Yulie Gurriel got his lucky head of hair massaged again last night in Baltimore.
Yuli Gurriel’s big 4 for 5 game in last night’s 8-7 Friday opener win over the Orioles in Baltimore finally has pushed the Astros into having six legitimate .300 plus hitters on their roster for the first in history at this point in any previous MLB baseball season. Unfortunately, Correa (.320) is now on the long-term DL with hand ligament surgery and Gonzalez (.311) still lacks the “AB” totals he needs to be ranked. Otherwise, the Astros could have had six .300 hitters, all ranked among the Top 18 in the American League, all starting at the same time.
AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING AVERAGE LEADERS
THROUGH GAMES OF FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BA |
| 1 | JOSE ALTUVE | HOU | 364 | 128 | 27 | 2 | 14 | .352 |
| 2 | JEAN SEGURA | SEA | 290 | 98 | 18 | 0 | 6 | .338 |
| 3 | JOSE RAMERIZ | CLE | 356 | 116 | 30 | 5 | 17 | .326 |
| 4 | CARLOS CORREA | HOU | 325 | 104 | 18 | 1 | 20 | .320 |
| 5 | BEN GAMEL | SEA | 288 | 92 | 18 | 2 | 5 | .319 |
| 6 | ERIC HOSMER | KC | 362 | 114 | 20 | 1 | 14 | .315 |
| 7 | COREY DICKERSON | TB | 372 | 117 | 27 | 3 | 18 | .315 |
| 8 | AARON JUDGE | NYY | 332 | 104 | 13 | 3 | 31 | .313 |
| 9 | AVISAIL GARCIA | CWS | 323 | 101 | 17 | 3 | 13 | .313 |
| 10 t | DUSTIN PEDROIA | BOS | 315 | 98 | 16 | 0 | 6 | .311 |
| 10 t | GEORGE SPRINGER | HOU | 360 | 112 | 22 | 0 | 27 | .311 |
| NR * | MARWIN GONZALEZ | HOU | 251 | 78 | 15 | 0 | 17 | .311 |
| 14 | JOSH REDDICK | HOU | 290 | 88 | 22 | 3 | 9 | .303 |
| 18 | YULI GURRIEL | HOU | 320 | 96 | 27 | 0 | 12 | .300 |
* GONZALEZ NEEDS MORE “AB”S TO QUALIFY FOR RANKING.
Last night was the first time I’ve noticed Yuli Gurriel wearing glasses during a game and, if anything was said about it, I didn’t hear. All I know is what I see and hear. And what I’ve been seeing in Gurriel is a guy who studies the pitchers as closely as they seem to study him. Rarely does a pitcher get Gurriel to make the same mistake twice in the same game – and never, in my observations of him, twice in the same time at bat. And he can hit with power – or spray the ball to any part of the field the defense is leaving open. What a cool guy to have in the lineup – at any place in the lineup. He, nor can anyone else, can really make up for the absence of Carlos Correa in our game, but he is sure helping to make the pain of that more bearable.
With the collapse of the pen in the 9th, Yuli Gurriel is one of five names that jump to mind as last night’s saviors of a game our beleaguered relief staff almost gave away at the very end. The first, of course, was Mike Fiers, whose 1 run allowed over 7 innings was the flat-out welcomed rarity of “good pitching gone deep.” The next was Yuli Gurriel, who also kicked in an early HR and 2 RBI as big payoffs from his 4 hits – and then rookie call up Colin Moran, whose triple and 8th inning HR accounted for 2 RBI – and Brian McCann, whose 6th inning solo shot proved itself as yet another measurable difference maker in the end. – And finally, thank you, Ben Giles, for throwing that punch-out dagger with two already down in the 9th. The sigh of relief you brought to us last night was wonderful.
____________________
Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
July 22, 2017 at 2:42 pm |
I think that the 1946 Boston Red Sox had a similar impressive hitters lineup, too, and still lost the World Series to the Cardinals. I thought the Red Sox would win in four!
July 22, 2017 at 5:06 pm |
The 1946 Red Sox lost in 7 games, Harry Brecheen won 3 games for the Cards and some Houstonian who had been recently discharged from the Army won the other. His name slips me.
July 23, 2017 at 10:29 am |
That’ll be the day, David! …. The day that many fans forget that day, especially you, …. that’ll be the day! 🙂
July 23, 2017 at 1:34 pm |
Colin Moran the recent Fresno Grizzly call up went from wearing an In and Out Burger bag on his head (Triple A baseball indignity) to wearing an ice pack. Tough break but he is a tough kid
July 23, 2017 at 2:59 pm |
Bill, I thought you would get a kick out of that. Today is the 21st Anniversary of his death, damn time flies.
July 23, 2017 at 5:22 pm |
That picture I took of your dad, Red Munger, in his Cardinal cap, was taken about a month earlier than his 7/23/96 date of death. His foot was giving him fits on the follow up day I came back to bring him a copy of the picture, but he was feeling chipper and still loved loved talking baseball. That last visit was exactly three weeks prior to his death.
When your dad started talking about Eddie Stanky taking over as manager of the Cardinals, it was pretty obvious that Red didn’t waste any Christmas cards on the man, but I had to ask, anyway:
“Red, what did you really think about old Stanky?”
Your dad’s face spread into a wide smile as he relaxed in his easy chair, with hands intertwined before him, staring beyond the room at a memory from a distant past day.
“Old Stanky,” Red finally said. “What a turd he was!” A period of recollection along those lines then followed.
On my previous visit, Red said he wanted me to have his Cardinal cap as a souvenir. I told him I couldn’t take it. Red’s generosity already had cost him a lot to professionals who had mined his generosity and acquired whatever he once kept as original uniforms from his playing career.
There’s got to be a special place in hell for those people who take advantage of older people and, now that I’m actually in Red’s old age neighborhood, I feel even more strongly about it.
Anyway, I accepted the cap because Red wanted me to have it and I knew it was only a reproduced version of the ’46 Cardinals cap.
He still wouldn’t sign it for me. Said “I’m not going to mess up a perfectly good wearable cap by writing on it,” so, we settled for me taking that picture of him.
In fact, I had brought Red a copy of that picture and one to sign for me on what turned out to be our last visit in the short time I had the good fortune of knowing him. Being as I am, and as things turned out, it’s also why I eventually wanted you have the cap your dad gave away and that special red-frame version copy of the last Red Munger photo.
God bless Red Munger on this special day! And may God Bless You, David, and all the other Mungers who had the good fortune of having this good man as your father from childhood through your latter years.
Godspeed,
Bill McCurdy
July 23, 2017 at 6:36 pm |
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