I submitted this to The Athletic, where I once could have been a contender. They passed on it harder than a pitch to Gary Sanchez in the dirt.
He got a shot because by July 2011, the Astros were bad. Houston’s window of contention wasn’t just closing, it had crime scene tape over it. July 18, 2011 saw the Astros lose to Washington 5-2. They were 31-65. The Astros fielded a lineup as such:
It was…depressing. Somehow I remember this game. The Astros had a 2-1 lead going into the top of the 7th.