Monday, October 12, 2015
Minute Maid Park
Houston, Texas
12:00 PM
Game 4: Royals @ Astros
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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Think Orange Today!
October 12, 2015Saturday Night Fun with Astro Birth Dates
October 11, 2015
Jim Pendleton, Outfielder
1962 Houston Colt .45s
Born: January 7, 1924
Oldest Historical Birthdate in Franchise Annals
The oldest player by birth date in the history of Houston MLB experience is outfielder Jim Pendleton (DOB: 1924-01-07) of the 1962 Colt .45s.
The youngest player by birth date in the history of Houston MLB roster experience, so far, is shortstop Carlos Correa (DOB: 1994-09-22) of the 2015 Astros.
The Pendleton-Correa age gap from oldest to youngest born is now 70 years, 8 months, and 2 days.
The first season in which the Houston Astros had not even a single roster player who was older than me (DOB: 1937-12-31) was 1973. It didn’t happen in 1972 because of the presence that year of pitcher Fred Gladding (DOB: 1936-06-28).
(Question: If you think you are now old enough to ask when you also crossed the Rubicon from youth to not-so-much, go to the team roster section by season in Baseball Almanac and find out the first year in which the Astros fielded a team in which all the players on the roster were younger than you.)
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/astr.shtml
Of the 43 players on the roster of the 1962 MLB expansion club, the Houston Colt .45s, 30 were born n the 1930s, 11 were born in the 1920s, and 2 were born in the 1940s.
Of the 25 players on the current active playing roster of the 2015 Houston Astros (as shown at Astros.Com), 20 were born in the 1980s and 5 were born in the 1990s.
http://m.astros.mlb.com/roster
Have fun with the math! – That is, unless you are still young enough to find something more entertaining to do on a warm autumn night that feels more like summer in a “been there/done that” Houston world to me. If that’s the case, with you, then please, by all sane or insane means, go do your thing right now – while you still have the juices flowing and the illusions rolling.
Life’s a play – and none of us need to miss out on any of the acts that are written into our particular life scripts as steps to growth, humility, and peaceful spiritual contentment with a simpler occupation of time.
The game is the thing. – Sunday, our Astros have a chance to put the Royals in a barrel and roll them down the hill to the start of their off-season by late afternoon on Monday.
When it happens, or whenever it happens, I’ll be thinking also about Jim Pendleton, the oldest player by historical birth date in Houston franchise annals – and of that seventy year arch in time that joins him to Carlos Correa, our youngest Astro to date and newest star.
And in between came all of the other franchise players who have contributed in their own large and small ways to this moment in our club’s new rising, roaring happy time.
And that’s what I get to keep from tonight’s solitary search.
GO ASTROS!
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About Last Night
October 9, 2015
The View from TDECU Stadium
September 5, 2015
The TV glow came back to Houston last night,
October 8, 2015
What a Night in Houston Sports!
Memory doesn’t serve up another moment exactly like the one that spotlighted Houston sports last night. At virtually the same time, and with all of them featured on national television, the Houston Astros, the Houston Texans, and the Houston Cougars all showed up to remind America of our Bayou City dedication to excellence in sports.
Well, two of them showed up, at least. And maybe two out of three “ain’t” all that bad!
Only the Texans fell short, losing 27-20 at NRG Stadium to the Indianapolis Colts and the long suppressed payback rage of former wide receiver great Andre Johnson. The absence of QB Andrew Luck didn’t stop the visitors, but the Colts made up for his absence with Matt Hasselbeck, who threw the two critical game-winning TD catches by former Texan Johnson. On the Texans side of what passes for an offense, the QB controversy between the again ineffective Ryan Mallett and his “too little, too late” reliever, Brian Hoyer did little beyond demonstrating again the fact that a benched Mallett is a sorely pouting Mallett.
The Cougars and Astros didn’t have QB controversies. Greg Ward pitched and ran to new TD records against SMU at TDECU Stadium on campus, scoring 4 times on runs that gave him 11 TD runs on the year and a new season record for UH QBs. Case Keenum held the old UH record with 9 rushing TDs, and Ward still has better than half a season left to play. The Cougars ran away from the Ponies, 49-28, to go 5-0 for 2015.
