… but a lot of joyful tears do fall as a result of some things that baseball people say.
Every organizational society comes up with some sweet, funny, wise, identifying, deadly or dumb things people say over time and our Houston Astros (and Colt .45s, by extension) are no exception.
Whether they are the words of the owners, the front office people, the players, the opposition, the fans, or the media people who cover them, our Houston MLB bunch has produced its share. They simply cannot all be remembered by any single person or in the equally clear way.
Maybe this can be the start of the gathering process, starting with my own recollections in paraphrase, and with this invitation to the rest of you to also submit your own contributions or clarification of the facts surrounding anything you read here from me or any other individual contributor who kicks in their own copy of something once said or written.
Our first pitch in this game will be my list of quotes from individuals, strictly from memory, with no further research, but with the standing invitation for your additional contributions by comment – or correction. Any comment with something new that is printable on some civil, non-libelous or non-slanderous level – will then be moved up here with addendum credit to you by your full name and e-mail identity.
Fair enough? Here’s our (TPPE) initial list:
Great Quotes From Astros/Colts History
1) Unremembered Source, 1965. When the Astrodome interior was underway, complete with a palatial interior living quarters for Judge Hofheinz, someone complemented a friend on the Astros leader’s good taste in antiques as they watched the work at flurry pace. The dialogue supposedly went something like this:
Friend 1: “The Judge has good taste in antique furnishings.”
Friend 2: “Yes. He does pretty good for a man who orders antiques by the pound.”
2) GM Paul Richards, on His Firing as GM by Judge Hofheinz. Someone was attempting to console Richards by deflecting his attention to the Judge’s occasional bad decision-making.
Consoling Person: “You gotta remember, Paul. Sometimes the Judge is his own worst enemy.”
Paul Richards: “Not as long as I’m alive, he’s not!”
3) Pitcher Turk Farrell, 1963. On being given another chance to start after losing 20 games in 1962:
Turk Farrell: “Don’t you realize how good I had to be to even get the chance to lose 20 games last year?”
4) Catcher John Bateman, 1964. On dropping a high foul ball in a night game at Colt Stadium:
John Bateman: “I lost it in the moonlight.”
5) Writer Mickey Herskowitz, 1966. While watching the new AstroTurf infield being zipped into place at the Astrodome in sections:
Mickey Herskowitz: “And now the Astrodome has the only zipped in place, built-in infield fly in baseball.”
6) Writer Mickey Herskowitz, (1967, we think). Upon the completion of Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, a new big almost covered stadium in Texas. They left a hole in the roof near the center roof part of the structure.
Mickey Herskowitz: “And now Dallas can boast that they are the new home to the world’s first half Astrodome.”
7) Writer John Wilson, 1967: Upon an extended time of watching little Jimmy Wynn blast home runs at the Dome as though he were a physical giant of a man:
John Wilson: “Jimmy Wynn plays the game as though he were a ‘toy cannon.’ The Toy Cannon is the best name I can put on the man for those who haven’t seen Jimmy Wynn play ball.”
8) Pitcher Joaquin Andujar. Why is baseball the most exciting sport?
Joaquin Andujar: “I can sum it up in two words. It’s because – you never know.”
9) Sports Illustrated (2014)
SI: “The Houston Astros will win the World Series in 2017.”
Goodnight for now.
That’s all we’ve got for starters – and most of what we easily remembered occurred early in our big league history. Now comes the fun part. As you both can and will, help us fill in the blanks on a history that is far more deserving of substance than white blankness on the page of Astro Quotes over time. TPPE will hang with you in this effort, and we will continue to add our own further recollections as they also occur.
ADDENDUM STARTING 12/14/17)
10) UH Football Coach Bill Yeoman (1966) – Submitted by Wayne Chandler, formerly of the Houston Astros.
Wayne A Chandler Says:
December 14, 2017 at 2:05 pm
Bill, I remember when we finally agreed to replace Astroturf with newer Astroturf, we invited all the sports entities to a down-on-the field inspection and press conference.
After most coaches and athletes had begrudgingly made favorable comments, someone asked UH Coach Bill Yeoman.
Bill just shook his head and said, “Oh, we don’t care. We like this place. We’d play on nails!”
*******************
Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
December 14, 2017 at 2:05 pm |
Bill, I remember when we finally agreed to replace Astroturf with newer Astroturf, we invited all the sports entities to a down-on-the field inspection and press conference.
After most coaches and athletes had begrudgingly made favorable comments, someone asked UH Coach Bill Yeoman.
Bill just shook his head and said, “Oh, we don’t care. We like this place. We’d play on nails!”
December 14, 2017 at 4:26 pm |
That sounds like Coach Yeoman, Wayne! And he was spot-on right, of course. The Cougars played on nails many times in many places. When they bled from it, they bled Cougar Red – and that just fired the UH roar all the more.
Sometimes, when you win, you lose. The Big 12 was ready to admit UH until the appreciative Cougars went out and whacked OU in the 2016 college football opener at NRG. Then – quite suddenly, thereafter – the Big 12 backed off and closed the door on expansion indefinitely. The big boys liked the idea of coming to Houston as a recruitment contact date. They just didn’t care much about playing UH while they were in town.