If Keuchel literally said they didn't have the IT factor, I hope they dock his postseason pay. It's bad enough when fans trot out such stupidity; I expect a little bit more from the players.
Yeah..we have to stop denying the fact, doesnt matter if we werent supposed to be in the playoffs in the first place, game 4 will go down infamous history of the Astros. ='/
Keuchel is a stand up guy and I feel its refreshing and appreciate it as a fan. Don't sugar coat anything. Don't be in denial. I agree the team didn't have the "it" factor and missed the "it" factor down the stretch to hold onto the division lead as well. Overall, the team has made major strides this year and have learned valuable lessons this year and this can go a long way in helping the team acquiring the "it" factor.
IT factor, Nick... you're OK with a professional baseball player blaming a lack of IT factor on his team losing?... I didn't see/hear/read the comment: if he said we didn't have IT, as in we were deflated, etc., and the poster misinterpreted it - OK. But if he literally cited the "IT Factor," they should dock his pay. Now excuse me, I have to go start the wave...
It's all personal opinion, but I disagree. This ultimately led to elimination. I don't think of the Pujols game as a choke...I see it as a road bump to a pennant. This is a choke to me...because it was the difference ultimately between moving on and not moving on. To me it doesn't matter what level of playoffs you're at...if it ultimately leads to your elimination.
Keuchel's quote: “They take advantage of the mistakes and hit the good pitches,” Keuchel said. “We had the lead in all five games. We couldn’t close it down. We just didn’t have that extra ‘it’ factor.”
Yeah, I mean - the Buffalo game was a WildCard game and that '92 Oiler team wasn't an appreciably great team (inferior to the '91 and '93 teams). But you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who cares about any of that (and rightly so). For me... I mean, I enjoyed this team so immensely I hesitate to denigrate the season in any way. Yeah, sure - I mean, if you're six outs away at home with a four run lead, it's a choke job. But... whatever. It doesn't dim my view of the season; in fact, it's whet my appetite for next year. But they definitely need to close deals next year - they let the division and ALDS slip away. They'll figure it out.
And this I absolutely agree with. The Rangers are the Oilers of MLB. They have had the most painful loss in MLB history (Game 6....1 strike away from a title on 2 separate occasions in the same game)...and now they have this. Up 2-0 in a series...lose 2 in a row at home....with an epic collapse yesterday in that inning...complete with 3 errors.
Do the Astros call their bullpen the "IT"? Otherwise, that's an all-time moronic quote. I'm guessing Luhnow and his band of merry nerds' brains exploded.
I agree..I love this particular squad as much or more than any others the Astros have ever fielded. I get frustrated in the broader context of Houston sports. But I'm definitely excited to get back out to MMP next season.
On the Pujols HR, is it really a choke job if you ultimately win the series? I've never understood this. If the Astros win last night, Game 4 would be just a footnote in Astros/baseball history.
This is a valid statement by Keuchel. The Royals have those intangibles that true contenders have. They also have a MUCH better bullpen which doesn't hurt. But even when a team has more talent then you do, if your team has certain intangibles, you can still beat the more talented team. If the Astros had these intangibles, this series would have been a sweep.
Yeah, I'm not sure Houston has ever had a team with this much personality; well, not since the Luv Ya Blue Oilers. I love Bagwell, Biggio and Olajuwon - but they're three of the blandest athletes in the history of sports. Houston's sports, overall, has seemingly always been filled with blandness (Yao, Moon, AJ...)
Good lord.......... The Royals are having a fire sale - do you get in the long line to acquire their bullpen? Or the one for their... (shakes head) IT FACTOR?....
Sure, but they were also up 2-0 overall in the series. The Royals were better than us. We blew a lead in game four and that sucked. But worst all time? I feel like there are a lot of recent fans around the forums who haven't experienced the years and years of Houston sports that some of us have. I said it in the other thread. I just don't FEEL like this is an all time choke. I've been watching since I was five, so 35 years. I just don't feel it. I feel like, this sucks, but we are super young, I had NO expectations of being in the playoffs this year anyway, we have problems that we have plenty of money to go out and fix if management chooses to do so, and we have a bright future. To me, one of the biggest parts of feeling like a deflating choke job is the overall picture of the team. Was this our one big shot? Were we the better team and supposed to win? The ones that always stick with me as the all time chokes in Houston history are teams that I felt should have won or our prospects going forward were bleak and it felt like our best shot. We had a golden opportunity to close out a team that by all measurements should be better than us. We didn't seize it. We don't have the arms to close out anyone right now. We have to fix it. I've seen some people say the Bills were the better team the year of the comeback. It's true they had a better record by a game that season, but we had just played them the week before. We knocked Jim Kelly out of the game and crushed them 27-3. Then you have Frank Reich, who had never done ANYTHING, starting for them in the wild card. We had a LOADED team. We had NINE PRO BOWLERS ON THAT TEAM. We go up 35-3 in the third quarter and LOSE? That loss devastated that franchise. The whole defensive coaching staff got gutted over that loss. The entire city was emotionally like a graveyard, and the loss the next season was the nail in the coffin. That franchise never recovered from that. Do any of you (and this goes beyond the poster I quoted at this point) feel like the Astros franchise can't recover from this? Because I feel like we far outplayed expectations, we had the best rookie in baseball, an outstanding young rotation that can get even better, with prospects behind them to boot, and our weak spots in the lineup can be easily addressed because we have plenty of money to go out and get players, or we have prospects behind them as well. Was it a choke? Yes, it as. But it doesn't feel like an all time choke to me. I've never felt such a sense of optimism about a team after a choke. And honestly, listening to everyone nationally talk about the team, they love the future outlook for this team. They were ahead. We've been beaten down here so much that we're overreacting a little bit. This sucked. There's no doubt. I was sad last night and I'm still bummed today. But this one will pass faster than the other great Houston choke jobs. I promise. And the Rockets start in two weeks. It's not a bad time to be a Houston sports fan, guys and girls. Well, as long as you're not football only....
It appears you don't get it. I respect the opinion of Keuchel who has grown into one of the best pitchers in the game. He has a good feel for the team he happens to play for and I respect his take on what was lacking on the team. Talent is very important but more talent doesn't guarantee anything. The teams that contend usually have talent AND intangibles/it factor (mental toughness, leadership, etc.)
I guess I'll ask it a different way... with the full power of hindsight, let's go back to the eve of game 1 of the ALDS: the Royals offer to trade either bullpens or IT factors - which do you choose? "IT factor" is made-up gobbledygook peddled by bewildered fans who can't figure out how to incisively analyze sports. If you want to argue they didn't have experience, or were deflated after blowing game 4, or were just tired from a long season for a lot of young guys not used to playing this many games... OK. But the "IT factor" - you might as well have said they lacked magic fairy dust to sprinkle over their bats....
I see what you are saying, talent/ability is very important and of course I would trade our current bullpen for the Royals. But you just can't dismiss the intangibles that come with contending as well. You can't deny the team missed something other than just talent down the stretch. People who look at sports purely from an analytical point of view tend to gloss over this very important "it" factor but most athletes or people who played competively understand totally what the "it" factor is and why its important.
