Having made a mockery of a race that found them beginning the weekend with a 12.5 game lead in the American League West, the Houston Astros appear ready to take on a much more daunting opponent than any they’ve faced.
The 2001 Seattle Mariners.
Owners of an A.L. record 116 victories, the ’01 Mariners’ place in baseball history — OK, let’s be specific: regular-season baseball history — has remained secure to the point no team has come close to challenging it.
But as the Astros keep on keeping on, they are compiling numbers that draw comparisons to those that dazzled the world 16 years ago.