How 2024 Astros could take page from 2005 team's playbook

This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And *subscribe* to get it regularly in your inbox.

HOUSTON -- Just like some of the players, there are quite a few Astros fans that know nothing else but winning. Perhaps they jumped on the bandwagon in 2015, when the Astros made a surprising run to the playoffs -- two years before they began a string of seven consecutive trips to the American League Championship Series, culminating with two World Series championships.

For those fans, the Astros’ 14-24 start is not only disappointing, but surprising. How do they cope with a team that’s off to one of its worst starts in franchise history? Wasn’t this the same team that was one win from advancing to a fifth World Series in seven years in 2023?

Astros fans who have been around a bit longer can give you some advice -- remember the 2005 Astros.

That team was coming off a trip to the National League Championship Series and had a star-studded roster with a rotation anchored by Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Roy Oswalt and a lineup led by Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio and Morgan Ensberg. The 2005 Astros stumbled out of the gate and were 15-23 -- one game ahead of this year’s team’s record through 38 games.

“If you could look for a way to lose a baseball game, we could find a way to lose it,” Biggio said. “It wasn’t just one guy.”

Sounds familiar. Ultimately, the 2005 Astros overcame a 15-30 start and rallied to win a Wild Card spot on the final day of the season, advancing to the World Series to square off against the White Sox.

For those still clinging to hope that the 2024 team is poised for similar comeback story, here is how the 2005 team climbed its way back:

• The Astros were outscored 51-16 during a six-game losing streak in early May that ended with a Mother's Day rout in Atlanta on May 8, losing 16-0 to the Braves. Former Astros lefty Mike Hampton threw a two-hit shutout and hit a home run for the Braves, while three Astros pitchers combined to allow 16 runs. The Astros were 11-19.

“I remember we were all kind of flabbergasted on how poorly the offense was just based on the personnel we have,” Astros catcher Brad Ausmus said.

• The Astros beat the Marlins, 2-1, on May 9 in Florida behind Clemens, who threw seven scoreless innings and struck out six. The win was just the Astros' second on the road, against 14 losses. Clemens stood at the door of the clubhouse after the game, high-fiving each player as they walked in.

“When a team leader like Clemens gets fired up after a win, it might be one game in Florida in May, [but] it can sometimes mean a lot more,” closer Brad Lidge said.

• Facing the Rangers on May 21 in Arlington, the Astros allowed eight homers and lost 18-3, dropping them to 15-27.

“I remember thinking, 'This is the worst version of a loss,’” Ensberg said. “Nothing went right.”

• On June 1, when the Astros were 19-32, the front page of the Houston Chronicle sports section printed a large graphic of a tombstone with a headline that read "The cold hard truth: It's off." Printed on the tombstone was "RIP Astros season; April 5, 2005-June 1, 2005."

“It certainly didn’t hurt motivation,” Ausmus said.

• The Astros beat the Rockies, 7-1, on June 29 to improve to 35-41 with their ninth win in 12 games. Biggio set the all-time hit-by-pitch record when he was plunked by Rockies pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim. After beating the Padres on July 6, the Astros were 41-42.

• In the second-to-last game before the All-Star break, the Astros beat the Dodgers, 4-2, to improve to 43-43. They were 28-13 since their 15-30 start and had clawed back to within six games back in the NL Wild Card race.

• The Astros posted baseball’s best record from June 1 to the end of the regular season, going 70-41. They were 16-9 in June and 22-7 in July. On Aug. 1, they were 57-48 and had a one-game lead over the Nationals in the NL Wild Card race.

• No win was bigger in that span than an 8-6 victory in Philadelphia on Sept. 7 in which Biggio hit a dramatic two-out, three-run homer in the ninth inning off former teammate Billy Wagner.

“We could look around and see the talent and know we’re going to be OK,” Lidge said. “Secondly, we had a bunch of guys that just didn’t care that we weren't doing well in a good way. We didn’t feel the pressure. We needed a winning streak and we knew we could do it. …The rest is history.”