The Astros also don’t have a QB problem. But they do have two pitchers, Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh, who have both now pitched the Astros to wins in their first two playoff games against the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals. Last night was McHugh’s time as he worked 6 effective innings of the 5-2 win over the Royals in Kansas City in the first game of their best 3 of 5 NLDS competition. Jose Altuve’s 3 hits were the offensive fire kindling while homers by Colby Rasmus and George Springer were the hammers that the nailed shut the win.
The infamously referenced Houston victory curse was notably absent in the total final outcome of our city’s united parade fly-by past the nation’s short, but concentrated attention span last night, but we Houstonians are not naive to the angst that comes over us when we dwell too long on past experience.
And, as Yogi always said, “It ain’t…. (and you know the rest)!”
Of course, only two of the three big Houston simulcast games were played in our territory. The Astros were playing in Kansas City, but that doesn’t matter in this era of big screen HD TV coverage. We fans can be anywhere the media allows us to be – and have better, more dynamic views of any game that we could ever have from the best seat in the actual house.
Channel 2 conducted a pre-game survey of the support levels for the Astros and Texans, asking the viewers Thursday afternoon which TV game they planned to watch.
With about 6,000 people checking in on the question, support for the Astros was 53%; support for the Texans was 47%.
Too bad the Astros and Texans aren’t going up against each other on TV again next week. After last night, you wonder what the percentage break on the same question would be the next time?
At any rate, it was a night to remember.
Go Houston Cougars! ~ Go Houston Astros! ~ Go Houston Texans!
And while we’re at it….
Go Rice Owls! ~ Go TSU Tigers! ~ Go HBU Huskies!
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The Curse of the Gun Smoke Ghost
October 8, 2015
January 3, 1962,
Harris County and Astros Officials fire guns into ground to ceremonially begin the new domed stadium, but also to unknowingly confirm the presence of the Curse of the Gun Smoke Ghost!
“I have a question: What event brought about the Astros’ postseason curse? The Red Sox had the Curse of the Bambino, the White Sox had the Black Sox scandal, the Cubs have the Curse of the Billy Goat, but to what do we attribute the Astros’ misfortunes?”
~Question raised by Rick Bush yesterday as a comment.
The Pecan Park Eagle is surprised we’ve all allowed this question to slide past our glazed eyes, minds, and memories for well over a half century without seeking the answer to the adroit Mr. Bush’s most worthy inquiry.
Have the Astros’ varied and painful misfortunes over the years, like those suffered once in Boston and twice in Chicago, also been the result of some kind of curse? Yes, they have. Of course, they have. Nothing else makes sense.
But why? What did we Houston baseball fans ever do to deserve all of the angst and bitter disappointment we’ve endured from the few championship opportunities that have come along, ever so rarely, and then crumbled at the highest level in 1980, 1986, 1999, and 2005?
That 2005 whitewash we absorbed in the World Series even helped the Chicago White Sox break their Black Sox Curse from 1919, giving the Pale Hose their first World Series win since 1917?
Now it’s 2015 and we are in the other league, back in the playoffs for the first time since 2005 – and facing the real possibility that the Astros could reach the World Series as the opponent of the Chicago Cubs, who are still 107 years removed from their last 1908 crown due to the Curse of the Billy Goat. – Is our own curse setting up the Astros and their fans to be the only team that could ever satisfy the Cubs’ need to also break their own curse by defeating the Astros for their first World Series win since 1908?
What a horrible thought! – But, then again, how often have our Astros fans’ worst fears suddenly hatched and then come painfully true – and there was nothing we could do about it, but try to remember: “There’s no crying in baseball!”
So, what is our Astros affliction, anyway?
