And then win bonus cards throughout the season that you can apply to the team like: Clutch late inning hitting, extra speed for out field defense, dominant pitching boost. Stuff like that. Its unreal right now.
I was curious about that myself. Apparently he's on that list because Rockies fans hated him for sucking in Colorado, something pretty much every pitcher they have ever had did. He just got paid more. I guess it was still early enough that they believed success was possible there. Spoiler It isn't
Not sure why HOU fans would hate Mike for sucking in Colorado, but his leaving for more money upset folks. Looking back, he wasn't as good as I'd remembered even before Colorado. Derek Bell is pretty hated.
What were the circumstances surrounding his trade to the Mets in 2000? Did he price himself out of the Astros' range? I recall being upset as a fan at the time that he wound up in NY and immediately got to the World Series in his only season there(although at least he lost). Is he? I never liked him because he was a choker in the playoffs(or when trying to make it to the postseason). But his stupid antics like "Operation Shutdown" came after he left H-Town.
Yeah, he was listed under the Rockies not Astros. Clemens was the only player listed under the Astros, the rest are just former Astros hated by other teams they played with at some point. Did Phil Nevin ever make it out of our minor league system? I remember being flabbergasted when Hampton signed with the Rockies. A starting pitcher who made a name for himself pitching in the Astrodome signing up to pitch in Coors Field - what could possibly go wrong? I've heard Denver has a good school system though.
There was also the rumor that Hampton had an affair with Biggio's wife, and Biggio demanded Mike get traded after he found out. Of course, that's all hearsay.
The Astros are partly responsible for that. If they beat the snot out of their division opponents who make up a large chunk of their schedule, wouldn't that logically result in a weaker winning percentage for the teams they'll face the rest of the way?
It's going to happen, each team that plays us will only hurt our opponent SOS as they'll inevitably take 2+ losses.
Derek wasn't considered a team player while in HOU. He refused to be removed from the #2 spot (batting between Big and Bags). I remember fans outside the Astrodome booing him after games as he drove away bumping his bass. He wasn't very fan friendly. He caught more slack than Beltran during their returns to the city.
And unlike the rest of the teams in the AL, we don't have to play the Astros anymore times for the rest of the year.