For the 3rd consecutive year the Astros had themselves a great regular season only to get eliminated in the LDS. Larry Dierker left the broadcast booth and turned this franchise into a perennial contender. They just couldn't get over the hump and get to the the LCS, much less the fall classic. The "Killer B's": Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio fueled the engine of the offense. "Bags" hit 42 homers and and had 127 RBI's yet finished 2nd in the league MVP voting. Twenty game winners Jose Lima and Mike Hampton anchored the front end of the rotation. The back end was a bit shaky, but all you need to do is get to Billy Wagner (39 saves and a 1.57 ERA) and the game is in the bag so to speak. "Wags" won the NL Rolaids Relief award. Setup man Scott Elarton did a great job bridging the gap between the 7th and 9th innings. The bench is potent and features 5 guys who hit over .280. Carl Everett hit 25 homers and had over 100 RBI's as the team's starting centerfielder. Justin Ryan returns to the Astros bench after spending the past few seasons managing the Phightin's.
In all it took 25 cards to round out this set. I used the same template that I used for the 1999 Dbacks. I did some airbrushing on a few cards with the most glaring one being Ryan Thompson's. I had to convert him from being a Met to an Astro.
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