Of course I’m not surprised but it’s still unreal that the Astros are in a must win situation and yet they still still have Diaz and Brantley (assuming he’s healthy) on the bench tonight. We also know that nobody is going to fix this last minute. We are going to suffer with Dusty’s lineups until the very end.
At this last playoff push, Astros are not in a position to get cute with pitcher setup for the playoffs. Most important thing is the need to win tonight, and JV gives you the best opportunity. If JV starting coincides with Maldy catching, it's like that for the past 2 years folks, then so be it. I'm not arguing about it anymore. Astros just needs to win and top guys need to step up to cover Maldy.
Either way we would be “piecing together 9 innings” today instead. We win today and have a solid chance at the division.
I get it, you never played. My stepping on the chalk b/t the dugout and the mound had no effect whatsoever on my performance. Me not having my socks in a certain place, or tapping the bat a certain # of times in a certain spot at the plate had absolutely nothing to do with the following AB. Me picking a "lucky beer" and busting it out for special games has *really absolutely totally nothing* to do with the outcome. But it's just how it's done. Calling "ballgame" 4 hours before the first pitch is just bad voodoo hubris. And like I said, poor form.
I don't care what any of it means, get JV some early runs and thump the diamondbacks back into their snake hole - PEACE
I think the state of ones psyche is EXTREMELY important to ones performance. The things mentioned by Buck are among the many things players do to get their psyche in the right place. On the other hand, the stuff that goes down on this board does not affect how the Astros players perform in the slightest. To me, its all about what said player buys into and doesnt. If they believe they are trash, I very much think that said player will perform less well than one who believes he is awesome. I will add that these personal habits players do to psyche themselves up doesnt always work. And just because you believe you are awesome doesnt mean you will be an awesome player.
Excellent post. Crash Davis : If you believe you're playing well because you're getting laid, or because you're not getting laid, or because you wear women's underwear, then you *are*! And you should know that!
Reds down 0-4 already in the first. Not sure it'll matter much to Arizona at the start, but there's a good chance they clinch in the middle of tonight's game.
