Archive for 2012

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Youngs-Walker: A Tale of Two Texans

August 6, 2012

Curt Walker, BL/TR
5’9″, 170 lbs, OF
12 Years, (1919-30)
.304 BA/ .440 SA

I have to begin this piece with an admission of some life-long partiality in my system for Curt Walker of Beeville over Ross Youngs of Shiner. Curt shares Beeville as his birthplace with my late father and me – and he was also very important to my dad as sort of an older brother role model into the world of baseball, including some time they played some town ball in Beeville together, however so briefly, in the early 1930s. Curt was an undertaker in Beeville until his death at age 59 from a heart attack on December 9, 1955.

My dad and Curt Walker were lifelong friends and hunting buddies down in Beeville. He and Dad both enjoyed hanging out in the American Cafe in downtown Beeville, exchanging stories with other locals on baseball, farming ranching, oil, obituaries, and the real straw that served the big drink that was, and still is, South Texas – the subject of rain. Unlike the recent movie title suggests, Beeville was a real country for old men back in the day – and one in which memory snags stopped storytellers dead in their tracks when disagreements would arise over when something may actually have happened in the past.

“Curt Walker loved to derail those discussions when he saw the timeline debate building,” Dad used to say. “That’s when Curt would ask a made up question of the group like, ‘Wasn’t that the year the owls were so bad?’ – That would really derail things as many scrambled to remember when and where they had a problem with owls in Beeville. – It was just a real different time.”

Enough said. That’s the background I bring to the table on today’s subject: Other than play all of his ball for John McGraw’s Giants in New York and die young, what on earth did Ross Youngs of Shiner do that made him more deserving of the Hall of Fame than Curt Walker of Beeville?

 

Ross Youngs, BL/TR
5’8″, 162 lbs., OF
10 Years, (1917-26)
.322 BA/.441 SA

 ROSS YOUNGS was born Royce Middlebrook Youngs in Shiner Texas on April 10, 1897.  He played his entire 10 season career (1917-1926) career for John McGraw and the New York Giants, batting .322 with a slugging average of .441, while also compiling a total of 236 doubles, 93 triples, and 42 home runs. Youngs led the National League in 1918 with 49 strikeouts, in 1919 with 31 doubles, and in 1923 with 121 runs scored.

Ross Youngs was highly regarded as a fine defensive center fielder. As a hitter, he also struck out only 390 times in 5,336 total plate appearances for an average rate of only 1 strikeout in every 13.68 trips to the plate.

Curt Walker, on the other hand, struck out only 254 times in 5,575 total plate appearances for an average of only 1 strikeout in 21.95 trips to the plate.

Illness forced Ross Youngs to miss the 1927 season. The malady turned out to be Bright’s Disease, which took his life at age 30 on October 22, 1927. Youngs was selected for induction into the Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee in 1972.

CURT WALKER was born William Curtis Walker in Beeville, Texas on July 3, 1896.He began his big league career in 1919 with a cup of coffee at Yankee Stadium after breaking into professional ball earlier that same season with the Houston Buffs. Walker also played for McGraw and the New York Giants from 1920-21 before moving in-season to the Philadelphia Phillies from 1921-24 and again in season to the Cincinnati Reds from 1924-30 and the balance of his big league career. He also was highly regarded as both a right and left fielder for the Reds on wither side of the great Edd Roush for most of his Cincinnati time.

Walker batted .304 with a .440 slugging average, collecting 235 doubles 117 triples, and 64 home runs. In 1926, he slammed two triples in the same inning in a game against Boston, a rare feat for any season of play.

Youngs may have been the superior fielder, but I’ve never talked to a comparative expert who saw them both play at their best. It’s just a hunch, but even if it’s true, it’s not a factor that says there was a Hall of Fame defensive difference between Youngs and Walker. Their physical images, ages, and stats are also almost identical, even down to their BL/TR preferences,  Youngs’ .018 superiority in hitting is more than offset by several dead heat and significantly similar totals – and a decidedly better record by Walker in missing strikeouts, plus adding triples.

