In the summer of 1986, I turned 17, and baseball was in the forefront of my life.

No one will ever forget 1986.

Bill Buckner's error in Game 6 and the New York Mets are again World Series Champions while "The Curse" lives on in Boston.

A fact not often talked about this game is the starting pitcher, and the valiant effort he displayed:

7.0 IP, 5 H, 2R (1 earned), 8K'S, 2BB

That pitcher was none other than "The Rocket", Roger Clemens.

The most lasting memory I have from the 1986 playoffs are different however. Does anyone else also remember this?

OCTOBER 15, 1986 -- The Mets face a must-win situation -- unless they want to face Astros ace Mike Scott in Game 7. Astros starter Bob Knepper shuts out New York for eight innings before the Mets break through to tie in the ninth. They finally score again in the top of the 14th, then watch as the Astros re-tie the game on a Billy Hatcher homer. In the 16th the Mets push across three more runs, but again the Astros fight back. They score two runs before finally falling as Jesse Orosco strikes out Kevin Bass to send the Mets to the World Series.

As I mentioned in opening, I was 17.

I was 17, and a Junior who graduated early. In the spring I found a job. Just about the best job any 17 yr old could find. I was working for the City of Pleasanton recreation dept at the new softball complex. It was a 40 hour job Mon thru Fri. 8 hours a day with 2 to spend prepping the field and 6 to scorekeep the 4 games played on it.

I was good at my job. Good enough that I could prep my field in an hour and have an hour before 1st game to play homerun derby with the other guys between opposite foul poles.

Good enough at my job that could I not only watch the game on the field and keep accurate score, but listen to MLB games on the radio as well.

Not only was I the source for the fans and players for the score and stats on the immediate field, but for what was happening around the country in the bigs as well.

In all my life, I have never been as enthralled by what happenend in the 1986 Playoffs between the Astros and Mets.

Not only did Game 6 go 16 innings, but Game 5 went 12!

Two words, one name: Mike Scott.

No one had ever seen anything like what Mike Scott was doing. Baffling hitters in to a frenzy of the impossible...he must be a cheat.

In retrospect, you can see that Mike Scott was not a cheat, or as many had proclaimed, "Mike Scuff", but a pioneer in the development of the forkball/splitfinger. A pitch that appeared to the hitters' eye as a fastball, and falls to the ground as it reaches the plate, seemingly as it has fallen off a cliff.

There were other stars on that team, most notably Nolan Ryan. Other names that come to mind were Billy Hatcher, Bob Knepper, Glenn Davis and Kevin Bass.

What an exciting ballclub, and even though I was a diehard A's fan. I couldn't help but be captivated by the team from Houston and their rainbow uni's.

An impressionable youth I was, I even had purchased a Pro cap, and then later complimented it with a Starter satin jacket.

Maybe it was my early years spent at the Space Academy (a "Space Cadet" I truly am), or perhaps I just enjoyed great baseball, as I still do today.

That year in my life has always been a fond memory, and has left a lasting impression on me, and it has always left a soft spot in my heart for the Houston Astros.

Thus begins a contradiction in fandom I'd have never thought possible....

Tonight, I will root for Roger Clemens.

As the life-long A's fan that I am, and that are most of you, I'm sure you can sense the uneasiness of this commitment.

We have always hated him.

He has always been the figurehead of our enemy.

But, tonight I will cheer for him, and win or lose, I will relish in all the history he represents.

Go 'Stros!!!