Truth to tell, we never thought much about local curses either until Rick Bush raised the question. I thought long and hard about it all day yesterday. It even followed me into my dreams last night. Then it woke me at 4:30 AM today in a state of lucidity – and that’s not an everyday occurrence for me at this time of day. But that’s how convinced I am that the following answer is the correct one:
The Curse of the Gun Smoke Ghost
How it started. When Judge Hofheinz decided to name our new MLB club the Houston Colt .45s, he offended both the gods of baseball history and legal equity.
The gods of history, supported by the loyal legion of former Houston Buffalos fans, were heartbroken that their beloved “Buffs” would not be allowed, as we first thought, to carry our city’s banner on the stampede from minor to major league baseball.
The gods of legal equity thought it unfair that Hofheinz had chosen to simply appropriate the use of the name “Colt .45s” without seeking legal agreement and negotiation for how they planned to compensate the Colt .45 Gun Company for using their copyrighted name property as the Houston brand for marketing major league baseball.
Harris County and the Houston Sports Association even extended Judge Hofheinz’s original team name pick into the free marketing arena by using several Colt .45 pistols to fire in the ground as the ceremonial earth-breakers for starting construction on the new domed stadium.
How it played out. After three seasons (1962-64), the local MLB club abandoned the name “Colt .45s” in favor of a plan, they said would align Houston more closely with their new identity as “Space City, the Home of NASA, and the face of the future. Starting with the opening of the new domed play venue, the team and the new stadium would henceforth be known as the Astros and the Astrodome.
What they didn’t say. What Judge Hofheinz and the Astros didn’t talk about was the fact that the name change cleared the club from a future legal possibility that the Colt .45 Gun Company might come after them as the team moved forward in marketing more souvenir products under the club’s name.
The Gun Smoke Ghost. The shortest proof of the curse’s existence is this simple: In their 51 years of existence, the Astros have had some great players and bright minds at work for them. The team has won a single 2015 pennant, but the were swept there by the White Sox from winning their only shot at World Series victory.
How the Ghost Works. The Astros have a forever record of blowing smoke that certain actions are going to help the club. We fans then get to watch the failure of that promise on the field. Sometimes, the disappointment is predictable.
Examples:
- Trading away Rusty Staub, Joe Morgan, and Mike Cuellar were for the good of the franchise. The Astros were blowing the gun smoke of the ghost. – Those were terrible moves!
- Owner John McMullen thought Nolan Ryan should take a pay cut. All he did was drive one of the most beloved men in Houston player history into the Hall of Fame as a Texas Ranger. – The smoke from that one choked Houston’s first date with the Hall of Fame.
- The playoff disappointments of 1980, 1986, and 1999.
- The World Series disappointment of 2005.
- McLane deciding to save money by only going after young free agents who would sign cheaply.
- McLane signing Carlos Lee to a multi-year $100 million dollar deal.
And on and on and on. Smoke. Smoke. Smoke.
Things look much better now. Reid Ryan, Jeff Luhnow, and A.J Hinch look great in the way they have brought this 2015 team along. And I can’t wait until tonight’s opening game of the NLDS for the Astros against the Royals in Kansas City.
Win or lose, I wouldn’t trade the talented core of this 2015 Astros team and our current Luhnow way of doing things for any other plan out there that I see.
No smoke. It’s time to kill the Curse of Gun Smoke Ghost.
Go Astros!
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PPE01: Congratulations, Astros!
October 7, 2015
“You Gotta Have Heart!”….
….and, bearing a close dugout resemblance to the boys singing the famous “heart” song here from “Damn Yankees,” the 2015 Astros again proved all the miles and miles of HEART they possess by taking it to the 2015 “Damn Yankees” last night in The Bronx! Well done, Astros! Houston Pride Rises!
Business Note: If this works, our new column notices, henceforth from today, will be coming to all of you from Yahoo, where our new e-mail address for contact on all Pecan Park Eagle matters is now pecanparkeagle@yahoo.com
We have been asked (implicitly, that is) to sub-group our notification of new columns waiting list into smaller sub-groups. That is the reason for the number you see at the start of the subject line. It’s just there to help me know which group mail send needs to go next. There is a little more manuality (new word) to doing things this way, but it’s worth it to us to know we are reaching you.
