what makes you say that? I would assume they’ll reveal it at some point when the season begins if not the first home game
Figured it would be up by now. I don’t think they need to have a banner ceremony for simply an AL pennant.... they should be beyond that once they’ve won it all. (Just like they no longer produce individual AL west champion banners/pennants anymore). I figure they’re going to put all the league pennants on left, and World Series pennants on right?
Blake Taylor is part of this live batting practice at Minute Maid Park, too. If there is a season, he's got an opportunity to provide major league innings. Dusty Baker said in February he'd prefer to have a lefthanded reliever. Taylor is one of the few options. Yuli Gurriel just took Blake Taylor deep. Lance McCullers Jr. simulated three innings today at Minute Maid Park, facing a variety of different hitters. He threw 52 pitches, by my count. Pitcher Jose Urquidy is not with the Astros, manager Dusty Baker said. He has a "condition" that is preventing him from joining the team, Baker said. No more specifics were given. Aledmys Diaz hasn't been seen the last two days. Dusty Baker said Diaz slept on his shoulder wrong. He should be good to go in the next few days. Dusty Baker revealed the cause of and treatment for a shoulder injury to Aledmys Diaz at the beginning of his Zoom call. Then gave the "condition" answer about Urquidy. Read between the lines here. Didn't think much of it at the time, but in light of the Jose Urquidy news, I did see Brandon Bielak in the visiting dugout at Minute Maid Park today. He's among the group of players training at UH. The Astros are without both Urquidy and Josh James at the moment. Spoiler
Astros manager Dusty Baker said RHP Josh James will join the club soon. He has a family matter. Also, RHP Joe Smith hasn't reported to camp yet. Smith has concerns about the health and safety of his family. That is the reason for him not being in camp. Dusty Baker went to UH this morning to watch those workouts: "That was a real nice setup. I wanted to get to the gym and see Olajuwon and Clyde The Glide because I'm a basketball man. It was my first time on campus. It's a lot larger school and campus than I imagined."
Holy crap is that really how home runs will sound in an empty stadium? Actually sounds epic, like a stick of dynamite almost
There's a classic interview segment in Ken Burns' Baseball with Buck O'Neil talking about that sound (can't find the video, but here's the text, and I'm not comparing CC to these guys, obviously): I heard Ruth hit the ball. I’d never heard that sound before, and I was outside the fence but it was the sound of the bat that I had never heard before in my life. And the next time I heard that sound, I’m in Washington, D.C., in the dressing room and I heard that sound of a bat hitting the ball — sounded just like when Ruth hit the ball. I rushed out, got on nothing but a jockstrap, I rushed out — we were playing the Homestead Grays and it was Josh Gibson hitting the ball. And so I heard this sound again. Now I didn’t hear it anymore. I’m in Kansas City. I’m working for the Cubs at the time, and I was upstairs and I was coming down for the batting practice. And before I could get out there I heard this sound one more time that I had heard only twice in my life. Now, you know who this is? Bo Jackson. Bo Jackson swinging that bat. And now I heard this sound… And it was just a thrill for me. I said, here it is again. I heard it again. I only heard it three times in my life. But now, I’m living because I’m going to hear it again one day, if I live long enough. I'd like to think he got to hear it again.
Astros manager Dusty Baker on the COVID-19 testing snafus in Major League Baseball: "It sort of puts everyone on a level playing field of problems." Dusty Baker said the Astros are trying to set up exhibition games prior to the regular season, but "it takes two to tango." He said general manager James Click has reached out to several clubs. Dusty Baker had no updates on Yordan Alvarez, Jose Urquidy, Josh James or Joe Smith Cy Sneed's wife made him a special mask that covers his whole beard. He said Springer said it looks like a pillowcase. He said he won't wear it in games, unfortunately.
The Astros will play an intrasquad game tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. George Springer’s team will face a team fielded by Myles Straw and Drew Ferguson. Lance McCullers Jr. will start for Springer’s team and Justin Verlander will start for team StrawFerg. JV will go 2-3 innings depending on number of pitches. "Certain people are cool. Yuli is cool," Dusty Baker said. On Whitley, Baker said: "That's the best I've seen him. I was very impressed with him." He also said Bielak and Bailey threw the ball well. It was his first time seeing Bailey. No update on the four players who have yet to report to camp. Dusty did say he hopes to have Josh James back before the rest. Alex Bregman did not work out today because his test results were not received in time. Dusty said he wasn't that frustrated but knows Bregman is with how hard he works and how important it is for him to get off to a good start. Hopes to have him back tomorrow. Alex Bregman: "I would love nothing more than to be with my teammates, but I'm told that the results of my test are still pending, so out of precaution I remained at home for the day. I look forward to having the issue resolved as soon as possible to rejoin my teammates tomorrow” Astros outfielder Michael Brantley was frustrated about the constant delays in MLB's COVID-19 testing. "All the players are saying the same thing — we need clarity," Brantley said. Forrest Whitley threw 25 pitches in an inning against Garrett Stubbs, Myles Straw and Kyle Tucker. In his first inning, Brandon Bielak got swings and misses from Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve (2) and Yuli Gurriel, none of whom hit any balls particularly hard. He buckled Correa with what looked like a slider, too. Good stuff from Forrest Whitley: "It's go time. I treated that 20-pitch live BP like it was Game 7 of the World Series, and I think that's how I'll treat everything going forward." Forrest Whitley says he's dropped about 30 pounds since March, back to 203 today. He was up to 236 during Spring Training. He's more comfortable where he's at now. Here are the lineups, courtesy of Justin Verlander’s Instagram story
