
When he wasn’t busy meeting his new teammates Saturday, Justin Verlander was paying riveted close attention to the game itself.
Labor Day Notes. …. The Astros seem to be catching a second strong wind this Labor Day Weekend. Just getting home to be with their own families who rode out the storm of biblical proportions may have been tonic enough, but can we even imagine how the players felt when brand new Astro Justin Verlander showed up in time from Detroit to suit up and join the club in their dugout for most of Saturday’s first game of a doubleheader sweep of the Mets? His handsome presence and infectious smile, and, even on TV at home, his easy-to-see gladness to go through all the new-kid-in-school hugs and hand shakes was totally in place. Justin Verlander, the arguably greatest pitcher in 21st century MLB history is here – as one of us – as one of the now two former Cy Young winners that frame all of our hopes – including his own – for a Houston World Series victory in 2017.
Wanting greatness for our Houston Astros is one thing, folks, but finding out that greatness also wants to be one of our Houston Astros is a whole other level of surrealism.
The great Justin Verlander is not simply here. If he didn’t want to be here, this trade could not have happened. – That’s right. – Justin Verlander wants to be here. And he obviously wants to be a Houston Astro. And he didn’t come here to not be great. – We take nothing for granted, friends, but strap on your seat belts and hold onto your caps. If our hopes should fall out of this plane anytime between now and late October, it’s going to be a long trip to the ground.
We just gotta believe!
“Too sweet” would be my tweet – if I were the kind of Internet Joe who did that sort of thing.
Happy Labor Day, Everybody!
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AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST STANDINGS
THRU GAMES OF SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2017
RANK | AL WEST | W | L | PCT. | GB |
1 | ASTROS | 83 | 53 | .610 | |
2 | ANGELS | 70 | 67 | .511 | 13.5 |
3 | MARINERS | 69 | 68 | .504 | 14.5 |
4 | RANGERS | 68 | 68 | .500 | 15.0 |
5 | ATHLETICS | 58 | 78 | .426 | 25.0 |
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AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST GAME SCORES
THRU GAMES OF SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2017
ASTROS 8 – METS 6
RANGERS 7 – ANGELS 6
MARINERS 10 – ATHLETICS 2
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AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING AVERAGE LEADERS
THRU GAMES OF SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2017
RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BA |
1 | JOSE ALTUVE | HOU | 513 | 183 | 36 | 4 | 21 | .357 |
2 | AVISAIL GARCIA | CWS | 422 | 137 | 22 | 4 | 14 | .325 |
NR * | CARLOS CORREA | HOU | 328 | 105 | 18 | 1 | 20 | .320 |
3 | ERIC HOSMER | KC | 508 | 161 | 24 | 1 | 22 | .317 |
4 | JOSH REDDICK | HOU | 425 | 132 | 28 | 3 | 12 | .311 |
5 | JOSE RAMERIZ | CLE | 513 | 159 | 46 | 6 | 22 | .310 |
6 | JONATHAN SCHOOP | BAL | 525 | 162 | 33 | 0 | 30 | .309 |
7 | JEAN SEGURA | SEA | 444 | 136 | 27 | 1 | 8 | .306 |
8 | JOE MAUER | MIN | 436 | 132 | 29 | 1 | 6 | .303 |
9 | ELVIS ANDRUS | TEX | 545 | 164 | 37 | 4 | 18 | .301 |
10 | JOSE ABREU | CWS | 522 | 157 | 36 | 4 | 27 | .301 |
OTHER TOP 40 ASTROS | ||||||||
12 | GEORGE SPRINGER | HOU | 460 | 136 | 25 | 0 | 31 | .296 |
13 | MARWIN GONZALEZ | HOU | 384 | 113 | 25 | 0 | 21 | .294 |
14 | YULI GURRIEL | HOU | 454 | 133 | 36 | 1 | 15 | .293 |
21 | ALEX BREGMAN | HOU | 466 | 134 | 31 | 5 | 16 | .288 |
NR * LOST TIME ON THE DL HAS TEMPORARILY REMOVED CORREA FROM AN OFFICIAL QUALIFYING PLACE IN THE RANKING OF TOP 40 HITTERS.
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Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
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