Most of you probably have no idea why the Eagle suddenly seemed to disappear about a month ago and I have had not practical way to let you know what happened. It boils down to this: After six years of using G-Mail with no problems as our notice transmitter, that robotic site suddenly decided that TPPE must be a spammer and shut us down from mass mailing ur simple column notices. Because G-Mail, like most big sites today, is run by robots and does all it can to make human contact on user issues impossible, we’ve moved here to Yahoo as our new Pecan Park Eagle server. I can still be reached at G-Mail on a one-on-one basis because I’ve got too much going on there to leave abruptly now, but will try to keep all of my PPE communications here on Yahoo from this point forward.
One more thing. If you do not want to receive these notices from “The Pecan Park Eagle,” please drop me an e-mail at at my new Yahoo address above and we will gladly and immediately remove your name from our mailing list. We are the anti-spammers. We do not wish to reach anyone who does not want us, but we will also do all that’s possible to make sure we are not stopped from reaching those who do value our contact.
Thank you for your patience and loyalty!
Regards,
Bill McCurdy, Publisher, Editor, Writer, Technician, Special Effects Director, and Chief Bottle Washer
The Pecan Park Eagle
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Congratulations, Houston Astros! Your 3-o win over the New York Yankees last night was both a work of art and a statement of everything that has been the strength of this exciting young club all year. It only took two first-pitch “hit-or-sit” swings by Colby Rasmus and Carlos Gomez, plus a little razzle dazzle base runner management by A.J. Hinch, some great situational hitting by Jose Altuve, incredible lights-out pitching by Dallas Keuchel and the relief staff, a club oblivion to the animal attitude of Yankee fans, and a dugout spirit of camaraderie that only grew more humanly fun to watch as the innings melted away from a Yankee club that played more like the “outside the safe house” cast of the original “Night of the Living Dead” movie.
Now that the Astros have won their way into the AL Divisional Series round as the remaining wild card, here’s a short list on a few ironies for our boys and all fans to celebrate and hope that we now avoid:
Celebrations:
1) With their 3-0 thumping of the Yankees in the wild card, in-or-out game, they ave established themselves as the only club in MLB history to hold a winning edge against the Bronx Bombers is post-season play, all-time. When you’ve only played another team once in post-season, that one game is your all-time post-season history with that particular club.
2) The previously explained condition also establishes the Astros as the only club, all-time, to hold the Yankees scoreless over their entire post-season history.
3) You get the idea. Based upon what the Astros did Tuesday night, what other all-time post-season accomplishments against the Yankees do you see that may appeal to other Astros fans as other reasons to celebrate? Please post them as comments.
Avoidances:
1) Let’s hope the Astros don’t get swept by the Royals now that we’ve come this far.
2) If we end up playing the Cubs in the World Series, don’t get swept by them – and don’t lose to them. Period. We’ve already helped the other club from Chicago to break their World Series Championship drought – and that one lasted from 1917 to 2005, when the White Sox swept the Astros while the club was still a member of the National League. Now, do the Astros subsequent forcible transfer to the American League, Houston has a chance to yield the same embarrassing service in 2015 to the Cubs – and they last won a World Series in 1908.
Do we really want the Astros to be the club that allows the Cubs, should they also survive to reach this year’s big show against the Astros, to break a 108-year old absence from the World Series winner’s circle by beating our guys?
No way!
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Baseball Is Still the Greatest!
Gilbert: Astros Hang On
October 6, 2015
Astros analyst Bill Gilbert takes his first 2015 whole season look at the club on the day of their game tonight with the Yankees for the surviving wild card berth. Look for another Gilbert closure report to follow, sooner or later – and, preferably, later to sooner.
Astros Hang on to Wild Card after Faltering in September
By Bill Gilbert
After an absence of nine years, the Houston Astros are back in the post-season playoffs as the second wild card in the American League. The Astros spent 139 days on top of the AL West division in the first five months of the season but they were unable to carry it through into September where they compiled a record of 11-16 while the Texas Rangers finished strong by going 18-10 in the month and winning the Division by 2 games over the Astros. However, the Astros recovered to win 2 out of 3 games in Arizona in October to hold off the surging Los Angeles Angels.
