What if they had finished 34-12 (instead of 36-10) and missed the playoffs by one game? How would you have rated their season? Do they only get to become the "biggest choke franchise in the history of sports" because they had one of the best finishes in ML history to gain the playoffs? The way this year unfolded, the playoffs are just icing on the cake. The last 6 weeks were a truly remarkable run. In essence they already have won 7 straight elimination playoff games. Lose any of them and odds are they would not be in the playoffs at all.
not going to make any specific predictions other than a series win We've got a damned good shot at splitting if not winning the first two games. I wouldn't want any other tandem than Clemens and Oswalt going in the first two games. Here's to hoping biggio and bagwell along with the rest of the lineup, get some timely offense when we need it in this postseason series. The braves might not have Glavine, Maddux, and Smoltz...... but certainly not a team to overlook either. Good luck 'Stros! -ISO
Man i really hope we do well in the series and win it (which i think we will) i just want to get the monkey off our back which is those Braves. I am really tired of meeting them in the playoffs to just do nothing. Based on our rotation and theirs we should have the upper hand in the series. But i just hope we can take the momentum that we have into the playoffs. Everyone is all of a sudden picking us to win the series because of how we are playing and i hope we live up to that. Just heard on 610 that Hampton is actually starting game 2 becuase Thompson strained a muscle and will be pitching in game 3 instead of 2. Wonder if that will help a bit.
This year feels so different, like there's no pressure, and I can't wait to see how they respond. The team is having fun right now.
Sorry, I didn't express what I was trying to say very clearly. I'm fully aware of what a brilliant stretch run the Astros had, it's amazing. True, them being alive now is kinda icing on the cake. However, they should win this series. They got the 2 aces in the rotation. They have a manager making good moves. They have a lineup with plenty of pop. They have playoff vets, and they got young studs like Berkman and Beltran. The Astros fielded great teams from 97-99 and walked away with nothing. The Astros should and need to have a playoff series win in the Bagwell/Biggio era. That's why I said they'd be such bad chokers if they were unable to win just one playoff series under 2 such great players. I definitely agree with those statements. This is a different team than were used to seeing with the Astros.
nothing happened that day. there was no football game played that day. least that's what my therapist says.
A scout's analysis from Sportsline.com: ASTROS IN GENERAL: "It's not a surprise that the Astros are in the playoffs. It might be a little surprising getting in the way they did and going through the adversity they did, but hiring Phil Garner and firing Jimy Williams turned it around. A lot of people said their bullpen saved them, they went out and got Chad Harville in a trade, they went out and got Russ Springer. Dan Miceli did a tremendous job. The key was Brad Lidge. They took a chance on a guy with four arm surgeries and he's set a record for relievers with strikeouts. Their bullpen really saved this club. And they've got some veterans who can play. Overcoming the adversity they did, they might be able to do something in the playoffs. Pettitte is out but if you face Oswalt twice in a series, Oswalt and Clemens, that's not a bad combination right there." BIGGIO: "You've gotta be careful early in the count. This is a guy who is real aggressive early in the count, and sometimes he's looking to pull the ball out of the park. He's not the threat on the bases he was, but you have to be careful pitching to him, especially with runners in scoring position. He can be a liability in the outfield." BELTRAN: "Enigma. This is a guy who can at times play as the best player in the league and then sometimes he'll go to sleep on you. It's going to be very interesting to see what kind of postseason he has because I think it's going to determine his future. He's going to be one of the top free agents. This is his first postseason, it could be huge. I think he's going to one of the keys." BAGWELL: "I think he's playing with a chip on his shoulder. They were talking about running him out of town a third, two-thirds into the season. He stole a base Sunday (against Colorado)! This is a guy playing mad, and he wants to prove some things. It'll be interesting. I think you can pitch him out of the strike zone, make him chase. He's not as good a breaking ball hitter as he once was. He's starting to cheat a little