Yeah they were definitely booing the call ... Great win by the Stros and Andy did an awesome job recovering from a rough inning to finish up real strong. Best start in Franchise history. I love this team!
So, in the last week we've beaten Ben Sheets and Chris Carpenter... anybody still worried about the offense? (tounge-in-cheek, I know... but one of the knocks was that we don't hit "good" pitching... even though that's why they call it "good" pitching). Roger must be salivating right now... 3 million a month... cushy travel schedule... gets some man-love with Pettite... and he gets to pitch on a team that might give him more than .08 runs in all of his starts.
No, the boos were more directed towards him, he couldn't find the strike zone, especially during that at bat walking the guy in 4 pitches. Tha fans have the same doubt creeping in them as we do and it was felt through the boos and nervousness in the crowd. Last year the whole place would have been on their feet clapping and cheering each strike as these situations were automatic saves, tonight you could see concern and doubt on the faces of the fans before the final out.
Of course there's nervous energy now... there HAS to be after what Lidge did in the playoffs, and how he started this year. But, that's pretty much true EVERYWHERE... even in New York, when the hammer of god puts men on base. Once you see the great ones fall... the greatest fear is that its going to happen again. NOBODY had ever seen Lidge "fall" before last season's playoffs... thus, he was considered "invincible". That's simply an unfair level to hold a guy to, and to criticize him when he isn't at that level anymore. Plenty of people here don't realize that as you see a pitcher more and more... you're going to figure out something against him. This game has humbled even the greatest of all-time pitchers. Lidge wasn't going to strike out the side every single time he came in for the rest of his career... this is part of the growth process, and its why there are very few closers who have been considered "elite" for over 3-4 years... and eventually, they all break down at some point. The guy is still only 27 years old... he's got a world of big-game experience... and he takes the ball without fail no matter when he's called on game-in and game-out. Once again, as I said above, people here have been practically "spoiled" by how good this team has performed the last 3 years... this is far from the NORM... guys like Oswalt, Pettite, Lidge, Berkman, Ensberg, Everett, Qualls, and Wheeler don't fall from the sky.
So it's been said that Pooholes has gotten into Lidge's head and caused him to be so shaky as the closer..... how about lidge getting into his head from last night's matchup? Albert was 0-4 today. Just a homer's speculation.
Another thing I just noticed... besides Pettite, none of the guys on that list are above 30. Add a couple more quality starters (Buchholz, Nieve, Patton?).... a rising solid 2B in Burke... at least one more quality OFer from the minors (Pence?)... This can be a good team for awhile... but as said above, replacing Ausmus may be the hardest transition this team will ever have to make (even harder than leaving behind Biggio and Bagwell).
great series, beating two nemeses from last year...stros look like theyre starting to click again looking ahead, anyone else afraid of bh kim, even though he sucks? our bats usually seem to go quiet against guys with these funky deliveries, and his is about as funky as it gets
I was looking at Preston Wilson's career numbers vs Kim (Preston is on my fantasy team...it's a deep league lol), and he's hitting over .700 against Kim in something like 20 at-bats. At least we've got one guy that knows how to hit him.
When Ausmus retires, it sure would be nice to have him come aboard the Astros in some managerial position. The positive effect he has on our pitchers (even our veterans) is invaluable.
i was at the game and i completely disagree. people were booing inconsistent strike zone. the calls that got ensberg out were called balls when lidge threw them. he did find the strike zone last night. i noticed he was actually throwing the slider for called strikes. when he does that more consistently, he's very, very tough. he's been asked to close out 13 games so far....he's closed out 11 of them. i'll take that. oh, and we're 19-9.
Fat chance - he will move back to San Diego and likely live his quite life. I do not think he would want to any of the front office or managerial jobs. Maybe TV or radio but it has to be something that will not take him away from Southern California. On replacing him - I do not think it will be as dramatic as Nick stated earlier. Crad is no doubt a very valuable piece but he is no Molina or Matheny [sp?]. The problem I see is that we have not been able to produce catchers in the minors (save for Buck and Mitch). Talking about familiarity with pitchers, how come our hitters never found a way to figure out Trevor Hoffman? I do not think familiarity is the problem Lidge is having - no matter how many times you have seen a pitcher you will still struggle against him if he makes his pitches. Lidge is not the same person imo - maybe he is tipping his pitches - and it has more to do with his head and mechanics than how many times the certain teams have "seen" him.
Ausmus offensive production over his career is MUCH better than Matheny and Ausmus is defensively his equal (as well as Molina's) if not superior. The Astros have not been developed well-rounded catchers and your example of Meluskey and Buck as catchers they have developed is off base. Meluskey had one good offensive year and that was it. Buck may still develop, but he has done nothing.
Agreed on Ausmus. Meluskey was all bat, no glove (and a major headcase); Buck is all glove, no bat. Stros look very good at catcher in the minor leagues: Quintero/Giminez (RR) are very similar players & solid big league backup types - great arms, o.k. behind the plate, weak bats. J.R. House (Corpus) if he can stay healthy (for the first time in his career, unfortunately) he has all the tools to be solid all-around; he's absolutely tearing up AA pitching so far this year, pretty surprising considering he took last year off. Lou Santangelo (Lexington) is a John Buck clone - big guy, great behind the plate, has good power but struggles to make contact. J.R. Towles (Salem) is the potential catcher of the future - great hitter, very good potential behind the plate. Would probably be in Lexington if not for Santangelo. Definitely one of the rising stars in the Stros minor leagues. They drafted Ralph Henriquez out of H.S. in the 2nd round last year, he's at extended spring training now & will head to rookie ball when their season starts. He's a switch hitter, son of a major league hitting coach, supposedly has good tools behind the plate...will be interesting to follow his progress.
I was very enouraged when I heard some of those called strikes on sliders on the radio last night. And when he let that nasty one go that the guy whiffed on.
Brad Lidge pitched very well in the last 2 games. I think Brad Lidge should pitch every night, even if we are losing. That way, Brad Lidge can learn his lesson and pitch effectivly. I was watching Baseball Tonight with my cousin, and I noticed that Brad Lidge was looking more pumped up. I think Brad Lidge' s confidence has improved absolutely!
