Ep 4: Thank God We Got Osuna

The Edge: Houston Astros

Audacy Studios | Ben Reiter | Prologue Projects

Society & Culture, Documentary, Sports

4.8 • 717 Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2020

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The 2018 Astros were even more talented than the previous season’s champions. There was just one problem: they couldn’t count on their closer. The good news? There was a great one, named Roberto Osuna, available on the trade market – but Osuna had been suspended for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. While many clubs wouldn’t even consider bringing him on, Jeff Luhnow’s Astros swooped in. It was the moment when many realized just how far the Astros would go to find a winning edge. And it was a seed that would metastasize into something deeply destructive: a shocking clubhouse incident that made the formerly lovable underdogs a target to be taken down. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	We have been waiting for this moment for 56 long years.
0:10.0	Making its way in from right field on the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales, the Commissioner's Trophy.
0:19.0	When the Astros played their first home game of 2018,
0:22.6	massive, stomping horses trotted out the World Series trophy they'd won the previous season.
0:27.7	They were returning champions, playing before a sellout crowd.
0:31.5	And now, ladies and gentlemen, tonight's starting lineup for your 2018 Houston Astros.
0:39.1	This was a team that in many ways was even better than it had been a year before.
0:44.3	Nearly four months later in late July, that team was rolling.
0:48.4	They were in first place in the American League West and had the second most wins in baseball.
0:53.6	But Astros' GM Jeff Luno knew that his
0:55.9	club was missing something. Even though the Astros were loaded with pitchers who could start games,
1:01.4	they didn't have one who could reliably finish them off. The closer they did have was Ken Giles,
1:07.0	and he wasn't getting the results a good closer should, nor did he exactly seem to have the
1:12.0	temperament of one. Well, not only did the Yankees hit Ken Jowell's heart. Check this out. Ken Jowell's
1:18.5	hits Ken Jow's heart. He just punched himself in the face. I knew that he was not going to be our
1:25.5	closer, and I knew we had a team that was capable of going
1:28.1	to the World Series again, and I don't want to blow the chance to win again because we didn't
1:33.9	have a bullpen that could do it.
1:35.9	But there was good news for Jeff Luno.
1:38.4	A closer was available on the trade market, and he was one of the best in the game.
1:42.9	He was just 23 years old and threw a 96 mile per hour fastball.
1:47.8	His name was Roberto Asuna.
	...

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