As the Houston Astros players celebrated their 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays to clinch the 2021American League West Division title on Thursday night, it felt like the entire city of Houston breathed a sigh of relief. The Astros have now won the AL West division four out of the last five years.

It has been a very long season for the Astros players and coaches as they have endured a plethora of issues including injuries, Covid related issues, scheduling, etc.

Not to go without saying that they have been booed and had hate-filled profanity-laced words hurled at them in every MLB stadium they visited this season as fans returned to their seats after not being allowed at the games last season due to the pandemic.

Yet, they were able to overcome all adversity and secure their fifth consecutive playoff berth for the first time in franchise history.

By securing the AL West title, Astros manager Dusty Baker becomes the first manager in MLB history to win division titles with five different clubs (Astros, Nationals, Reds, Cubs, Giants).

“This one is really special as it is probably the hardest one, I have ever been through,” said Baker after he returned to the field from the clubhouse celebration. “We got a lot of negative vibes from across the world.”

Baker, 72, also took time to reflect and thank the Astros organization for everything they had done for him by giving him another opportunity to manage after he had retired back in 2017.

“I am glad that Jim Crane saw fit for me to manage this organization,” an emotional Baker said on the field.

All the celebration inside Minute Maid Park would not have been possible had it not been for Houston shortstop Carlos Correa, who has brought so much joy to the Astros fans over the last five seasons. It was Correa's single-season career-high 25th home run in the bottom of the fourth inning with two runners on base to give the Astros all the runs support needed in the victory.

"We needed that," Correa said after celebrating with his family and teammates. "It's been a rough stretch for the past week for us to score and we have not been swinging it well. But hopefully, we can carry this game into the next couple of days, get hot and ride it into the postseason."

The Astros will need one more win over the visiting Oakland A’s this weekend to secure home-field advantage in the best-of-five matchup against the Chicago White Sox in the AL Division Series which starts on Oct. 7.