Rumor has it that one of our fine Astros starters is actually from Mars. Can’t see any evidence of it, can you?
A Tale of Two Ken Giles Guys
After the Yankee Game One Astros 2-1 Win Save on Monday, 4/30/18 , we wrote:
Ken Giles looked like the guy we always hoped he could be with that 3K 9th of the 3 batters — and with all of them getting punched out by 100 MPH heat.
Store that fist-pumping self-confidence you showed on the final strike three of the night. Mr. Giles, and bring it back with you in your gut every single day you come to the ballpark for a game. Any guy who can pitch like that against this Yankee club, really does, have nothing else to fear, but fear itself.
After the Yankee Game Two Blown Scoreless Tie and 3-0 9th Inning Astros Loss on Tuesday, 5/01/18 , we now write:
May Day to Ken Giles! — May Day to Ken Giles! — May Day to Ken Giles!
We don’t know what to say because most of us out here don’t have the talent you showed up and used in your 9th inning annihilation of three pretty good Yankee hitters to seal the Astros win in Game One. You either variably didn’t read, hear, get, or understand the message from anyone about the power of fear itself yesterday — so we decided to be another place you heard it again today — only 24 hours later — after last night’s tough loss.
Open the window, Aunt Minnie! — Ken can’t breathe in here! — Nor can he see the light! — Bust things up and let’s have some fresh air and new outlook on one of life’s biggest deals — learning to live our lives with all our moving parts working.
Hey, Ken! If you need to be afraid of something — don’t be afraid of trying! – Be afraid of not trying!
*********************
Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
May 2, 2018 at 5:13 pm |
I’m going to make an amateurish intrusion on your field here, Bill, and say that I don’t think that Giles has the proper mental makeup to be an effective closer. I can relate to competitiveness and frustration at failure, so I get the chest thump and throwing the bat in the dugout; however, when a guy punches himself in the face, it seems to me that either the stress of the job is too much for him or he does not have good coping skills (or both). Seeing Giles do that to himself was disconcerting, and I’m not sure he can truly regain the confidence he needs to be a closer, especially since he knows that other failures will occur from time to time. Heck, even Mariano Rivera
couldn’t seal up Game 7 of the 2001 World Series – occasional failures are simply part of the life of a closer. I think the problem with Giles is that his failures have become more than occasional, a fact of which he is all too aware and apparently unable to overcome.
What are your thoughts about “the punch seen around the world”?
May 2, 2018 at 5:48 pm |
I didn’t see the punch because of my even hastier retreat from the scene of the crime on TV. In fact, I only heard about it from a friend by phone – and that came after I had published this column.
Speaking professionally now, Rick, your comments about the state of this young man’s health are spot on. Giles has good baseball talent, but he shouldn’t be placed in situations in which he feels he has to succeed as a closer to be considered worthwhile. Sometime people have to learn coping skills for high stress situations, or else, adjust to changing what they do for a living.
Mr. Giles and the Astros need to address the more important issues at stake here. This guy is hurting too much to be sloughed off or ignored.
May 2, 2018 at 7:09 pm
I absolutely agree that the Astros need to help him, but so far the only comments I’ve seen have been of the “He’ll be okay” variety. I’m willing to bet that athletic machismo ends up keeping Giles from getting any kind of help.
Interestingly, just day before yesterday I was reading an article about closers in the latest issue of Baseball Digest. Included with the main article was a side article about former California Angels closer Donnie Moore. In 1986, with the Angels leading the Red Sox 3 games to 1 in the ALCS, Moore blew a lead in the 9th inning of Game 5; as we know, Boston went on to win Games 6 & 7 as well (through no fault of Moore’s). Several Angels teammates mentioned that Moore blamed himself for his team’s failure to make it to the World Series and that he remained obsessed with his failure; some of them (surprisingly) even suggested he get counseling, but he demurred. He was never the same pitcher and, more importantly, never the same person, and he became so troubled that he eventually shot his wife (not fatally) after an argument and then committed suicide.
I’m not implying Giles is on that steep a decline, but punching himself in the jaw is a clear sign that everything is not right (and not just with his slider). And there is more to life than baseball even for those who play it at its highest level for a living.