That date was the last time the Houston Rockets clinched a playoff series victory. A long, long time ago.
The days of Hakeem, Clyde and Sir Charles were also the beginning days of a long string of success for the Astros. Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, and Luis Gonzalez teamed up to deliver an NL Central Division Championship for the city of Houston.
April 29th was just like any other day in MLB, one that saw the Astros travel to Denver for a game against the Rockies. Bagwell and current Astro hitting coach Sean Berry homered, and the immortal Donnie Wall earned the victory.
Two players from that game are still active major leaguers: a 23 year old outfielder named Bobby Abreu, and a veteran reliever by the name of Russ Springer. The right hander was a veteran in 1997- now he's just a...super-veteran?
I used to be an Astro
1997 would end in what would become a familiar way, by losing to the Braves, three games to none in the NLDS. Bagwell and Biggio sported twin lines of .083/.154/.237 in the series, as Atlanta used only five pitchers over the course of those three games.
Chipper, Andruw, Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux. If those names don't make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, I don't know what will. The names have changed, but the Braves are still the Braves. And our Astros are still the undervalued, underappreciated bunch they were in 1997.