Jayson Stark has a very nice look at Houston's amazing run at the end of the season and their NLDS win:

When these Astros woke up on the morning of Aug. 15, they were four games under .500 and trailing six different teams in the wild-card race. Yeah, six. Including a Mets team the Astros would wind up beating by 21 games.

This outfit was also tied with a seventh team, the Reds -- and lagging seven games behind a Cubs juggernaut that the world kept expecting to grab the postseason steering wheel. It was no formula for How To Win Your First Playoff Series Ever. That's for sure.

Worthwhile read, even if you are not an Astros fan, just for his words about Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. In my opinion, Jayson Stark is the best sports writer in the country. He doesn't just describe events in the game, he expresses them.