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In the modern industry that is baseball, little gets paid more lip service than the concept of patience.

With owners eyeing television ratings almost as much as the standings, minor-leaguers getting unprecedented media exposure and fans demanding instant gratification, patience is becoming a lost virtue.

APBeltran would benefit greatly by Texas' no state tax.

Everyone wants to anticipate storylines. Fewer and fewer folks are willing to let them play themselves out.

This is all a prelude to say this: Attaboy, Gerry Hunsicker and Drayton McLane.

The Houston Astros' general manager and owner could not have been more discouraged as the July 31 trading deadline approached. The deep starting rotation headed by Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt had been made thin by injuries to Andy Pettitte and Wade Miller. The lineup built around proven (read that, old) hitters was not producing runs at the projected pace.

Hunsicker had done McLane's dirty work on the day after the All-Star Game, firing a manager he respected to install a new voice at the end of the dugout. And the team had responded by winning only seven of its first 15 games under Phil Garner.

It would have been easy to begin the salvation operation by trading center fielder Carlos Beltran, whose arrival through a trade on June 24 had not jump-started the Astros. Trades of other veterans, including Clemens and Jeff Kent, were more problematic but had the potential to bring significant returns in terms of young players who could help the inevitable rebuilding.

Yet McLane and Hunsicker weren't budging.

Even though Houston was 52-52 on July 31, 14½ games behind St. Louis in the National League Central and tied for fifth place in the wild-card race, six games behind first-place San Diego, the Astros' management stubbornly clung to the hope of better days ahead.

That was realized when Houston won 20 of 23 games from Aug. 15 through Sept. 8, including a 12-game winning streak. The Astros enter a three-game series in St. Louis in third place in the crowded wild-card race, only one game behind first-place San Francisco.

This resurgence was led by the guys in the middle of the lineup -- Beltran, Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman and Kent. They all started to swing the bats at the same time, averaging 9.1 runs during the winning streak.

The Astros hope Lance Berkman can be a spark for their offense once he returns to the lineup.

Berkman compared it to "starting a fire with a few twigs and a spark.'' There would have been no combustion had Hunsicker made the accepted business move by ordering a midseason purge.

"There's no manual on how to do this," Hunsicker told the Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice. "There were times when I wondered if it was in the cards for us this year. But if you're to throw in the towel on July 31, you shouldn't be in this business. We were nowhere near being out of it."

Oh, no?

"We were dead," said Bagwell, who has 13 homers in the second half, after only 11 at the break. "I've never seen anything like it. I'm just bewildered. I don't think there's any explaining it."

Some point to a beanball battle with the Cubs for waking up the Astros. They reeled off their winning streak immediately after Cubs catcher Michael Barrett confronted Oswalt in a game at Wrigley Field, prompting the benches to clear.

But that explanation seems too simple.

"It was gradual," Garner said. "It looks like it has happened all at once, but there were some good things going on for a week or two before we started getting results."

Few teams appeared slower, less energized than the Astros earlier in the season. Guys like Craig Biggio, Kent and Bagwell had clearly lost steps in the field and on the bases. But Garner decided it was still possible to put pressure on opposing pitchers.

After stealing only 25 bases in 88 games under Williams, the Astros swiped 49 in Garner's first 56 games. Milwaukee is the only NL team that has stolen more since All-Star break. Beltran is 22-for-22 in stolen bases with Houston, getting 21 of those after Garner replaced Williams.

Most playoff races eventually come down to pitching. That's why the Astros remain longshots to win a race that features the Cubs and Florida, teams that have the starting pitching Houston might if it had Pettitte and Miller healthy.

Clemens (16-4, 3.19) and Oswalt (17-9, 3.55) are both on the short list for the Cy Young but Garner has had to improvise behind them. His other starters include journeyman Pete Munro, rookie Brandon Backe, Tim Redding and Carlos Hernandez, who is back from shoulder surgery.

However this season ends in Houston, no one will say that McLane and Hunsicker shortchanged their fans or their players.

"I'll never forget this season," Bagwell said. "To have a chance in September and be able to put this whole fiasco behind us is amazing.

Phil Rogers is the national baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune, which has a Web site at www.chicagosports.com.