The Josh Innes Show - Random Thoughts: Is Chas's Catch A Top 4 Houston Sports Play?

Episode Date: November 4, 2022

Hello! Chas saved the game last night. He is forever a hero in Houston. Do we believe this is one of the best plays in Houston sports history? After a thorough breakdown, I think it's up there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Aqueduct Plumbing Company. You can find them, of course, online at AqueductPlumbingCompany.com. 281-488-6238, AqueductPlumbingCompany.com. They are at your disposal. Greatest moments in Houston sports history. Greatest moments. Singular moments. Now, it's hard to define these.

I'm not going to include championships. So, hey, when the Astros won the game in 2017, I'm not talking that. I am talking singular moments, individual moments in games, plays, that are considered the great moments in Houston sports history. I was trying to think of these earlier today, and what I've come up with so far is that from a defensive standpoint, I can't think of a better defensive play in a big game situation than was made by Chaz in that one.

I can think of plays that were made against the Astros in big games, like Jim Edmonds making that diving catch in the gap in Game 7 in 2004, for instance. But up until that point, there really hasn't been that kind of famous marquee defensive play. There have been some nice ones, but not one that you go, holy shit, that saved everything, right? You didn't get those or you didn't get that kind of play or a Jeter flip type play that defensively alters everything. Or who was it? Was it Indy Chavez who robbed Scott Rowland in the 2006 LCS and took a home run away over the left field fence at Shea Stadium. Plays like that, I couldn't think of any from the Astros defensively

that stood out to me that way. So given the moment, given the impact in the game, given what happens if he doesn't make that play, that is easily the most important defensive play that has ever been made by a member of the Houston Astros given the game, everything. But where does it rank among individual plays? Again, not championships won. Now, if the play won you the championship, then fine.

But hey, the Rockets winning their second title. Okay, that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is individual plays. Like Hakeem's block. That would be one of them. That saved a game. Mario Eli, the kiss of death. That won a game. Plays, the kiss of death. That won a game.

Plays like that that you look at. Football-wise, there aren't that many of them. Like maybe Earl's Run, and that's just a famous play, but that's not like it was a playoff game that won anything for it. It was just Monday Night Football. He's gone. He's gone, said Howard Cosell. Football, there aren't a lot of those moments. If we were to look at football and say Texans, which again, I tell a lot of you would be laughable

and I would get that, but there were some big plays that were made by the Texans in that 2010, really 11, 12, 13 era when the team was first becoming prominent and winning games and going to the playoffs. There are two that stand out to me though, two huge plays in that era that stand out to me. One is the J.J. Watt pick six near halftime of the first Bengals home playoff game. It's the first playoff game. They're playing the Bengals. I think at the

time it's maybe, they might be, I forgot what the score was. There was like 10 to 9 might have been the score at the time, or 10 to 7, or 7 to 3. I don't remember what the score was. There was like 10-9 might have been the score at the time, or 10-7, or 7-3. I don't remember what the score was. But the game itself was tight, and it was a little back and forth. Not even back and forth, just kind of a low-scoring type of game. And it was the end of the half, and the Bengals are running a play. They're kind of deep in their own zone. They could just sit on it and take it to half, close game,

see what happens in the second. J.J. Watt makes one of his monster plays where he intercepts the pass from the line of scrimmage basically and returns it for a touchdown. Texans never look back. They win that game. Now that's a positive play. Now you can look at singular negative plays and find a bunch. That same playoff the next week, Jacoby Jones drops a punt against Baltimore. That is a marquee play. It arguably cost them the game. But in a positive way, football-wise, all I can think about, and I don't have a great recollection of all the things in the era of the Oilers, of the 80s and 90s Oilers. All I know is that they gagged a lot in the postseason.

I can't think of a marquee singular moment where you go, oh, wow, that. But I would go J.J. Watt with the pick six at the line of scrimmage against the Bengals. And then in the next one involving the Texans, marquee moments, it was that same year, and it was a fellow by the name of T.J. Watt who marched them down the field in Cincinnati and throws a touchdown pass, I think with less than a minute to go, throws the touchdown pass to Kevin Walter. Touchdown Texans. They secure their first playoff spot.

I remember the people going nuts at what was at the time called the Houston Texan Grill. I don't even know if the building still exists anymore, but the place was going crazy. It was fun. It was next man up, and we had a good time. Those are the ones that stand out the most to me. I mean, I guess you could look at some of the plays Watson made. You know what's interesting? And maybe I'm wrong here.

