It was in late August when Hurricane Harvey came into Houston and obliterated people’s homes and lives. The deadly storm came through and caused mass destruction with 32,000 people displaced in shelters around the southern coast. The impact was felt as many Texans were left with nothing after the storm. When Hurricane Harvey finally came to an end, many people banded together for relief effort as $72 million was donated. J.J. Watt, star for the Houston Texans, put together a fundraiser that exceeded $37 million. Watt was not the only Houston sports figures to donate to the cause as the Houston Rockets and Houston Astros pitched in $4 million each. The teams would show various support such as patches that read “Houston Strong” and the teams would work through their seasons and dedicate it to the Houston people.

One of the teams in Houston that played as Hurricane Harvey was going on was the Houston Astros.

The Astros continued playing hard and they were sensational as they won their division and they were going to the playoffs. The Astros journey to the World Series  started in Boston where they defeated the Red Sox 3-1. The next challenge was against the New York Yankees. Houston came out strong and defeated the Yankees in two games and they were up 2-0 in the series and then New York stormed back and won three straight games. Houston’s back was against the wall as Aaron Judge and the Yankees wanted to end the Astros season. The Astros returned back to Houston and the home field advantage was too much as the Astros rallied and crushed New York in game six with a win 7-1. After this win, the two best words in sports were uttered. Game. Seven. The Astros came into the game ready and defeated New York 4-0

The tremendous home crowd really made an impact for Houston as they were undefeated at home heading into the World Series.

The team they were facing in the World Series was the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers clinched a trip to the World Series by defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs. The Astros had traveled to Los Angeles first and played two games. They dropped the first one as pitching ace Clayton Kershaw dominated them and Justin Turner hit a two-run homer. The final score was 3-1. In the second game the Astros came in with their ace pitcher, Justin Verlander. The game was tightly contested as both teams went into extra innings, tied at 3. In the tenth inning the Astros star players, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, both hit home runs and extended Houston’s lead 5-3. The Dodgers answered with two runs of their own and tied it back up 5-5. In the eleventh inning it was George Springer that played hero as he hit what would be the game-winning home run.

Houston returned home with a tied series and they had the momentum after winning the previous game in exciting fashion. Houston took advantage of Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish and opened up a quick 4-0 lead in the second inning. This was too much of a hole for Los Angeles as they lost the game 5-3. In game four the Dodgers and Astros were in a low scoring affair for a majority of the night until the Dodgers scored five runs in the ninth inning to secure a 6-2 win. The bats were alive in game five as both teams had multiple home runs. Houston and the Dodgers were tied at 7 until the sixth inning. The Astros blew the game wide open as they scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Los Angeles would answer by scoring three runs in the ninth inning. The score was 12-12 heading into extra innings once again. Alex Bregman would hit a single that helped bring in the game-winning run.

The Astros were up 3-2 in the series as they travelled back to LA to play the final two games in the Dodgers home park. The Dodgers won game six as Joc Pederson homered, resulting in a score of 3-1. This forced a decisive game seven. In Houston, all of the Astros fan cheered on their team in Minute Maid Park. The starting pitcher was Yu Darvish and, once again, he got crushed and the Astros went up 5-0 in the first two innings. This basically made the rest of the game dull, but this did not stop Houston from celebrating the historic victory. This was Houston’s first World Series victory.

This was a win for the Astros, as well as a win for the city of Houston. The win showed how a city and sports can connect to have a monumental victory in the face of adversity.