I’ve felt since 1972 that Youngs got into Cooperstown on the New York/McGraw/early death sympathy train. Youngs was a good ballplayer, but not a great one. Same is true for Curt Walker, who died at a less shocking older age. Based on his stats and those of Walker, side-by-side, both men deserve the Hall of Fame. By standards of greatness as outfielders and hitters, neither man should be in the Hall of Fame.

The trouble is, and I’m not sure when it started, perhaps, it was with the establishment of the veterans committee, candidates with lesser clout to their resumes than Ross Youngs have been getting into the Hall for years. And how many people would be left in the Hall if we started using some higher standard for measuring greatness and removed everyone in the Hall who didn’t measure up?

This question goes way beyond Ross Youngs and Curt Walker, but they are a good subject opener for further discussion.

 

Tags:,
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Sad News: Finger’s is Closing

August 5, 2012

Finger’s Closes Soon. Fate of Houston Sports Museum Unknown.

The news is all wrapped up in the picture and caption above. Yesterday many of us learned from a mailed advertising flyer that the Finger Furniture flagship store that had reopened at 4001 Gulf Freeway in February 2010 after closing for the first time earlier in 2009 soon will be shutting their doors again. And this time, it’s for good,

We may only presume that the current competitive market among Houston-based furniture giants was the reason, although the family certainly had made their run in that field from the time that Sam Finger first opened his first Houston store in 1927.

Of course, for many of us, the news strikes again at the heart of our love and commitment to the preservation of Houston baseball history. Closing the store will bring an end to the on-site presence of the Houston Sports Museum inside the store at the former location of home plate in old Buff Stadium from 1928 to 1961.

I contacted museum curator Tom Kennedy as soon as I learned of this development yesterday. Even Tom does not yet know the family’s plans for the artifacts from the museum – or whether there is any family interest in resurrecting the museum elsewhere, alone or in partnership with other community groups or businesses. Kennedy promised to consult with Finger’s owner/CEO Rodney Finger and get back with me at the earliest opportunity.

It is sad news. We are losing the only extant museum at a historical site of importance to Houston baseball history and we don’t know if all the recent restorations and additions to the collection will be displayed elsewhere, put back in purgatorial period storage, distributed to family for their individual amusement, auctioned on E-Bay for the family trust fund, returned to individual donors, or bought up by out-of-town collectors and relocated to collectible shops in places like Miami and Oakland.

The museum and its baseball artifacts deserve a plan that protects and expands upon their integrity and importance to the history of this city. We can only hope that the Finger family will now take a leadership role in making sure this happens. Their true legacy is to the people of Houston and the history of our great city.

Tags:,
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Astros Managerial Records at a Glance

August 4, 2012

Brad Mills (2010-2012): Without a plan, Brad would have been cast as Captain of the Titanic. With a plan, however, he’s Captain of the Firebird, on its way to the ashes to rise again someday in glory. He can only hope that he’s left in charge long enough to enjoy the entire unfolding of Astros-Resurrection.

Sometimes it’s simply fun to look at where we’ve been with the managers in Astros history. For me, this is one of those days.

There have been 19 different men who have had runs as manager of the Houston Colt .45s/Astros over the past half century, but 3 of those were only there as brief interim managers at mid-term or season’s end:

(1) Salty Parker took over for one game from Harry Walker in 1972 as the club awaited the arrival of new manager Leo Durocher. Parker won hi only game, becoming the only manager in franchise history with a perfect undefeated record.

(2) Matt Galante filled in for 27 games in 1999 when manager Larry Dierker went down with a brain seizure. Dierker returned to his post upon sufficient recovery, but Galante finished with a 13-14 record for a winning percentage of .481.

(3) Dave Clark stepped up fired manager Cecil Cooper in 13 games at the tail end of 2009, finishing with a small sample record of 4-9 and a winning percentage of .308.

