woo hoo... berkman made a routine pop up catch in the outfield. I was waiting for him to trip over his own left foot.
Clemens starts first half off hot, we're 44-44. Clemens starts second half off horrible, we finish in the playoffs.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 Garner good fit for veteran Astros By Tony Gwynn Special to ESPN Insider I don't know if firing Jimy Williams is the right move for the Houston Astros, but the move doesn't surprise me. Heading into the All-Star break, Houston clearly didn't play well, losing six of eight games to drop to .500. The Astros went into the season thinking World Series, but they find themselves in fifth place in the six-team NL Central, 10½ games behind the first-place St. Louis Cardinals. Houston is 4½ back in the NL wild-card race. New manager Phil Garner might be just what the doctor ordered. His lunch-pail work ethic should mix fine with the veteran-dominated Astros. I played against teams that Garner played for (Astros) and managed (Brewers), so I know about his no-nonsense approach and commitment to winning. Phil Garner has managed the Brewers and Tigers, with a career winning percentage of .469. There's no question that Garner will bring an attitude to Houston. He'll keep the fire burning. He expects his players to bust their butts everyday. No ballplayer wants to see his manager get fired, but I think the Astros will respond to Garner. And I honestly believe they can get it going in the second half. Offensively, they've struggled with runners in scoring position, so that would be a good place to start in the improvement department. Outfielders Lance Berkman and Craig Biggio are having good years, but Houston needs other guys to contribute more than they did in the first half. The contributions of third baseman Morgan Ensberg, shortstop Adam Everett and catcher Brad Ausmus are key. Pre-break pickup Carlos Beltran can really help Houston in the second half, too. Another second-half key is staying injury-free. First baseman Jeff Bagwell is banged up, and his shoulder probably will bother him the rest of the season. Second baseman Kent has missed some games. Starter Andy Pettitte has spent time on the disabled list. The edge for the Astros is definitely their pitching. I expect their quality pitching -- including Cy Young candidate Roger Clemens -- to keep them in the playoff hunt. They need someone, though, to step up as the setup man now that Brad Lidge is the closer. It could be David Weathers, recently acquired from the New York Mets for Richard Hidalgo. Lidge was the setup man for closer Octavio Dotel until Dotel was dealt to the Oakland Athletics in the three-team Beltran trade. By the way, if Houston's manager move doesn't get the Astros back on track soon, don't be surprised to see them make some player moves before the trade deadline. http://proxy.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=gwynn_tony&id=1839811
I've heard in multiple places the Rumor that Nomar might be going to the Cubs for Prospects, and the Sox would trade those prospects to AZ for Randy Johnson. ... Man that would make the Wild Card that much tougher to win if they got a shortstop like Nomar
Oy! wouldn't it be nice to be 3.5 games ahead of the Cubs right about now? I'm not giving up, but this thing really isn't looking good. Time to get on tear Astros!
