Lance Berkman has an assload to say (Clemens, Pettitte, Wade,Valverde)

couldnt agree more....b**** and moan ONCE.....then come out and say how it was out of frustration and u re looking forward to the new team...cant wait to hit in that lineup....we welcome a top notch closer... etc etc etc....and say how u just are gonna miss ur buddies.....but to disparage the major league saves leader, ur GM's moves, and anthign else that comes to mind is assinine

 

Good Podcast I like how berk said give me some time it's an adjustment period for me.. That what I was looking for. He also mentioned that it is indeed a very powerful lineup and he is excited hitting with Lee and Tejada ( I'm glad he mentioned him ) but didn't sound too thrilled with Kaz M.

 

I hope berkman doesnt pull a TMAC and not drive in Matsui on purpose

 

That makes absolutely no sense. Why would Biggio "force" the team to hold onto mediocore players? You know what the difference is? 2 years of not going to the playoffs after going to the World Series and a regime change.

 

Eh...Berkman will be fine if/when the team starts winning...it's amazing what a few "Ws" will do.

 

Well, it's not so much that, as the fact that Drayton hired Purpura instead of a real GM. What if an aggressive, pro-active GM comes in while Biggio is still here? Biggio could very well have been shipped out or pushed to the side, and there would be no having of any of that! No siree!

I am not saying it must be true or anything, but it is an awfully big coincidence that all this shake-up occurs as soon as Biggio is gone...

 

I doubt Bidge had that much control.

 

Y'all are still acting way out of proportion to what this deserves. Yes, it's not good - but it's not that bad. He misses his teammates, so he blows off a little steam. Not a big deal. This talk of trading him, or him taking a dump on the organization or "OMG STFU N HIT" is massively overreacting to something happening in December.

 

the reaction is to Berkman's overreaction.....his buddies got traded...get over it....its a business ...or is he oblivious to that?

you know what? NO ONE....NOT A SINGLE TEAMMATE said a f-ing word when our BEST hitter blew his knee out playing flag football and put the team in a HORRIBLE position...NO ONE SAID A WORD. No one questioned his commitment to the team....no one wondered out loud why the guy who is arguably the most out of shape player on the team was playing flag football...thats why he should just STFU and concentrate on hopw he can help make the team better....like our GM is doing.

 

Bull****. The guy's publicly blasting his bosses and his new/current teammates because he's sad that some of his friends are gone. There is never an excuse for that. He's putting his own personal feelings above the best interests of the team. If he wants to do that (and IIRC, this isn't the first time he's done it), then I'd much rather him do it on another team.

Great post, NJ.

 

What lunacy. What was someone supposed to say? "HOW DARE YOU HAVE A FREAK INJURY LIKE THAT?" It was a fluke injury at a church function, it's not like he was riding a motorcycle and broke his hand, despite his contract forbidding motorcycle riding. He didn't blow out his knee out of spite just to **** with the team. Why should he have taken blame for that? utter nonsense.

We have different definitions of blasting someone, because what he said was not that bad. He hasn't threatened to hold out, or demanded a trade and he didn't make these comments in the middle of the season. It's really no big deal.

As far as trading him - that is extravagant folly to even consider it - especially for something as minor as this.

 

the point is that no one decided to "rock the boat" in terms of clubhouse chemistry or whatever...when it could have easily happened

now we have a guy who is complainin that chemistry is gone and going a step further by alienating his new teammate(s) to an extent

 

and the Astros didnt trade for Valverde to spite Lance...they did it to better he team

 

I don't think anyone said anything out of some desire not to rock the boat but because there were a lot of things going on that summer and it was a real fluke accident.

Remember, we were deep in conversations trying to resign Beltran, there were retirement rumors about Clemens, Bagwell and probably Pettite(there are always rumors about Pettite, I guess). Probably something to do with Biggio. There was a lot going on that Fall and then the injury slipped under the radar.

Plus it was a fluke injury. If Lance had blown out his knee skydiving, or spelunking, or in a car wreck because he was driving dangerously, or motorcycle riding, then I guarantee you someone would've said something. Because the injury happened during an event in which there wasn't a realistic possibility of injury, no one's going to grouse. If he had been reckless and gotten himself hurt - he'd have heard about it.

I should make clear, that I don't agree with anything that he says, but I don't think it's all that meaningful. He's blowing off steam and he's upset that half the team's been traded away. But Spring Training is still a long ways off and by the time it comes around, I doubt most people will even remember what he said.

 

This thread is approaching overreaction.

Hell, Lance was our ONLY offense in our pennant-winning 2005 (year he hurt his knee), and his MVP-like 2006... he's also been phenominally consistent every year since 2001, and even when he has an "off" year as he did last year (as perceived by many here), its still better than most guys could ever hope for (hell, if Tejada is somehow able to sniff Lance's #'s from last year, I'd be overjoyed... but something tells me he won't).

Yes, he's blowing off steam... yes, he likely isn't being a "welcome" host to our new players... but c'mon. If the guy is upset about things, I think he has every right to say so. And even then, he's not being malicious about it... he's simply saying that as an opposing player, he didn't like Valverde's antics...and Valverde's track record isn't necessarily of the kind where every player on this team should all bow down to him. If anything, Lance may be cautioning his new closer to worry more about not having another year like 2006, and cutting down the blown saves, instead of trying to show up batters.

Regardless... throwing Lance under the bus for this is nowhere near the response people should be having... not after the guy has done nothing but consistently perform for this team (in some cases CARRY this team).

Would Roy Oswalt get the same reaction? The guy doesn't talk much, but he likely has MORE reason to be pissed off... with absolutely zero rotation help to speak of.

 

How quickly we forget!

Lance Berkman: 132 games, 24 HRs, 82 RBIs, 0.934 OPS
Mystery Teammate: 150 games, 36 HRs, 101 RBIs, 0.945 OPS

 

Mystery? That was Ensberg in his last shreds of greatness before permanent turd-dom.

 

I see it as the opposite. I would pencil Roy in for 20 wins barring injury, if this offense does what it's supposed to do.

I agree though, there's quite a bit of overreaction to Lance blowing off steam. I think Backe was pretty much dead on -- Lance is Lance; he's sad to see some guys go, and Burke was one of his best friends. Maybe he's just filling in for the annual Bagwell December gripe?

 

Care to break down how much Ensberg actually contributed after his hand got brusied, and who was carrying this offense throughout the stretch-run and actually in the playoffs itself?

Lance Berkman is the most clutch, has had the most "big hits", and if he continues this pace, will be the best overall hitter the Astros have ever had... if he wants to be critical of certain acquisitions, he deserves to have his say.

I'm not saying what he said was right... I'm just saying he shouldn't be black-balled by Astros fans because of it.

 

It's really annoying how these sort of slurs are tolerated. You have no proof of what you are implying. If I was more paranoid, I might be tempted to think some members of this board don't like white people, but then I'd be just as idiotic as all the posters who can't resist an opportunity to promote their groundless conspiracy fantasies that the Astros (both the organization and players) are prejudiced.