The 16 Full Season Managers, including Brad Mills in progress, finished in this Winning Percentage order:

(1) Larry Dierker – .556 (435-348) 5 seasons (1997-2001)

(2) Terry Collins – .532 (224-197) 3 seasons (1994-1996)

(3) Phil Garner – .524 (277-252) 4 seasons (2004-2007)

(4) Hal Lanier – .523 (254-232) 3 seasons (1986-1988)

(5) Jimy Williams – .522 (215-197) 3 seasons (2002-2004)

(6) Bob Lillis – .514 (276-261) 4 seasons (1982-1985)

(7) Bill Virdon – .510 (544-522) 8 seasons (1975-1982)

(8) Leo Durocher – .508 (98-95) 2 seasons (1972-1973)

(9) Cecil Cooper – .50147 (171-170) 3 seasons (2007-2009)

(10) Harry Walker – .501412 (355-353) 5 seasons (1968-1972)

(11) Art Howe – .484 (392-418) 5 seasons (1989-1993)

(12) Preston Gomez – .443 (128-161) 2 seasons (1974-1975)

(13) Grady Hatton – .426 (164-221) 3 seasons (1966-1968)

(14) Harry Craft – .406 (191-280) 3 seasons (1962-1964)

(15) Lum Harris – .400 (70-105) 2 seasons (70-105)

(16) Brad Mills – .387 (167-264) 3 seasons and counting (2010-2012 in progress through 8/03/12)

Playoffs …

Four managers have taken Houston to 9 playoff appearances. Success began with Bill Virdon as the Astros made impressive, but heartbreaking appearances in 1980 and 1981 against Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Hal Lanier then led the club to their next playoff loss against the Mets in 1986. – Remember that one?

Then came Larry Dierker and the Astros racked up 4 playoff appearances in his five years at the helm (1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001). Finally, along came Phil Garner and the Astros followed a close loss to St. Louis in 2004 with a win over the Cardinals in 2005 for their first and only pennant and a trip to the World Series, where they lost to a White Sox broom in four straight games,

Now Mr. Mills is on baseball’s version of the clock as the current beleaguered manager of the rebuilding Astros. Will Brad Mills be allowed to hang around long enough to ride the rocket to franchise redemption? Or will hiring a new kind of rocket man for that phase of the job be the final coat of media paint on the new “House That Jeff Built?”

What do you think?

– My thanks again to Baseball Reference.Com for making good information so easily available to those of us who care enough to research and write about baseball.

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

When Baseball Cards Were Baseball Cards

August 3, 2012

Haenel’s Grocery Store: Where Pecan Park kids shopped for baseball cards in the post-WWII era.

Once upon a time, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, we could drop into Haenel’s corner grocery store in Pecan Park, at the corner of Myrtle and Redwood in Houston, to be more precise, and just to drop another nickel on dreams, we could buy a stick of bubble gum that came stuck to five new baseball cards. For those of us who were Pecan Parkers and kids back in that day, it was one-third science, one-third hope, one-third luck, and one hundred per cent magical each time we so acted and got anything we were actually hoping to find.

What would you rather find in a single pack, two more O’Brien twins cards from the Pirates – or a much more rare appearance by Pittsburgh slugger Ralph Kiner?. Easy answer to a tough accomplishment. A kid could throw all of his money and end up with Elmer Valo, Al Zarilla, and Johnny Wyrostek by the dozens and never to see the day he landed a Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, or Stan Musial. It just didn’t seem fair at all, especially since we had to scrounge around and find ways to earn most of our nickels doing odd jobs at home or trying to run corner-located cold soft drink businesses.

The key was learning the delivery guy’s schedule and being there as soon as the new cards hit the store. It never took long to evaluate the latest harvest. If your first purchase included an O’Brien’s twin card that was usually a bad omen of more mediocrity to come. If you happened to land a Jackie Robinson or one of those sacred Stan Musial cards, it was whoa! Go find some more nickels before everyone else discovers that a possible mother-load has landed. Yes. We were worse than Wall Streeters when it came to hoarding rare baseball cards. And the street trading that grew from that little sub-culture was fierce.

