1982 1984 a super disappointing 1987 McMullen telling Larry King he was moving to D.C. in the mid-80's Nolan pitching in Rangers jersey in 1988 attendance in the crapper jim clancy starting out 0-9 in 1983
82 was a miserable letdown after 80 and 81. In fact, it was so bad that the only manager who had ever taken them to the postseason was fired before the season even ended (sound familiar?). 83-85 were also bad even though we had fun players. '86 was amazing, but 87 was just like 82--they fell off the map. Then after 88 or 89 they decided Ryan was done (that worked out well). The 80s weren't misery like the 70s, but there were still droughts. And, the offense was generally horrible. Our "big bopper" was a pop-up machine. Puhl, the promising young RF phenom from '80 and '81 turned out to be not so much, and was a 4th outfielder for much of the later 80s. Cruz was consistently good and even challenged Gwynn for the BA title one year, then he left for the Yankees after 87 or 88. Then, of course, there was the McMullen firesale as he prepared to sell the team. Wasn't fun watching Hatcher, Doran, Davis, et. al. be sent packing, but in the long run it worked out pretty well for us! Until Hatcher, our starting CFs were Tony Scott, Jerry Mumphrey, and an over-the-hill (and incredibly b****y) Omar Moreno. Not exactly a murderer's row! We also had a catcher, whose name I'm forgetting, that was supposedly projected to be one of the greats but had a mental illness and fizzled. Craig Reynolds was a wonderful shortstop, but people b****ed about his offense incessantly. Same for Ash at catcher. We kept bringing in good FAs and it kept not translating into 90-win seasons: Garner, Ray Knight, Don Sutton, Omar Moreno... Dickie Thon was A-Rod when A-Rod wasn't cool (OK maybe not that amazing but he hit 20 bombs in the freaking 80s as a SS) but then Mike Torrez beaned him in '84 and he was never the same again. Bob Knepper couldn't make up his mind about facial hair and was Jekyl and Hyde from one year to the next. Joe Sambito was a decent closer with the coolest 80s do ever, but his shoulder fell off. And, every year of the 80s we would think, imagine if JR were on this staff! DAMN!!! Good times and colorful players (Andujar, Kerfeld come to mind); the best unis in MLB history; but most years you felt like the team was better than the W-L record and it was frustrating. Especially '82 and '87. Man, those years sucked. For a reference, compare 2006. Yeah, it was like that, only worse because they had never won anything. Ever.
Bud threw 106 pitches in 5 innings? Wow. I was wondering why he was pulled so early...as he seemed to be on his game. Now, if only our bullpen can hold this lead. Good luck!
Man, I was just thinking of the over-the-hill FA signings from the 80s. Joe Morgan Don Sutton Buddy Bell Davey Lopes Omar Moreno Rafael Ramirez Jim Clancy Ken Oberkfell (ok that was '90)
and Feliz finally shows up today! Though I kind of feel bad that Lindstrom still doesn't get a save chance...unless they let him go 2.
Haven't read through the thread completely, so I don't know if this had been discussed, but this is the first road game i've caught this year. Why do the Astros' uniformed not have their last names on them? I hope they didn't make this change to try to be like the Yankees.
he was *really* good for the br*ves. but we got him at the end of his career. He was still decent, but not what he had been. Hit a dinger three rows in front of me one time, though; that was cool.
They're all also wearing number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson today. They're road unis still feature their names and usual numbers.
