. Did hired mercenaries Kent and Beltran make 2004 all that much better? 05 had Pettite and better Ensberg. 04 and 05 teams hold equal places in my memories even though both teams were much worse than the 98 team, and probably 99 as well.
Yes; Kent is one of my all-time favorite players because I have a fondness for batshit crazy guys like him, Danny Darwin, etc. And I was in love - like, actual LOVE - with Carlos Beltran for years and couldn't believe the Astros landed him. And then what he did in that postseason was....... magical. Plus Bagwell was still relevant. I hated that he missed '05. Also, I was at the Pujols game and I don't care what anybody else says, the 100-to-0 emergency brake of that game tainted what came after. It wrecked me, emotionally, In fact, if you visit section 129, you can still still a small part of my soul.
Yeah don't have to deal with the anxiety like the first time... what a game but I was definitely not enjoying it the whole time!