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HOUSTON — Carlos Correa was here, at home in Houston, when his old Astros teammates were playing in the World Series last October.
He was happy for them. But he just couldn’t bring himself to come to Minute Maid Park to see it for himself.
“No, if I’m going to go to the ballpark in the playoffs, it’s because I’m playing,” Correa said. “Not as a spectator.”
This weekend, one of the greatest October performers of all time returns to the city and the halls in which he forged that status as a postseason legend — but in the other dugout, with the determination to bring the Twins to the heights he experienced in this building in his past life as Minnesota and Houston do battle in the American League Division Series.
When Correa steps into the batter’s box, he’ll look out and see the faces of the cherished brothers with whom he went to battle 79 times in the postseason from 2015-21. He’ll look around and see the fans who were behind him as he grew from fresh-faced rookie to grizzled hero, the fans who still came up to wish him luck as he ate dinner and breakfast in Houston ahead of this series.
And he always figured it would have to be this way.
“When I signed with Minnesota, I knew that for us to get to a World Series, at some point, we would have to beat the Astros,” Correa said. “We’re here right now, in this moment. It’s a very big series, and I feel our team is ready to go. We’ve got the talent to compete against anyone, and it’s going to be a good one.”
Life in the Space City moved on rather quickly after Correa stunned the world by signing a short-term deal with opt-outs to play for the Twins when he hit free agency before the ‘22 season. He shocked everyone again by returning to Minnesota on a long-term deal for at least six seasons last winter, after two other blockbuster deals fell through due to health concerns.
The Twins missed the postseason with Correa in ‘22, in what was widely expected to be Minnesota’s only opportunity to take advantage of his services. Meanwhile, his protégé, Jeremy Peña, took over at shortstop for the Astros and immediately guided them to another World Series championship, winning ALCS and World Series MVP along the way.
Correa has never admitted it, preferring to keep the focus on his Twins teammates and the season they’ve built together, but surely, there has to be extra motivation for him — to move his legacy on from that of the Astros’ dynasty of which he was the face for all those years and finally have tangible team progress to mark onto the pages of the new chapter of his career, separate from those others.
“I had a great time with my time there and found a lot of success with that team and personally, also,” Correa said. “But now this is a new chapter in my life. This is a new chapter in my book, and I’m ready to find some success with this organization and create new memories with this great group of guys.”
Still only 29, Correa is seventh in AL/NL history in playoff homers and sixth in RBIs — with, by far, the most among active players. His playoff RBI total stands at 60, and with a few more clutch knocks this fall, he could easily move past David Ortiz and Derek Jeter (61 apiece) and David Justice (63) and into the all-time top three behind only Bernie Williams (80) and Manny Ramirez (78).
“It’s going to be a whole different animal for Carlos,” said Dallas Keuchel, who played alongside Correa for four seasons in Houston. “The reputation he built there and just the history he has and the resume he has in the playoffs alone.”
The Twins have already seen plenty of that in only two games.
In Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Blue Jays, Correa made a momentum-swinging defensive play when he backed up a weak grounder that got through interim third baseman Jorge Polanco and made a do-or-die, off-balance throw home to nab Bo Bichette and prevent a run.
One day later, as the Twins won their first playoff series since 2002, Correa knocked in the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded RBI single, then orchestrated and called for the stunning pickoff of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at second base in the epitome of his all-around defensive and instinctive mastery of this setting.
“He’s got just an incredible resume,” Alex Bregman said. “He’s an incredible teammate, leader, postseason performer. I can’t say enough good things about him. I loved being his teammate. It’s going to be fun. You’re competing against the best players in the world like him and so many other guys they have on that team. That’s why you play the game, to compete against the best, and it’s a lot of fun.”
Houston will always be special to Correa, and Correa will always be special to Houston.
But in this return, there’s no time for nostalgia, no time for camaraderie. October Correa is a different animal, regardless of who stands in his way, and everyone in this stadium — on both sides — knows that.
“Right now, when we cross those lines, there’s no relationship at all,” Correa said. “There’s just win or lose. I want to make sure my team is on the winning side.”
Correa got some congratulatory text messages from his old Astros teammates after he and the Twins shook off the ghosts of their history by snapping both the record-breaking 18-game playoff losing streak and the 21-year playoff series victory drought.
He sent back a terse response: “We’ll talk after the series.”
“I will always love those guys, but when we cross those lines, there’s no love in there,” Correa said. “When we go play them, we’re going to play them with the same energy, the same passion. We’re going to go out there and try to win.”
“We’ve just got to go out there and beat him even though we like him a lot,” Jose Altuve said.
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