But the only time I truly felt the Texans captivated the city was in 11. 12 people were hyped up and it was good. But 11 was the newness of it and the getting into the playoffs for the first time and clenching that first playoff spot and Watt gets the pick six. That kind of captivated them. 12 was also good. 13, there was a lot of hype going into the year. But there were a lot of years they made the playoffs

and people just kind of were like, nah, we don't really like the coach. I'm trying to think of marquee moments from the Deshaun Watson era of going to the playoffs. I can't really think of a marquee play in any of those games. I can remember him when they're getting their asses kicked in the playoffs doing his stupid little smell your hand first down thing. I remember that. Or, of course, there's also the playoff game against Kansas City,

which predates Watson, which was the play where they gave the ball to Watt at the goal line and he either fumbled or threw a pick and they lost like 30 to nothing. There's that. But as far as positive marquee famous football plays involving Houston football teams in big games, Watt picked six. And I would then look at the touchdown pass from TJ, uh, uh, TJ, what's his fuck? How am I drawing a damn? What's his name? Oh, and the, the touchdown to, his name? The touchdown to Kevin Walter. Those would be the two plays that stand out most to me in that. Basketball-wise, there's a bunch more of them, whether it's Samson,

whether it's the Kiss of Death. I mean, there's a bunch of those plays, man. Like basketball, Kiss of Death is probably Mount Rushmore material, probably. Hakeem Block is Mount Rushmore material. Ralph is there. Then you look at baseball.

And before this era of Astros baseball, you would say, hey, Chris Burke. Right? The Chris Burke, Billy Hatcher would be in there. But that play that we saw last night, the two plays, like people now because of how impressive and because of the fact it was the ninth inning, Chaz's play gets more of the attention,

but Mancini's play was not an easy play. If that ball skips, if it hits the base, if it gets under his glove, if it hops up, takes a bad hop off of his wrist, a run scoring to maybe two, so Mancini was gigantic but to me the Chaz play will go down as one of the four or five greatest plays it given yeah I think the and again there have been impressive plays Lance Berkman running up the hill at at Minute Maid and making the over the shoulder catch on the hill back when the hill was out there and it was like 4 30 to center that was fucking unreal but it wasn't in a playoff game and it didn't save the season it was just a regular season

play and I think those are different you view those differently but I would say then that as far as Chaz you had to do a Mount Rushmore of big plays in marquee moments in Houston sports history, I would go Kiss of Death would be on there. Hakeem's Block would be on there. And again, it's not winning. You know what? I left out. There were a lot of marquee moments in that game five in 2017. Bregman obviously got the walk-off,

so he'd get the one that gets the most attention. But Uli had huge hits in that one Altuve had huge hits well actually no what am I talking about what am I talking about Altuve against the Yankees the walk-off of course that's got to be up there too

so if you truly can only pick four spots it's gotten a little bit more interesting thinking about Bregman thinking about Bregman I wouldn't put up there. It's just a base hit. I mean, he made it happen, but it wasn't like an extraordinary base hit. It was a base hit.

Altuve walks off a series with a home run. So Altuve is on there. All right, Mount Rushmore, Altuve, check. He's on. Kiss of Death, on. Hakeem Block, on. So if this is a true-to-form Mount Rushmore and there's only four spots, does Chaz go on the Mount Rushmore?

Holy shit, I don't know. Does he go on that Mount Rushmore? Is it a top-four play in the history of, again, and it's hard because there were so many great plays that were not in big moments. But the big moment has to be taken into account. There were so many big Beltran plays that were made when he was here for that short period of time. But somewhere in the regular season, that's not as big. He had huge plays, obviously.

There was the Jeff Kent walk-off against the Cardinals. Was that game five, game four? It was game four. The Jeff Kent walk-off in 05. That's another huge one. So the question is, does Chaz's play become one of the top four plays in Houston sports history and Houston sports lore? Given the context of the moment, given the magnitude of the top four plays in Houston sports history and Houston sports lore. Given the context of the moment, given the magnitude of the game,

given that it's game five of the World Series, given that if he doesn't make that play, they're set up to score a run, given the fact that it was not a routine play, that was far from routine, especially with a weird fence with like a fucking chicken wire on it. It's like we're in a fucking cockfight. We're the Blues Brothers playing at the bar. We're the good old Blues Brothers band that's throwing bottles at us. I mean, I think that's got to be up there.

It's kind of hard to keep it out. Unreal. And then just think, though, I mean, because the Texans don't have the same cachet in town as the Astros and Rockets do based on longevity and the way people view the franchises that Watt play was gigantic it is arguably the most famous

play in the history of the franchise so boy that's something you guys can talk about alright see if I can get some more out today again it's Friday got a lot going on I'll see if Jilly wants to chat in a little bit but appreciate you guys you're awesome