RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Here's something we have not heard before. The Houston Astros are World Series champions. Last night in Los Angeles, the Astros won the franchise's first-ever title by beating the LA Dodgers 5-1. Here's NPR's Tom Goldman.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Yelling) Houston stars, baby - world champs.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Yelling) Let's get some.
(CHEERING)
TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Yes, a winning World Series clubhouse was a new thing for the Houston Astros, but it looked and sounded like any other. The champagne was flowing, and the cliches were flying as poncho-protected reporters braved the delirium to get some questions answered, like, how were the Astros so ready to play - they scored all their runs in the first two innings - after the disappointment of losing Game 6 of the series the night before? Manager A.J. Hinch fielded that one.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
A.J. HINCH: And as much as that's a cliche in sports, where you just play day to day, this team proves it over and over. When we've had bad games, we've bounced back and had successful ones. And we did it at the right time.
GOLDMAN: Center fielder George Springer had to leave the booze-soaked clubhouse to fulfill his press conference duties. He arrived at the media room cradling a World Series Most Valuable Player trophy with his anti-champagne goggles perched on top of his head. Springer was asked why the lens was dark, seeing that it was a night game. He lowered the goggles and peered out at the reporter.
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GEORGE SPRINGER: I can see you pretty good.
(LAUGHTER)
SPRINGER: I can see you - I can see everybody pretty well here.
GOLDMAN: He sure as heck could see that second-inning pitch from Dodgers starter Yu Darvish, the one Springer crushed, giving the Astros their final runs of the night. With that blast, he tied a World Series record with five total home runs.
Houston's out-of-the-gates hitting barrage last night was equal parts Astros doing things right and Darvish doing things very wrong. In the lingo, he lost command of his pitches again. He also started in Game 3 and also lasted fewer than two innings. After last night, Darvish said through an interpreter, he let down his teammates.
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YU DARVISH: (Through interpreter) This pain's going to stay in me for a while. You know, I just got to learn from it and then, you know, just go from there.
GOLDMAN: Of course, in sports, one person's pain is another's joy - in this case, tears of joy.
PAMELA LOTT: I'm not a crying person either, at all, whatsoever.
GOLDMAN: Pamela Lott was last night as she and Jesus Vasquez, both from Houston, watched the final out at Dodger Stadium. The emotion was for a Houston franchise born in 1962 winning its first title and for a city, said Vasquez, hit hard by a summer hurricane.
JESUS VASQUEZ: My family - unfortunately, they lost everything. And they're huge Astros fans, so this means a lot to all of them.
GOLDMAN: The Astros and their city will get to connect in a Friday victory parade, a parade 56 years and one riveting World Series in the making. Tom Goldman, NPR News, Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRIBECA SONG, "GET LARGE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