Rube Waddell

Unlike the Ohio family who recently learned that their older generational patriarch inadvertently left them a small fortune in pristinely stored and preserved 1910 tobacco cards, most of our post-WWII collections went the famous bike-spoke or housecleaning mom routes to the garbage dump. My killer-discarder was my dad. He threw out anything that didn’t move for two days. And that was also one of the big reasons we kept moving. Dad would have done the same to us – or, at least, we thought he would.

Somehow I managed to end up with one card from childhood.It turned up in a little souvenir box I found in storage a few years ago, but, no, it was not a classic Mantle rookie card. It was a timeless Clyde Vollmer card. – Who could ask for anything more?

Today I keep my most valuable card in the safe deposit box at our bank. It’s the same Rube Waddell card featured in this column, a 1909-11 T-206  series item that I bought at a Tri Star show at the GR Brown Center back in 1994. It’s not nearly as important to me as some of those I bought as a kid – even though it cost me far more than a nickel.

Nothing will ever exceed the adrenaline rush joy of those childhood card searches or the ecstasy of finding a cardboard version of a Williams, Musial, or Mantle that you could actually take home.

While I’m thinking of it, I just got to experience another loss that my dad inflicted – and this one is hitting me for the first time: When I was kid, I ordered a collection of 16 pennants, one for each of the 16 major league teams of 1949, and I used them to border the four walls of my bedroom, four pennants per wall. I’m not sure when they disappeared, but it was probably when I was in high school. I must have taken them down by then because I have no memory of them being there later on, but I must have taken them down and stored them when I did. I would never have thrown them away, but I have about a 99 per cent idea as to who did.

Thanks, Dad! You’re not here anymore, and I love you anyway! What you gave us will never be thrown away! You were the loving guiding light that brought me to baseball in the first place and that gift was worth all the baseball cards and pennants in the world to me.

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Astros Rewrite July by Bill Gilbert

August 2, 2012

Even as the Astros burst into the second day of August 2012 with their cage-rattling August start to the month hanging out the window as a 13-4 loss to the Brewers, there’s still time to review the worst July in franchise history.  Thanks to Bill Gilbert of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter of SABR, here’s another take on the July trail that we hope is eventually best remembered as “the road less traveled.” Unfortunately, for now, it seems to be the only road available to the Astros.

Thanks, Bill. Your long-term, always well-considered evaluations of the Houston Astros are important to all serious followers of the club.

Astros Rewrite Record Book for Futility in July

 By Bill Gilbert

billcgilbert@sbcglobal.net

Bill Gilbert

             The Astros had the worst month in their 51-year history in July with a record of 3-24.  After starting the month with six straight losses, they beat Milwaukee 6-3 in what would be Wandy Rodriguez’ last win in a Houston uniform.  They then came right back for another win nine days later over San Diego, the last win for J.A. Happ for the Astros.  That’s when the problems really started as the team reeled off a 12 game losing streak before Lucas Harrell beat Pittsburgh, 9-5. The team finished the month with 2 more losses.

            Offensively, the Astros were last in the league in July with a batting average of .230, a slugging average of .351 and 3.15 runs per game.  The pitching was even worse with an ERA of 5.95, the highest in the major leagues.  The pitchers issued a major league high 96 walks and also allowed a major league high .296 batting average.  The bullpen converted only 2 of 10 save opportunities.

Of greater importance were the five trades that were completed in July.  In addition to Rodriguez and Happ, Carlos Lee, Brett Myers, Brandon Lyon, Chris Johnson and David Carpenter were also traded away.  In return, the Astros received 15 prospects, currently in the minor leagues, and two fringe major leaguers.  The trades significantly weakened the 2012 team but the team was likely to finish last in any case.  After four dismal seasons, a complete rebuild was obviously needed and General Manager, Jeff Luhnow, had indicated this was coming before the season started.  However, a rebuild of this magnitude is almost unprecedented.  Luhnow has been very decisive and has received favorable comments from baseball insiders for what he has been able to accomplish.  However, it will be at least three years before we will know how successful these moves were.

