that all about?

Even tho I saw it coming, I didn't see him hitting the ball THAT far. I think I woke my neighbors too.

I will never forget them showing the replay of the Astros sugout when it was hit, and Andy Pettitte clearly saying "OH MY GOD" with this stunned look on his face. heh what were they thinking?

"I've never heard 43,000 people just shut up like that" - Larry Walker

My roommates and I had the exact same reaction. No rooting interest in the series whatsoever, but we were all jumping around and screaming like idiots. What else can you do when you witness greatness?

when i saw that they were gonna pitch to pujols instead of sanders with the game on the line i said to my husband - that STUPID phil, there goes the game and the words barely out my mouth then the ball went over the tracks.

i just got up and walked out the door cuz i knew we just lost the pennant

In their defense, Lidge made Pujols look clumsy with the first strike.

I yelled in excitement also, even though I hate the Cardinals (though the Astros are not much better).

Good point. Would the Dodgers have pitched to Bonds in that situation? No way.

I'm not a fan of either team, but basically I'm pulling for the Astros for history's sake. I was sitting there with my girlfriend, who isn't even a baseball fan, and our jaws just dropped. "Wow." There was the fact that he hit the home run, but there was also the fact that it was such a monster shot.

Just Saturday we listened to the end of the USC game on the radio... I'm not much of a football fan, and she's totally not a football fan, and we had even just had a conversation about how she feels no connection to USC's football team, just being in their Pharmacy program. But we heard the last couple of minutes of that game, and when Leinart sneaked it into the end zone we both cheered giddily.

That's the kind of drama you can get from sports.

I shouted "Whoops!" when Pujols hit that blast. I'm not a fan of either team, but I feel bad for Biggio. During the 9th, he was just quietly sitting there watching the game. The younger Astros were already celebrating, but not Biggio.

Had to be some serious deja vu for Clemens, having lived through the Dave Henderson homer and the Buckner thing in 1986 (in which he was the starting pitcher), Game One of the 2000 World Series, the BY Kim Home Run Derby and Game 7 (in which he was the starting pitcher) in 2001, the Aaron Boone game in 2003 (in which he was the starting pitcher), the Edmonds homer last year, and the Burke shot in the NLDS (when he was on in relief). The man's seen some big moments.

My condolences, Lisa. But you still got Rocket and Oswalt. Plus the White Sox are just gathering rust, especially their bullpen.

would the dodgers have pitched to barry bonds in that situation???

HECK NO!!!

but i'll tell you straight out that phil would. because he ain't got no freaking common sense and he believes in "confidence" and rah rah and all that crap. which is why we gonna be sitting on the couch in the WS. and it hurt a LOT less when randy johnson got beat TWICE in 98 and we went down nice and quiet, even though we really had a better team.

i'm just mad at myself BEEcause I was dumb enough to BEElieve that that stupid phil was the teflon manager

I had an Ozzie Smith-off-Tom Niedenfuer moment, and it wasn't pleasant.

Hey Crank --- that's pretty remarkable about Clemens. I hadn't realized that.

Bill Simmons has a great piece about the Pujols shot in today's ESPN Page 2.

Still, hey, there's still two games to play. The Astros only need to win one of them to advance. The 2001 D-Backs shook it off.

Not only did the 2001 Diamondbacks shake it off, but they shook it off after it happened TWO nights in a row.

kudos to Eckstein for once again finding a gap with two strikes on him. He has a remarkable knack for never really being behind in the count.

For those who fault Lidge/Garner for pitching to Pujols, there's no clear cut answer. NOT to pitch to him is to put the tieing run in scoring position. In hindsight, they would do that in a heart beat but baseball ain't played in hindsight.