Modest improvement was expected from the 70-92 record in 2014 but nothing like the 86-76 record the team achieved. Performance improved in virtually all aspects, especially in the bullpen until it began breaking down in September. The starting pitching also improved along with the offense and defense. The players that achieved breakout seasons in 2014 (Jose Altuve, Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh) continued performing at a high level and were joined by Rookies, Carlos Correa, Lance McCullers and a rapidly developing George Springer.
Off season acquisitions of relief pitchers and role players to fill some holes, worked out reasonably well but the deadline deals in July have not worked out as expected.
I plan to write a comprehensive analysis of the team’s remarkable season later this month after I return home from the hospital.
Bill Gilbert
10/5/2015
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“GET WELL QUICK, BILL GILBERT! THE PECAN PARK EAGLE NEEDS YOUR MVP PRESENCE!”
Correa to Altuve to Chance
October 5, 2015
Jose Altuve again led the AL with the most hits and stolen bases for the 2nd year in a row.
Congratulations to our Houston Astros for making the 2015 AL Playoffs as the second wild card!
OK! So the Astros slipped out of the AL West title that they seemed to hold firmly for most of the season. We also said all summer that a club that wants a division crown also has to play well in September – and that ancient verity again proved to be true. – Wipe out that four game sweep that the Astros coughed up to Rangers on their last fated visit to Arlington and, in your minds only, suppose it into a 2-2 split that might have been with Texas. Had that split occurred, the two top AL West teams could swap places today in their actual finish. – The Astros would have won the AL West with a 88-74 mark and the Rangers would have finished second with an 86-76 mark.
But that isn’t how things play out, is it? The games don’t play out in our minds, or on paper, as the old wisdom prescribes. They play out on the field. And, who knows? Maybe a one-game ticket win over the Yankees in The Bronx is more favorable as an entry point for the Astros as a chance to play a series that starts in Kansas City with the Royals is a better shot than the Rangers now face in a series with the red-hot Blue Jays that begins in Canada!
i.e., We shall see.
Rookie Carlos Correa bedazzled the AL at short and also hit 22 HR in only 99 games.
The Pecan Park Eagle likes the chances of a club that has the arguably best keystone combination in baseball in shortstop Carlos Correa and second baseman Jose Altuve. Just look over the stats of each man – and they are only the recorded part of their story. Nobody’s perfect, but these guys make plays that other clubs have to concede as unplayable hits. – And they do it with such “spice and sparkle”, as people back in the 1930s once said – or with such “fervent ginger”, as cranks and writers from the 19th century into the “Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance” era of the 20th century’s first decade once proclaimed.
Current Complete 2015/Career Stats for ….
Carlos Correa …. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/correca01.shtml
Jose Altuve …. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/altuvjo01.shtml
Tinker to Evers to Chance? There is an irony connection to this comparison of Correa and Altuve to Tinker and Evers of the old Cubs of Chicago. The first decade of the 20th century Cubs had first baseman Frank Chance, another future Hall of Famer, as the anchor man and poetic signature on their successful completion of double plays. – The 2015 Astros, on the other hand, leave first base to the open matter of “chance” – and to whomever seems best up to playing the position on a given day. – Do the names Singleton, Valbuena, Gonzalez, Carter, and Quasimodo ring any bells?
Go Astros! ~ Beat the Yankees!
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Need Help with Your Hitting and Base Running?
October 4, 2015
Nothing personal, Chris – and I’m not trying to be mean here. I’m just constantly surprised today by how many contemporary major leaguers seem to lack, or forget, the fundamentals of the game when it comes to learning the strike zone and picking up on what the pitchers are learning to do to send batters on a fishing trip into those inside and outside, high and low areas of the strike zone that are as barren of any payoff for hitters as the Dead Sea is to fishermen.