A reasonable expectation might be that the team will show some improvement next year and further improvement in 2014.  By 2015, the team could be in contention if some of the prospects develop and some other moves are made.  Unfortunately, it will be more difficult with the Astros moving to the American League.

As for bright spots in July, there weren’t many. Jose Altuve played in his first All-Star Game (and possibly his last since he will be competing with Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler in the American League).  Scott Moore led the team with five home runs, the only player with more than two and Carlos Corporan batted .385.  Both are veteran minor league journeymen, filling in for injured major leaguers.  Harrell was the best starting pitcher in May with an ERA of 3.03 but won only one of his five starts.

What can be expected for the rest of this season?  Not much, unfortunately.  The pitching staff has been decimated with the loss of Rodriguez, Happ, Lyon and Myers.  Bud Norris and Lucas Harrell are the only reliable starting pitchers and the relief pitchers have been unable to get the job done.  Francisco Cordero, 37, was obtained in the Lyon deal, presumably to fill the closer role but he has failed in his three save opportunities with a record of 0-3 and an ERA of 18.00, the same as Brian Bogusevic.

8/1/12

Tags:,
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Astros Finish July 2012 @ 3-24

August 1, 2012

Close the door on July 2012 and hope that August 2012 is not merely its clone-buddy.

The Astros won only three games in July. Their 6-3 win at home over Milwaukee on Saturday, July 7th, put an end to a 9-game losing streak that began with straight losses at the tail end of june 2012. Their second win on July 16th, a 2-0 conquest of San Diego at their place, snapped a 4-game loss-run that included the four days off for the All Star Game as time-killers. The third and last July win for the Astros finally came on Sunday, July 29th in the form of a 9-5 hammering of the Pirates at Minute Maid Park. That last one was significant for one major reason. It snapped the bleeding on a franchise-record 12-game losing streak that ran from July 17th through July 28th.

The Astros followed their final July win with a two-loss kick-start on a new downer streak as we slide into August.

Wow. And the Chronicle people are suggesting (as recently as yesterday) that GM Jeff Luhnow now thinks the club playing .500 ball the rest of the season is a reasonable expectation. Really? It’s hard to believe he really thinks or said that. Even going .500 next season is off the plane of my magical thinking without significant roster changes to add experience – and that’s not direction we are going. Besides, it’s not how many games we win now, or next year, that matters. What matters is – are we going in the right direction as for the goal of rebuilding this club into a contender? I personally think we are, if we are thinking three to five years. If it’s a double-decade strategy, ala the Pirates, then I’m not with it. I may not have the time to wait that long.

Some notes of interest on the 24 Astros losses for July 2012:

(1) I think the 24 losses is a franchise record for losses in one calendar month. Perhaps, some informed source, like Bob Hulsey of Astros Daily or Bill Gilbert of SABR or Greg Lucas of Fox Sports can confirm that for us. I frankly cannot recall a more horrible month since the whole big league shooting match started back in 1962.

(2) Half of  the 24 July losses came by 1 or 2 runs. (Make that 7 one-run losses and 5 two-run losses.)

(3) The Astros were shutout 4 times in July 2012.

(4) The Astros also lost by 3, 4, and 5 runs on 2 occasions each.

(5) The club also lost by 6 and 9 runs in 3 games each.

Now its August. We need some news along the line of  “ASTROS BITE LOSING STREAK.” The reverse is no longer news. It’s slipped into gear and become the expected result.

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Ichiro The Great

July 31, 2012

Ichiro’s first Japanese manager hated his pendulum motion swing

So Ichiro is now a Yankee! Is it just my perception – or is there some kind of unwritten rule out there that requires most of the great players to come to New York and wear the Yankee pinstripes before they retire?

After eleven and one half seasons in Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki is now roaming right field in Yankee Stadium, and, although he;s only hitting in the .260’s at age 38, the man still plays with all the speed, fire, and flare that have blessed him as one of the greatest players in the history of baseball.

