Rockets point guard Austin Rivers isn’t what you would call a huge baseball fan, but he was at Minute Maid Park on Saturday night to witness the Astros make history.
Like all of the fans packed inside of the stadium and those whose eyes were glued to television screens across the city, Rivers held his breath as New York Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman sent a hanging slider toward Jose Altuve, who smashed it for the walk-off two run homer to send the Astros to their second World Series in three years.
The city went wild and so did Rivers, who hasn’t lived in Houston a year yet.
“It was a fun game, especially the way it ended. I That was clutch, man,” said Rivers, who is getting set to open the 2019-20 season with the Rockets on Thursday night. “I don’t know a lot about baseball just because we don’t have a professional team in Orlando but I played in L.A. a few years and I went to see some Dodgers games so I really got see the atmosphere of baseball and just how much fun it is, so (Saturday night) was just incredible, the atmosphere there, the way they won that game it was pretty cool for me to be a part of that.
“I’m very happy for the city of Houston. Hopefully we can do something similar.”
Many of the Rockets players expressed similar sentiment and are joining the rest of the city in cheering the Astros’ on in their pursuit of the World Series title against the Washington Nationals.
Forward P.J. Tucker was also in the building for Saturday night’s AL pennant triumph and he lost his voice in all of the celebration.
“It was unbelievable,” Tucker said. “I knew they were going to win and they won it. So I’ve got my voice back.”
Follow Terrance Harris on Twitter @terranceharris.
