We hope.
Let's not forget the 1986 Rockets.
Right now this feels like a failure. Hopefully that will change after it has a few weeks or months to sink in. It would probably feel different even if Game 4 had just been a routine 4-1 Royals win. But the real problem is that you can never really know when the next chance will come, if ever.
Right now we're hearing the usual cliches:
"This is a learning experience." The Bagwell/Biggio Astros in the late 90's had all kinds of learning experiences. What they mostly learned was that the postseason was this odd time after the 162nd game where random and horrible things would happen to you for a week or so until you finally got to go home and play golf and watch the World Series on TV. It took them most of a decade and a complete turnover of the supporting players before they (kind of) figured it out.
"The best is yet to come." Ask a Nationals fan how that worked out. And again, Bagwell and Biggio are still waiting for their first ring.
Obviously the Astros greatly exceeded expectations, and getting as far as they did was a real accomplishment.
I'm just struggling with the idea that this success will inevitably lead to greater success. Admittedly, my thinking is influenced more by the history of the Astros than anything specific to this year's team. If I were a Red Sox or Yankee fan and had just seen my team play to the same result, I would have been disappointed at the moment but more optimistic about the future. I'd be pretty sure that good things would lead to better things, because that's what had happened in the past. But for the Astros it's rarely been that easy...