Prevented from coming here by Japanese rules, Ichiro played his first nine seasons (1992-2000) of  professional baseball in Japan, garnering over 1200 hits in the process. In November 2000, he was allowed to make himself available through the Japanese posting system for play in the American big leagues for the first time at age 27. The Seattle Mariners posted a winning bid of $23,125,000 for Ichiro’s services, allowing the great Japanese player to start his big league career in 2001.

Over the course of his eleven and one-half seasons in Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki has played light out baseball in the American League, batting .322 with a record ten seasons of 200 or more hits – while also establishing the all time record for most hits in a single season with 267 safeties in 2004. His ten seasons with 200 plus hits broke Wee Willie Keeler’s record of eight such years; his 267 most hits year beat the great George  Sisler’s record of 257 hits in 1920.

Consider this “might have been” record too: In his first eleven seasons (2001-2011), Ichiro posted 2,428 total hits. This works out to a little better than 220 hits per year. Let’s just round it down to 200 for hypothetical purposes.

Had Ichiro also played his first nine Japanese seasons (1992-2000) in the American big leagues, let’s say he might have averaged at least 200 hits for those nine seasons too. That would have given him credit for an extra 1,800 hit.

2,428 actual hits plus 1,800 hypothetical hits equal a grand total of 4,228 possible career hits for Ichiro Suzuki.

At age 39, and that doesn’t happen until October 22, 2012, Ichiro Suzuki could be sitting on 4,228 career hits, with some gas left in the tank and playing for the Yankees, a club that likes owning all the records, anyway, and be going into the 2013 season needing only 29 more hits to break Pete Rose’s all time record of 4,256 hits.

What an awesome “what might have been” that one is!

Does Ichiro Suzuki belong in the Hall of Fame someday, or what?

And we’ve done nothing here to extoll his considerable base-running and defensive skills. Also, even if Ichiro had been only able to mainatin his Japanese baseball totals in the big leagues from 1992-2000, he would still be looking at a very high finish among the greatest hit collectors of all time.

Cooperstown. Some Day. Gotta Be.

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Longest Baseball Team Losing Streaks

July 30, 2012

Manager: “How’d we miss the list, Joe?”
Joe: “Beats me, Boss!”

Even though the 12-game losing streak of the 2012 Houston Astros now has a cap from the club’s 9-5 win yesterday, July 29th, over the Pittsburgh Pirates, the local heroes had not even reached half way to the all time mark for all professional big league clubs in history.

The 1889 Louisville Colonels of the American Association hold the al time record for most consecutive regular season losses with 26. To no major surprise, Louisville finished in last place in the 1889 eight-team league with a record of  27-111, also becoming the first team to lose 100 games in a single season.

The infamous 1899 Cleveland Spiders of the 12-team National League waited only ten more years to register the second longest losing streak with 24, also establishing the worst season record in big league history with a 20-134 mark.

Both of those landmark losing streak records were the direct result of major roster-gut moves by ownership.

The Top Five Losing Marks Since 1960 include the following:

(1) 1961 Philadelphia Phillies (23): The Phillies  finished last in the last season of the National League’s eight-team circuit with a record of 47-107. Their mark is the record for the modern era of Major League Baseball and the National League.

(2) 1988 Ba;timore Orioles (21): The Orioles reeled their losses home in style, losing their first 21 games of the season. Their American League record would help carry and bury the sign-of-spring birds with a record of 54-107 in last place of the seven-club AL East division.

(3) 1969 Montreal Expos (20): The Expos celebrated their first year of existence with this 20-loss-spot on the all time consecutive game loser list, finishing the season at 52-110 for sixth and last place in the NL East division.

(4t) 1975 Detroit Tigers (19): The Tigers worked their losing wormhole into a 57-102 record, bad enough for last place in the six-club AL East division.