I also don’t get what’s going on with talents like yourself. Your first base skills have improved remarkably, and nobody will crush the ball any harder than you when you make contact. The balls you hit out of the park seem on their way to another world. It just doesn’t happen often enough to justify the fact that you have been mired under .200 for way too long. You have the intelligence, the temperament, and the athletic ability to learn and fight your way out of this ceiling on greater opportunity – and you must do so before that same ceiling freezes you out of a much longer MLB future. You have one – but only if you can learn to cut down on the strikeouts and hit for a better average, especially with runners in scoring position.
The base running issues I and some others have with you seem to have more to do with focus than anything else, but it does appear that your size and slugging ability also has left you out of some of the fundamental practice on the basics of base running. That doesn’t fly. You got tagged out a couple of nights ago after sliding into 3rd base safely for then breaking contact with the base as you were arising from the dirt. C’mon, Chris! The 3rd baseman had the glove-enclosed ball resting on your back the whole time you were getting up. Of course, you were called out. As soon as you broke contact with the base under those circumstances, you were going to be called out.
Then, in the first game blow-out win over Arizona, you were the runner at 2nd base when a ground ball was hit in front of you to shortstop. You kept on running – straight into an easy 6-5 put out. – What were you thinking? I’m sure you’ve heard the old rule about grounders when you are the runner at 2nd. It they are hit behind you, especially slowly, go for it. If they are hit in front of you, especially, if they are hit sharply and you are not a speed-burner, hold back on any advance, if at all, until you see the shortstop’s actual play on the ball. – I have to believe you know that rule – as well as the big one. – Never run your team out of scoring opportunity. – Make that mis-run. It’s a better fitting phrase.
Please take what I’m writing here in the right spirit. We fans want to see our guys succeed and I happen to like you and also think you’ve got a level of talent as a power hitter that you have yet to reach. You just can’t afford to avoid the reality that most careers in baseball are hinged upon whether or not the decision-makers still are regarding a player as a prospect – and not as a suspect. Once you move into the “suspect” category, there really is not much of a chance of ever getting out again.
Age is the time clock here too. And here’s the easiest test: Ask yourself.- How many prospects do you know in the 25 and younger group? Then ask – how many prospects do I know in the 26 and older group?
Go get ’em good and early next spring, Chris Carter. You can do it – but will you?
Some October Astros Baseball Reflections
October 3, 2015
Regarding that 21-Run New Astros Game Scoring Record ~ Let’s hope the team doesn’t need 4 of them in the games of Saturday and Sunday. This is no time for the bats to go back to sleep as the Astros drop two 1-0 games to end the season. I’m not predicting, I’m just saying … based upon the past after big scoring wins, the thought occurs.
Changing My Mind About the DH ~ I’m sorry, folks. Maybe it’s my age, or my thirst for action, but I’ve become an AL/DH convert. I got absolutely no thrill out of watching Dallas Keuchel come to bat with the bases loaded last night by courtesy of an intentional walk to Jason Castro.
You know the next batter must be pretty harmless, if the other club is willing to let Jason Castro have a free ride – just to get to the guy that follows.
And Arizona was right, of course. A grinning Keuchel struck out to end the inning – and the possibility of an even earlier rout of the D-Backs.
Base Running 101 Needs to Be on the Agenda Next Spring ~ I’m still cranked about that appealed out at 3rd base on Chris Carter in the last game at Seattle. I said this yesterday, but feel the need to include it again under today’s reflections: Put Base Running 101 on the agenda for next spring training, Astros!
Runners like Carter at 3rd base need to learn: When you are down in the dirt, holding onto the bag after being called safe, that you need to keep two options in mind: (1) Stay in touch with the bag and ask for a timeout that will allow you to arise without being called out for letting go contact with the bag; or, (2) keep in mind as you are arising without calling time out and the fielder continues to hold his ball-in-glove hand on your back as you attempt your rise from the dirt that it is absolutely essential that you keep some part of your body in continuous contact with the bag as you work your way again to a standing position. Otherwise, as happened with our Mr. Carter, you will be called out by the contact that has now become an out-tag.
