Two months ago, Brandon Backe was just another obscure young pitcher trying to find his way in the big leagues. But in the last two weeks, Backe has pitched the Astros to a wild-card berth in the regular-season finale, won the first postseason start of his career in the division series against the Braves, and now—after 8 innings of 1 hit baseball—he has put Houston within one win of their first NL pennant and a place the World Series.

The AP notes that “Backe has become something of a Houston fan favorite, an excitable guy from a nearby coastal city who is incredibly demonstrative on the mound.”

Being from Galveston, Backe had most of his friends and family in the stands watching him reach the pinnacle of his young career.

Wearing a red No. 41 T-shirt, clutching a rally towel in one hand and a beer in the other, Harold Backe was a bundle of nerves during his son’s special night. He stood throughout much of the night, holding a homemade sign that read: “Backe Bee Hot Today.”

But Backe wasn’t the only hero in his family on Monday night. And at least one person in his family wasn’t at the ballpark to witness Brandon’s clutch performance.

Sitting in a small, non-descript motel just on the outskirts of downtown Houston, Brandon’s younger brother Travis Smith watched the game on the small bolted-down set in his room. As with all new US Army recruits, Travis was sequestered in a hotel room the night before he shipped out for basic training.

Several months ago, Travis walked into my brother’s (SSG Marty) US Army recruiting station in Texas City, TX and joined the US Army. After passing the background check and physical, he was assigned a basic training ship date: October 19, 2004. Little did he know that the night before he would set out for Ft. Benning, GA, that his brother would be the star on a national stage. And that words like ‘courage’ and ‘heroic’ would be once again used to describe an athlete’s on-field performance.

The Backe family definitely had a hero to be proud of on Monday night. But it wasn’t Brandon. He’s just a baseball player.

So, Pvt. Smith, on your way to Ft. Benning this morning, I salute you and thank you.