(4t) 2005 Kansas City Royals (19): The Royals rode their 56-106 mark to last place in the five-team AL Central, proving once again that teams that join the record books for most losses in  row have an almost 100% chance of taking their fates all the way to last place – and well before season’s end.

At least in Houston, thanks to yesterday’s blood coagulator with the Pirates, we can all now hum a low chorus of “Ding! Dong! The witch is dead!”

Just don’t sing too loud. The Astros have already taken out what appears to be a long-term lease on a basement level apartment.

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Thank You, Jeff Luhnow!

July 29, 2012

Astro President George Postolos (L) & General Manager Jeff Luhnow at Minute Maid Park (speaking), Houston, Spring of 2012.

Everybody who’s paying attention this last Sunday in July 2012 knows the bad and good news today about Houston Astros baseball.

The bad news is that the Astros set a franchise record for most consecutive losses on Saturday night when they lost again at home to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was their third straight loss to the Buccos and their twelfth defeat in a row. Not a very pleasant sight. It’s like watching the Astros take their lst swim in the National League pool with an anvil tied to each team leg.

“The better to sink you with, oh, dear!”

The good news is Jeff Luhnow. As the Astros’ new general manager since prior to this final NL season, Jeff told us exactly what he was going to do – and now he’s doing it. All of it. Luhnow told us he was going to rebuild our farm system and also unload some heavy salaries for prospects by the July 31st trading deadline. What he’s done is exactly what he told us he was going to do – only he took care of the big unloading of veterans far sooner than the July 31st deadline.

Gone are Carlos Lee, Brett Myers, Jay Happ,, Brandon Lyon, Wandy Rodriguez and a short boat load of lesser lights,and he has captured some  good sounding prospects from other clubs in exchange for the veteran baggage. He also continues to pick up piecemeal guys to help in the short-term, acquiring relievers like Chuckie Fick and utility players like Steve Pearce to both fill the immediate talent holes while also infusing the roster with players that haven’t been caught up in the recent downward collapse of the team. Bill Brown and Jim DeShaies hit on that point last night in the post-game tv show and I couldn’t agree more. Luhnow understands that he is now as GM “the straw that stirs the drink” when it comes to not letting the 2012 brew become so bitter that the whole roster collapses on itself posting a “how are we going to lose today” ticket. Until the club gets better. any new player infusions needs to temperamentally also be firemen – and not fire-setters or gasoline can providers.

These are the dark ages for Astros fans, but GM Jeff Luhnow is on it. I can’t wait to see what he does next – or how the club is going to be playing by 2015. I think we are in good hands and will be in for a treat.

Here’s to Astros principal owner Jim Crane and President George Postolos for bringing Jeff Luhnow to Houston. We think you did good, guys. I still don’t like the way you handled the release of Tal Smith, but I do think you deserve credit for picking a very bright and savvy young mind in Jeff Luhnow as our next Astros baseball operations leader. As General Manager, Jeff Luhnow’s forthrightness and transparency has pretty much laid out the game plan for the whole world to see: (1) Cut excess where it can cut; (2) rebuild the farm system; (3) use multiple sources of intuitive, evaluative, and statistical information in assigning value to prospects and contract players; and (4) work to be back in contention within three to five seasons or sooner.

As fans, we’ve now seen the yardstick and been given a time frame for success. Now all we have to do is keep supporting the Astros as we wait for Jeff’s cake to bake. Just ask Jeff to activate that little oven bell that goes off when the job is done. You will save everyone who works for the Astros a whole lot of grief from all the “are we there yet” questions that are bound to start coming your way from fans by the start of the 2015 spring training period at latest.

Thanks again, Jeff, and good luck.

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Astros Tickets For Sale

July 28, 2012

Pirates Ticket Seller Pitch: “Buy my four tickets for Saturday and Sunday and be there to see the 2012 Astros possibly set the club’s all time record for most consecutive regular season losses!”

2012 Season Ticket Seller Pitch: “Buy the balance of my four season tickets and be guaranteed of the chance to see if the losing streak will end this year!”

 

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »