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Hurricane Season: The Unforgettable Story of the 2017 Houston Astros and the Resilience of a City
An inside look at the 2017 Houston Astros championship season, focusing on the epic seven-game World Series, the front office decisions that built a winning team, and the resilience of the city in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
On November 1, 2017, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in an epic seven game battle to become 2017 World Series champs. For the Astros, the combination of a magnificently played series, a 101-victory season, and the devastation Hurricane Harvey brought to their city was so incredible it might give Hollywood screenwriters pause. The nation's fourth-largest city, still reeling in the wake of disaster, was smiling again.
The Astros' first-ever World Series victory is a great baseball story, but it's also the story of a major American city -- a city (and a state) that the rest of the nation doesn't always love or understand--becoming a sentimental favorite because of its grace and good will in response to the largest natural disaster in American history.
The Astros' miracle season is also the fascinating tale of a thoroughly modern team. Constructed by NASA-inspired analytics, the team's data-driven system took the game to a more sophisticated level than the so-called Moneyball approach. The team's new owner, Jim Crane, bought into the system and was willing to endure humiliating seasons in the baseball wilderness with the hope, shared by few initially, that success comes to those who wait. And he was right.
But no data-crunching could take credit for a team of likeable, refreshingly good-natured young men who wore "Houston Strong" patches on their jerseys and meant it--guys like shortstop Carlos Correa, who kept a photo in his locker of a Houston woman trudging through fetid water up to her knees. The Astros foundation included George Springer, a powerful slugger and rangy outfielder; third-baseman Alex Bregman, whose defensive play and clutch hitting were crucial in the series; and, of course, the stubby and tenacious second baseman Jose Altuve, the heart and soul of the team.
Hurricane Season is Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley's moving account of this extraordinary team--and the extraordinary circumstances of their championship.
On November 1, 2017, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in an epic seven game battle to become 2017 World Series champs. For the Astros, the combination of a magnificently played series, a 101-victory season, and the devastation Hurricane Harvey brought to their city was so incredible it might give Hollywood screenwriters pause. The nation's fourth-largest city, still reeling in the wake of disaster, was smiling again.
The Astros' first-ever World Series victory is a great baseball story, but it's also the story of a major American city -- a city (and a state) that the rest of the nation doesn't always love or understand--becoming a sentimental favorite because of its grace and good will in response to the largest natural disaster in American history.
The Astros' miracle season is also the fascinating tale of a thoroughly modern team. Constructed by NASA-inspired analytics, the team's data-driven system took the game to a more sophisticated level than the so-called Moneyball approach. The team's new owner, Jim Crane, bought into the system and was willing to endure humiliating seasons in the baseball wilderness with the hope, shared by few initially, that success comes to those who wait. And he was right.
But no data-crunching could take credit for a team of likeable, refreshingly good-natured young men who wore "Houston Strong" patches on their jerseys and meant it--guys like shortstop Carlos Correa, who kept a photo in his locker of a Houston woman trudging through fetid water up to her knees. The Astros foundation included George Springer, a powerful slugger and rangy outfielder; third-baseman Alex Bregman, whose defensive play and clutch hitting were crucial in the series; and, of course, the stubby and tenacious second baseman Jose Altuve, the heart and soul of the team.
Hurricane Season is Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley's moving account of this extraordinary team--and the extraordinary circumstances of their championship.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published May 1, 2018
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August 26, 2021
I started this book in 2018, right before the Astros started the playoff run again. However, when we lost to the Red Sox in the ALCS, I just didn't have the heart to continue. So, it sat on my bookshelf. When I saw it after reading a large book, I knew it would be perfect transition before my next book.
I will preface this review by saying that I was born and raised in Houston and a life-long, do or die Astros fan. My house was flooded twice in the first weekend during Hurricane Harvey, but we considered ourselves the lucky ones since we kept our power and could stay in our house. After we won, I was out at a brewery. I never cried so much and hugged so many strangers. And I don't think I've ever been that drunk after a sports game. So, this book was an emotional read for me. I had tears in my eyes throughout. I remember the feeling of winning and getting excited to think we may win this whole damn thing. Then, we would lose, and I would remember that we are Houstonions, and our sports teams often do this to us. Everyone was either talking about Harvey (either with tears, shock, or a sheer desire to punch anyone in the face) or the Stros. That's it. There were no other conversations. Thus, this book put into words how I felt and what I experienced.
Some organization choices of content within the book was put in odd places. For instance, why the history of the Astros was put in the very middle, I will never know. Also, you have to be a baseball fan to really enjoy this book. It was like listening to sports radio while watching the game. Lots of baseball terms, facts, plays, etc. are thrown at you. But since I do know baseball and I watched every single game of the playoffs, I could follow. It just wasn't always easy.
I'm not sure an everyday reader will love this book. I think you need to be a baseball fan or lived in Houston during that time to really get anything out of it. However, it's a quick read and it does honestly show what we as fans, citizens, players, and humans were feeling and experiencing while watching something great and also tragic happening. I'm so glad I read this book.
I will preface this review by saying that I was born and raised in Houston and a life-long, do or die Astros fan. My house was flooded twice in the first weekend during Hurricane Harvey, but we considered ourselves the lucky ones since we kept our power and could stay in our house. After we won, I was out at a brewery. I never cried so much and hugged so many strangers. And I don't think I've ever been that drunk after a sports game. So, this book was an emotional read for me. I had tears in my eyes throughout. I remember the feeling of winning and getting excited to think we may win this whole damn thing. Then, we would lose, and I would remember that we are Houstonions, and our sports teams often do this to us. Everyone was either talking about Harvey (either with tears, shock, or a sheer desire to punch anyone in the face) or the Stros. That's it. There were no other conversations. Thus, this book put into words how I felt and what I experienced.
Some organization choices of content within the book was put in odd places. For instance, why the history of the Astros was put in the very middle, I will never know. Also, you have to be a baseball fan to really enjoy this book. It was like listening to sports radio while watching the game. Lots of baseball terms, facts, plays, etc. are thrown at you. But since I do know baseball and I watched every single game of the playoffs, I could follow. It just wasn't always easy.
I'm not sure an everyday reader will love this book. I think you need to be a baseball fan or lived in Houston during that time to really get anything out of it. However, it's a quick read and it does honestly show what we as fans, citizens, players, and humans were feeling and experiencing while watching something great and also tragic happening. I'm so glad I read this book.
March 12, 2018
(Note: 4 1/2 stars rounded up to 5 for this site)
Winning the 2017 World Series meant much more to the Houston Astros and their fans. After Houston suffered so much devastation from Hurricane Harvey that summer, some wondered if the Astros were going to be able to concentrate on baseball. That question was answered with a trade for one of the game’s best pitchers, a strong postseason and winning an exciting World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers in which two of the games (games 2 and 5) are considered to be two of the best games played in World Series history.
This book by Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley is a very good account of not only all seven World Series games, but also a moving description of the devastation caused the flooding from the hurricane and the long road to recovery for many people. The three chapters that described the horrific rainfall - nearly 60 inches, the most from one rain event ever recorded in the United States) and the heroic efforts of first responders to rescue thousands of stranded people.
While the storm did result in 88 deaths, much credit is given to the first responders and volunteers to prevent that number from climbing much higher. Holley’s accounts of the storm, stories about people who were helping strangers, a woman who started a rescue team from social media and so many more will move a reader to tears. He even goes as far as to make a statement that the Astros would not have won the World Series without the standard set by Houstonians that the team had to aspire to reach – and one that is hard to disprove. This is one instance where the non-sports sections of a sports book are so much more gripping than the chapters on the sport or team itself.
This is not to say that the writing about the baseball or the Astros is inferior. The accounts of all seven World Series games are filled with not only recaps of the action on the field, but stories from the players and even fans. One of the more entertaining anecdotes was the musings of a fan who attended the exciting see-saw game 5 which saw both teams take the lead and promptly relinquish it. The fan was seated just in front of the box where the Astros’ baseball operations staff was located (the staff affectionately called the “nerds” throughout the book) and noted that these “nerds” never bothered to catch any of this exciting game as they would be constantly looking down at their phones trying to find any new information on social media.
This story illustrates the new paradigm for both the Astros and all other major league teams – the reliance on statistical analysis for making decisions on players and game strategy. The Astros were one of the first teams to rely on this analysis almost exclusively and were struggling at the start, enduring three consecutive seasons with more than 100 losses. The patience paid off in 2015 when they secured a postseason berth and then the ultimate payoff in 2017. While the book doesn’t dig deeply into the nuts and bolts of this operation, Holley writes very informative chapter about general manager Jeff Luhnow and owner Jim Crane – the former for developing the analytics department and the latter for his approval and financing.
The only aspect of the book that keeps this from being a true five-star book in my mind is Holley’s account of the unfortunate incident in which Yuli Gurriel made a racially insensitive gesture toward Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish. After it was captured and reported on social media, the ensuring controversy resulted in Gurriel’s suspension at the beginning of the 2018 season and an apology. Holley wrote that there wasn’t much more about the incident after the apology, which was accepted by Darvish, but the gesture was, according to Holley, “bigger than it seemed”. That, to me, was an unnecessary comment as it was unfortunate but shouldn’t be constantly overshadowing the action on the field. Also, something that Holley did leave out was the gesture Gurriel made during his first at bat in game 7. Darvish was on the mound for the Dodgers and Gurrriel tipped his cap to Darvish, who in turn acknowledged the gesture with a nod of his head. My thought was if the two men involved could make peace and move on, why couldn’t the author do the same thing?
Aside from this incident, the rest of the book is a terrific and moving account of a baseball team, its success and its attachment to a city that needed all the good news it could get during a very tough year. Baseball fans, especially Astros fans, will want to add this one to their libraries as soon as it comes out.
I wish to thank Hachette Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
Winning the 2017 World Series meant much more to the Houston Astros and their fans. After Houston suffered so much devastation from Hurricane Harvey that summer, some wondered if the Astros were going to be able to concentrate on baseball. That question was answered with a trade for one of the game’s best pitchers, a strong postseason and winning an exciting World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers in which two of the games (games 2 and 5) are considered to be two of the best games played in World Series history.
This book by Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley is a very good account of not only all seven World Series games, but also a moving description of the devastation caused the flooding from the hurricane and the long road to recovery for many people. The three chapters that described the horrific rainfall - nearly 60 inches, the most from one rain event ever recorded in the United States) and the heroic efforts of first responders to rescue thousands of stranded people.
While the storm did result in 88 deaths, much credit is given to the first responders and volunteers to prevent that number from climbing much higher. Holley’s accounts of the storm, stories about people who were helping strangers, a woman who started a rescue team from social media and so many more will move a reader to tears. He even goes as far as to make a statement that the Astros would not have won the World Series without the standard set by Houstonians that the team had to aspire to reach – and one that is hard to disprove. This is one instance where the non-sports sections of a sports book are so much more gripping than the chapters on the sport or team itself.
This is not to say that the writing about the baseball or the Astros is inferior. The accounts of all seven World Series games are filled with not only recaps of the action on the field, but stories from the players and even fans. One of the more entertaining anecdotes was the musings of a fan who attended the exciting see-saw game 5 which saw both teams take the lead and promptly relinquish it. The fan was seated just in front of the box where the Astros’ baseball operations staff was located (the staff affectionately called the “nerds” throughout the book) and noted that these “nerds” never bothered to catch any of this exciting game as they would be constantly looking down at their phones trying to find any new information on social media.
This story illustrates the new paradigm for both the Astros and all other major league teams – the reliance on statistical analysis for making decisions on players and game strategy. The Astros were one of the first teams to rely on this analysis almost exclusively and were struggling at the start, enduring three consecutive seasons with more than 100 losses. The patience paid off in 2015 when they secured a postseason berth and then the ultimate payoff in 2017. While the book doesn’t dig deeply into the nuts and bolts of this operation, Holley writes very informative chapter about general manager Jeff Luhnow and owner Jim Crane – the former for developing the analytics department and the latter for his approval and financing.
The only aspect of the book that keeps this from being a true five-star book in my mind is Holley’s account of the unfortunate incident in which Yuli Gurriel made a racially insensitive gesture toward Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish. After it was captured and reported on social media, the ensuring controversy resulted in Gurriel’s suspension at the beginning of the 2018 season and an apology. Holley wrote that there wasn’t much more about the incident after the apology, which was accepted by Darvish, but the gesture was, according to Holley, “bigger than it seemed”. That, to me, was an unnecessary comment as it was unfortunate but shouldn’t be constantly overshadowing the action on the field. Also, something that Holley did leave out was the gesture Gurriel made during his first at bat in game 7. Darvish was on the mound for the Dodgers and Gurrriel tipped his cap to Darvish, who in turn acknowledged the gesture with a nod of his head. My thought was if the two men involved could make peace and move on, why couldn’t the author do the same thing?
Aside from this incident, the rest of the book is a terrific and moving account of a baseball team, its success and its attachment to a city that needed all the good news it could get during a very tough year. Baseball fans, especially Astros fans, will want to add this one to their libraries as soon as it comes out.
I wish to thank Hachette Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
September 1, 2018
2.5 Stars.
I really wanted to like this book, but it didn't work for me. This is a roughly 240 page book that purports to cover: 1) the 2017 World Series; 2) Hurricane Harvey's devastating impact on Houston; 3) the Houston Astros' futility prior to 2017; 4) the history of the Astrodome; 5) how analytics changed the Lastros to World Champs, among other things. Not surprisingly, Holley (a newspaper columnist) covers these topics with the depth of a newspaper column.
I don't question Holley's enthusiasm for the Astros, but I do question his knowledge of baseball. There are several references to "Roger Clemons," which is so wrong on a number of levels. (Roger Clemens is a Houston native and pitched for over 20 years, some of them in this century.) Holley discusses players ERA's like batting averages. I guarantee you that if Dallas Keuchel ever had an ERA of .232, they would be clearing out a space for him in Cooperstown.
My biggest gripe about "Hurricane Season" is that Holley managed to undercut the drama of what was arguably one of the top 5 World Series of all time. The seven games of the World Series were covered in a somewhat bloodless (at least to me) inning-by-inning approach. Having been born and raised in Houston and having personally witnessed the Astros' collapse against the Phillies in the 1980 NLCS, I kept waiting for Astros' epic choke in 2017 all the way until the final out. I didn't get that sense of drama from Holley.
If you know nothing about the 2017 Astros and have little understanding about Hurricane Harvey's impact on Houston, then "Hurricane Season" might hit the spot. If you are looking for an in-depth analysis of the Astros 2017 season, this is not for you.
I really wanted to like this book, but it didn't work for me. This is a roughly 240 page book that purports to cover: 1) the 2017 World Series; 2) Hurricane Harvey's devastating impact on Houston; 3) the Houston Astros' futility prior to 2017; 4) the history of the Astrodome; 5) how analytics changed the Lastros to World Champs, among other things. Not surprisingly, Holley (a newspaper columnist) covers these topics with the depth of a newspaper column.
I don't question Holley's enthusiasm for the Astros, but I do question his knowledge of baseball. There are several references to "Roger Clemons," which is so wrong on a number of levels. (Roger Clemens is a Houston native and pitched for over 20 years, some of them in this century.) Holley discusses players ERA's like batting averages. I guarantee you that if Dallas Keuchel ever had an ERA of .232, they would be clearing out a space for him in Cooperstown.
My biggest gripe about "Hurricane Season" is that Holley managed to undercut the drama of what was arguably one of the top 5 World Series of all time. The seven games of the World Series were covered in a somewhat bloodless (at least to me) inning-by-inning approach. Having been born and raised in Houston and having personally witnessed the Astros' collapse against the Phillies in the 1980 NLCS, I kept waiting for Astros' epic choke in 2017 all the way until the final out. I didn't get that sense of drama from Holley.
If you know nothing about the 2017 Astros and have little understanding about Hurricane Harvey's impact on Houston, then "Hurricane Season" might hit the spot. If you are looking for an in-depth analysis of the Astros 2017 season, this is not for you.
April 17, 2018
Sports history books typically come in one of two flavors: written by homers as a piece of fan memorabilia, or written by journalists unconnected and separated from cities and cultures, and often the times, the events took place. A certain amount of distance from the event can be desirable, because separation and hindsight can often lend an amount of objectivity. But a writer too far removed from his subject can only relate what he or she hears from others, often missing peices of the story's vast puzzle.
But Joe Holley's "Hurricane Season" places you right in the middle of the Astros' 2017 World Series run and the terrible events of Hurricane Harvey. Holley's local status as a Houston Chronicle columnist doesn't put him in the homer camp - Hurricane Season isn't a fan's recounting of the baseball season. Instead, it's a beautifully woven story of Houston's history, the Astros' oft-overlooked history (including a great chapter about the famous/infamous Judge Roy Hofeinz and the birth of the Astros and the Astrodome full of "No way!" moments), and the facts, figures, and personal stories of Hurricane Harvey. Harvey's assault on Houston doesn't just serve as a backdrop to the story of the Astros's season - Holley spends several chapters describing in great detail the storm's wrath, the impact on Houstonians (both individually and collectively), and how the Astros both were affected by the storm and affected their city's response to it.
Folks who didn't follow the news closely during the last week of August 2017 may read Holley's account of the storm as full of exaggeration and hyperbole - but as a native Houstonian who lived through Harvey's destruction and Houston's rebuilding, I can attest that the sheer scale of the devastation is hard to overstate. And while tying of the Astros' success to the hearts of Houstonians is harder to quantify than rainfall measurements and flood damage statistics, Holley's sometimes heart-wrenching stories ring no less true. On no less than a dozen occasions, I had to put the book down because the stories and details inside brought back painful memories of watching my city drown.
"Hurriance Season" isn't just a sports book. It's an excellent volume of American history.
P.S. I received an advance copy of this book from Hachette Books via NetGalley for review purposes, but I have pre-ordered a hardcover for my personal library.
But Joe Holley's "Hurricane Season" places you right in the middle of the Astros' 2017 World Series run and the terrible events of Hurricane Harvey. Holley's local status as a Houston Chronicle columnist doesn't put him in the homer camp - Hurricane Season isn't a fan's recounting of the baseball season. Instead, it's a beautifully woven story of Houston's history, the Astros' oft-overlooked history (including a great chapter about the famous/infamous Judge Roy Hofeinz and the birth of the Astros and the Astrodome full of "No way!" moments), and the facts, figures, and personal stories of Hurricane Harvey. Harvey's assault on Houston doesn't just serve as a backdrop to the story of the Astros's season - Holley spends several chapters describing in great detail the storm's wrath, the impact on Houstonians (both individually and collectively), and how the Astros both were affected by the storm and affected their city's response to it.
Folks who didn't follow the news closely during the last week of August 2017 may read Holley's account of the storm as full of exaggeration and hyperbole - but as a native Houstonian who lived through Harvey's destruction and Houston's rebuilding, I can attest that the sheer scale of the devastation is hard to overstate. And while tying of the Astros' success to the hearts of Houstonians is harder to quantify than rainfall measurements and flood damage statistics, Holley's sometimes heart-wrenching stories ring no less true. On no less than a dozen occasions, I had to put the book down because the stories and details inside brought back painful memories of watching my city drown.
"Hurriance Season" isn't just a sports book. It's an excellent volume of American history.
P.S. I received an advance copy of this book from Hachette Books via NetGalley for review purposes, but I have pre-ordered a hardcover for my personal library.
April 12, 2019
I'm not a baseball fan. Decades of hearing my father transition from "This is the Astros year!" to "Wait till next year!" has worn down any enthusiasm I might have had.
Until 2017.
By then my dad had passed, before the Astros abysmal performance in 2005. But 2017 was a different kind of year. And I watched every game, because my dad couldn't, and because he would have finally been right. That was something I couldn't miss.
This book is a lot of things. It's a biography of Houston framed by baseball. It's a portrait of the character of those of us who call it home. And it offers an abbreviated play-by-play recounting of the games that led up to the Astros win.
But it's also heartfelt. The author takes such care, making sure to give the victims and their families a place in the story. My eyes would prick with tears throughout, my emotions ranging from sorrow at all the loss to exhilaration at the memories of the spirit that sprung from that loss.
If you want to know why Houstonians are the way they are, this is a good place to start.
Until 2017.
By then my dad had passed, before the Astros abysmal performance in 2005. But 2017 was a different kind of year. And I watched every game, because my dad couldn't, and because he would have finally been right. That was something I couldn't miss.
This book is a lot of things. It's a biography of Houston framed by baseball. It's a portrait of the character of those of us who call it home. And it offers an abbreviated play-by-play recounting of the games that led up to the Astros win.
But it's also heartfelt. The author takes such care, making sure to give the victims and their families a place in the story. My eyes would prick with tears throughout, my emotions ranging from sorrow at all the loss to exhilaration at the memories of the spirit that sprung from that loss.
If you want to know why Houstonians are the way they are, this is a good place to start.
July 16, 2021
As a native Houstonian and lifelong Astros fan, I thoroughly enjoyed everything about the historical aspects of Houston and the 2017 Astros. As someone who lived through the flooding after Harvey, the accuracy and remembrance of that was both difficult and heartwarming. The story itself is enjoyable and I recommend it.
I listened to the audiobook, and while the narrator did a good job (mostly), he mispronounced a few words that highly annoyed this Houstonian and Texan. Pearland and San Jacinto are apparently very difficult words. Repeatedly. I genuinely struggled to look past the repeated mispronunciation of those two.
I listened to the audiobook, and while the narrator did a good job (mostly), he mispronounced a few words that highly annoyed this Houstonian and Texan. Pearland and San Jacinto are apparently very difficult words. Repeatedly. I genuinely struggled to look past the repeated mispronunciation of those two.
July 14, 2020
Although I don’t consider this book to be a great read it was still a good book. I learned a lot about the Astros team as well as many of the players. I don’t know a lot about baseball but I learned some things about the game. It was also interesting to juxtapose hurricane Harvey’s devastation with how it affected both the Astros team and the community as they went on to win the World Series. Houston Strong!
September 30, 2019
It's always such fun to read about the Astros run up to the World Series. This book was no exception. It was more of a play by play narration of the play-off games than the Astroball book I also read, but SUCH a great story. Hurricane Season also has more glimpses into how Harvey affected the fans personally, and into the devastation that occurred. Those parts are hard to read, but the good parts about how the team all came together are great!
January 10, 2020
Great book to listen to as an audiobook! As a Houstonian, it brought back lots of memories of both a challenging and exciting time in our city, that will all go down in history books. Go Astros! #historyearned
July 10, 2019
This was such a great book, very emotional for those of us in Houston the summer of 2017. Holley paints a vivid picture of the experience of Hurricane Harvey that tugs in the heartstrings. The perspective is definitely of a Houstonian who is interested in baseball more than a die-hard Astros fan, but there are some good anecdotes from the front office and the team that will be new to most fans
August 4, 2018
We lived through the horror of Harvey and our home was flooded. We also thrilled to the incredible story of the Astros and how much their victory meant to our city. Unfortunately this book does not capture either of these stories very well.
June 28, 2018
I enjoyed reading this book and reliving the magical 2017 World Series Championship season of the Houston Astros. It was very interesting how the author intertwined the story of the Astros finally winning a World Series title with the devastation brought upon Houston by Hurricane Harvey. The Astros do indeed deserve credit for bringing the City of Houston together during such a devastating time. I was lucky enough to attend two Astros games during that time period -- one on Thursday night August 24, a day before Hurricane Harvey started to affect Houston, and then the first game of the doubleheader against the New York Mets on Saturday September 2, the Astros first game back in Houston after the hurricane (having been displaced to play a "home" series in Florida with the Texas Rangers because the Rangers refused to trade out home series).
I only have two complaints with this book. One is it needed some minor editing. Apparently whoever edited the book did not realize you don't express a pitcher's ERA (earned run average) the same way you do a batter's batting average. ERA was express as .206 instead of 2.06. That was a little annoying. I also didn't like the way the chapters jumped back and forth (out of time sequence) and would have preferred a much more straight forward timeline.
Still this was enjoyable reliving how the Astros became champions and how that intertwined with Houston's Hurricane Harvey recovery.
I only have two complaints with this book. One is it needed some minor editing. Apparently whoever edited the book did not realize you don't express a pitcher's ERA (earned run average) the same way you do a batter's batting average. ERA was express as .206 instead of 2.06. That was a little annoying. I also didn't like the way the chapters jumped back and forth (out of time sequence) and would have preferred a much more straight forward timeline.
Still this was enjoyable reliving how the Astros became champions and how that intertwined with Houston's Hurricane Harvey recovery.
October 20, 2018
An inspiring read at times, especially the parts about the citizens of Houston overcoming difficult situations with Hurricane Harvey. It was tough for me to read at times because I'm a Dodger fan, and this Astros team defeated them in the World Series. That being said, it was nice to relive some of those great games. The author, Joe Holley, does a good job describing how the team came to be in the early 1960s as the Colt .45's and then later the Astros with the introduction of the Astrodome and Astroturf. You'll read a lot about how the Astros tanked, yes TANKED, for a few years but built up the team with great players like Altuve, Correa, Springer and Bregman. You'll also learn how Verlander almost didn't come to Houston but signed away at the trade at the final minute. This book only gets three stars, however, as the author makes a lot of mistakes and typos. It's Roger Clemens, not Clemons. An ERA of .232 is absolutely unheard of, probably meant 2.32, but that type of error was made more than once. Also I don't need to hear seven times or so in the first 80 pages that Houston is the fourth-largest city in the nation. We get it, you said it once, twice and now it's overkill. That being said, baseball fans will enjoy and it's a must for Astros fans.
September 16, 2018
This book could have been amazing. However, the editing was so awful that if I wasn’t crazy about the Astros I would have returned it. No one has a .236 ERA. There is no O in Clemens. Nor did the Tigers have an outfielder named JASON Upton. Dodgers fans Wait TILL Next Year, not Wait’ll. These things are basic for anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of baseball. And the constant typos are incredibly distracting from a truly amazing story. Maybe the author just doesn’t know baseball that well? The most gripping parts of the book were about Hurricane Harvey and how citizens of Houston dealt with it. The author had a ridiculously tight deadline for writing this book, and unfortunately it shows. When you have a story this good, it would be better to write it properly and release the book a few months later than rush it out like this.
December 14, 2019
Being an Astros fan and having lived here in Houston during Harvey, this was a bittersweet read for me. It brought back all sorts of memories of not only one of the greatest baseball teams I've ever watched, but also of Harvey's devastation. Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley seamlessly integrates interviews with different Houstonians who either had their home severely damaged by the hurricane or lost their homes completely, along with recounting lives lost. It was like reading a "traumatic" year in the life of" for me, but I couldn't put it down either. It was a nice reminder of what it means to be "Houston Strong." Go 'Stros!
December 15, 2018
Never gets old, reminiscing on the fantastic 2017 Houston Astros and their journey to World Series Champions! Even watching it from a hotel room 5 miles away from our flooded out home could not dampen the exhilarating feeling of watching Altuve, Bregman, Correa, and Springer do what they did all year...play the game with abandon and joy. Joe Holley also recounts the time before, during and after Hurricane Harvey with grace and compassion. This is a great read for anyone who is a Houston Astros fan!!
January 17, 2020
I loved this book. Born and raised and still living in Houston, I went thru Harvey.
This town is so resilient after a major storm and there has been many. The Astros were our saving grace for 2017. This book is not as much about the stats of the Astros but the strength of the city and the Astros leading us.
My only problem with the audio book is the reader's pronunciation of my hometown Pearland.
It is pronounced PEAR/LAND. not PEARL/AND.
This town is so resilient after a major storm and there has been many. The Astros were our saving grace for 2017. This book is not as much about the stats of the Astros but the strength of the city and the Astros leading us.
My only problem with the audio book is the reader's pronunciation of my hometown Pearland.
It is pronounced PEAR/LAND. not PEARL/AND.
August 2, 2018
I'm not usually big on sports books, but hey, this one is about my Astros and my hometown.
Got a little too "baseball-y" in some spots, and I really didn't need the play-by-play of each game in the World Series. But I liked the way he dovetailed Houston and the impact of Harvey and how the Astros built slowly from a last-place team (multiple times) to the World Series champs.
Got a little too "baseball-y" in some spots, and I really didn't need the play-by-play of each game in the World Series. But I liked the way he dovetailed Houston and the impact of Harvey and how the Astros built slowly from a last-place team (multiple times) to the World Series champs.
June 8, 2018
Really good recap of the 2017 Astros WS run, as well as the troubles the city faced due to Hurricane Harvey. Loved the way the story of the city and the team were intermingled, as well as the amount of information given about both of them. Solid read!
July 20, 2018
From a storm story standpoint this book was more than 3 stars...but the baseball writing was distractingly bad in parts (stats presented incorrectly, names spelled wrong, etc.), bringing this to an 'ok' overall rating
May 6, 2018
Great book! A must read for Astros fans, and baseball fans in general.
June 16, 2018
Absolutely loved it. If you’re an Astros fan, you will, too. Got on YouTube and watched big innings from ALCS and World Series that Holley recounts in the book, which made it even more fun.
July 1, 2018
forever my memory of Houston
July 10, 2018
I enjoyed this! Joe Holley did an excellent job recounting the Astros' 2017 World Series championship while telling the story of Houston in the face of Hurricane Harvey.
July 28, 2018
Fantastic! Every Houstonian should read this.
March 11, 2019
The idea for this book, combining the experience of Houston winning a World Series, with the challenge that same year is genius. Well executed book by an experienced journalist in Texas.
July 5, 2020
cheaters
February 8, 2024
I felt like I was reading two books in one. One "book" was focused on the 2017 Houston Astros team and the decisions and years that led up to that specific team. The other "book" was focused on Hurricane Harvey, with interviews with some Houstonians. I preferred reading the Harvey sections, mostly because I had trouble focusing on the play by play recounting of the seven World Series games. It was bittersweet to read a book about the 2017 team which was written and published before the sign stealing scandal erupted.
May 5, 2018
Joe Holley's Hurricane Season is a look back to last summer and fall, as the formerly woebegone Houston Astros ascended to the top of Major League Baseball, capturing the franchise's first World Series title. This all happened against the backdrop of their home city getting devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
Holley intersperses tale of the Astros with stories from Hurricane Harvey and wraps both around a timeline of each game of the thrilling seven game World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. These are fairly routine summaries and include several anecdotes and quotes that first appeared in Houston-area news sources at the time.
The strength of this book are the tales of ordinary citizens, how they struggled against Hurricane Harvey's presence and aftermath, and how the story of Houston in the year 2017 really was the story of Harvey and the Astros. The book's high points come where those two elements intersect.
As a baseball book, this one is pretty non-descript. There are likely to be better books about this Astros team (and one possibility is slated for release later this summer by Sports Illustrated's Ben Reiter, the man who wrote the 2014 story in the magazine predicting the Astros would capture the World Series in 2017). However, as a story about how a sports team can rally a city and serve a greater purpose in times of civic trial, Hurricane Season is an uplifting pick.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Holley intersperses tale of the Astros with stories from Hurricane Harvey and wraps both around a timeline of each game of the thrilling seven game World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. These are fairly routine summaries and include several anecdotes and quotes that first appeared in Houston-area news sources at the time.
The strength of this book are the tales of ordinary citizens, how they struggled against Hurricane Harvey's presence and aftermath, and how the story of Houston in the year 2017 really was the story of Harvey and the Astros. The book's high points come where those two elements intersect.
As a baseball book, this one is pretty non-descript. There are likely to be better books about this Astros team (and one possibility is slated for release later this summer by Sports Illustrated's Ben Reiter, the man who wrote the 2014 story in the magazine predicting the Astros would capture the World Series in 2017). However, as a story about how a sports team can rally a city and serve a greater purpose in times of civic trial, Hurricane Season is an uplifting pick.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
June 16, 2018
I am a diehard Astros fan but only three stars for what I felt was fairly sophomoric writing. There’s little depth of insight here and nothing new for those familiar with the city of Houston. An easy but not a compelling read.
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