Catching ~ As pitchers become more reliant upon that breaking ball in the dirt to get a strikeout with a potentially critical run riding with the runner on 3rd base, catchers need to keep in mind and learn to execute what Alan Ashby suggested last night: “Don’t try to catch it with your glove from a squatting position. As you see it coming, get your body to the ground and block it from getting past you.” – Does that make any sense, Hank Conger?
Pitching ~ One of the Astros’ relievers, Pat Neshek, lost at least two of the games on this last home stand and the only loss in Seattle on this road trip. I don’t for sure, but it appears to be one of those cases of a guy just putting too many pitches over the fat part of the plate at critical moments. Once the hitters get past his herky-jerky delivery, what they see looks good enough to eat – and even better to hit. He needs to put out of service for now.
Managerial ~ Although it appears that Astros field manager A.J. Hinch already sees it, this is no time to risk using Neshek again in the 2015 season. We cannot trust him with the ball when the game is on the line. There will be plenty of time to evaluate his future value to the club, if any, once the current season is finally drained of what remains of bright possibility.
Our Three Bright Stars in the Field ~ All we have to do is think of their names as we watch their growing list of contributions. Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, and George Springer. – Carlos Correa’s 22 home runs is now the all time franchise record for an Astros rookie. – Jose Altuve is only five hits short of 2oo for the second season in a row with two games left to play. – George Springer is showing signs of moving to a higher level of production as a hitter for average as the season nears its end.
Our Three Bright Stars on the Mound ~ Dallas Keuchel is now a 20-game winner a leading candidate for the Cy Young. If Collin McHugh wins at Arizona today, he will have 19 wins for the season. Lance McCullers is shaping up as a young and powerful figure in the Astros starting rotation.
Weekend Hope ~ There is only one. That is – that we end up in the 2015 playoffs – somehow.
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And Down The Stretch They Come
October 2, 2015
After Thursday’s 5-3 loss to the Rangers, the Angels are now the biggest question mark in the race for an AL WC-spot, but “it ain’t over til it’s over!”
AL West Standings, Morning, Friday, October 2, 2015:
| TEAMS | GAMES TO GO | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | |||||
| RANGERS-y | 3 vs. Angels | 87 | 72 | .547 | ~ | |||||
| ASTROS | 3 @ Arizona | 84 | 75 | .528 | 3 | |||||
| ANGELS | 3 @ Rangers | 83 | 76 | .522 | 4 |
x -clinched division title; y – clinched playoff berth
The magic number for the Rangers over the Astros for the AL West title is now “1”.
The magic number for the Astros over the Angels for the 2nd wild card spot is now “3”.
Our best bet now? Let’s hope for the Rangers to punch out the Angels while the Astros win-out against Arizona. We won’t have to win a single game against the D-Backs if the Rangers now win-out, but we can’t afford to think that way. (“E” to TPPE, see PM ADDENDUM below.) The Astros need to think “win the game we are playing today” for the rest of the way – even into the playoffs, if we punch our SRO, last WC-spot ticket. We could force a one-game playoff for the AL West title by winning out, but that would require the Angels to take their last three games against the Rangers, but that is less likely to happen.
Besides, either way, our next prize could be a one-game playoff at Texas against the Rangers for the AL West berth – or a one-game playoff in New York against the Yankees as the #2 WC team. – Here at The Eagle, we like the Astros’ chances in one road game better at New York than at Texas.
About last night. – Valbuena and Carter both made up for some bonehead fielding and costly base running earlier with some late inning HR heroics, but I still would like to see spring training next year do a little more to incorporate catching pop flies, sliding, and keeping some part of your body on the base after a close play on 2nd or 3rd in which the fielder is resting the ball on your back as you attempt to rise from the dirt.
GO ASTROS!
PM ADDENDUM: Thanks to Mike McCroskey, I have been correctively reminded that we cannot afford to think that way because the Twins also have a 83-76 record tie with the Angels. We have no choice but to win out because the Twins could still slip by us with a miraculous run of wins over the Royals at home in Minneapolis if we do not.
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Houston, Baseball, & Other Musings.
The Pecan Park Eagle 