bit. He's going to punish the cripples, but you don't get to see that many cripples in the playoffs." KENT: "One of the dangerous right-handed hitters in the league. Great fastball hitter, pretty good breaking ball hitter, kills mistakes. Professional hitter. One of the toughest outs in the league. You've gotta be careful how to pitch him, maybe pitch him backwards. You've gotta give him breaking stuff in fastball counts, but you can't make mistakes with it." BERKMAN: "Wow, you know, a quiet, great player. A couple years back you thought Berkman was gonna be one of the great players in the league. And he still is. He's not that much of a threat from the right side, but he is really dangerous from the left side. He struggles in the outfield but might be OK at Turner Field. That Atlanta club starts predominantly right-handers, so he should have a pretty good series. But if you can turn him around, you want to turn him around." ENSBERG: "I thought he was about to be Wally Pipp. He wasn't producing and they were giving Mike Lamb a chance. I've never been a big Morgan Ensberg guy because his bat falls asleep. I think he's a guy who can be pitched to, not a power threat. If he gets off to a slow start in the series, I think they'll play Mike Lamb over Ensberg." AUSMUS: "One of the better catch-and-throw guys in the league. His arm is not as strong as it has been. Offensively, he's not a threat at all with the bat. He's strictly a threat defensively, you don't worry about him offensively. He's definitely one of the top guys as far as controlling the pitching staff." VIZCAINO: "Just a solid veteran, knows how to play the game. Keeps that defense calm on the infield. Jeff Kent is not a very good defensive player, Vizcaino is going to make all the plays, he's going to come up with a big hit. They very fortunate to have a guy like Vizcaino after losing their regular shortstop, but it's going to hurt their depth. Double switches, that's when you'll miss him." CLEMENS: "Cy Young." OSWALT: "Filthy. If he can stay healthy, he reminds me so much of Tim Hudson except he is so violent in his delivery. His stuff is as good as any right-hander in the league and I think he and Clemens are one of the best 1-2 punches in NL. Their first series isn't going to be high-scoring, especially with those guys, and if it's low scoring it's going to be tough." HERNANDEZ: "His stuff is way shorter than what it's been in the past. He hasn't gotten his velocity back, or his command. I would think after those first two guys, the bullpen will be on notice and be ready to pitch. This is a guy who didn't pitch all of last year because of being injured. If the future of the team this year is on his shoulders, they're going to be in trouble." BACKE: "Solid competitor, everything is hard. His best pitch is a slider or fastball. He's got a chance to be a starter, but his lack of experience for this year might hurt him in the playoffs. I don't see him pitching that much, but in each series he might get a start. If (Sunday's regular-season finale against Colorado) was any indication of what may happen, he could be one of the biggest keys in the series -- if he's a guy who can get them to the next two guys, Clemens and Oswalt. REDDING: "Inconsistent. Real inconsistent. Has the stuff, but can't stay consistent enough. Every time they want to say here's a guy, our fourth starter, he's inconsistent. I don't think they have a lot of confidence in him. I don't see him being any factor in this series at all. Maybe as a long reliever." LIDGE: "Some people consider him to be in the top five right now because of what he's been doing in strikeouts. I can't say that, because he's had four arm surgeries and I like to see a guy repeat it. Right now, though, he's one of the most dominant closers. If they get the ball to him with the game on line, it's lights out."
BRAVES IN GENERAL: "Their pitching philosophy is to pitch in the down-and-away area to everybody. You'll see right-handed power hitters at bat and you'll see (center fielder) Andruw Jones playing right-center. They just think down-and-away is a tough place for a hitter to hit the ball, so that's the way they go. Defensively, I have not seen Chipper Jones at third base for a while, but Adam LaRoche is a very good fielding first baseman. Their bullpen, they have so many hard-throwing guys out there -- (Chris) Reitsma, (Kevin) Gryboski, (John) Smoltz, (Juan) Cruz, (Roman) Colon, all these kids throw like 94-97, (Antonio) Alfonseca is 94-96. They've got some guys who can really rush it up there pretty good." FURCAL: "He'll be a guy who will try and get into the count as much as possible. With runners in scoring position, that's out the window, he's hacking at first thing he sees. Left-handed, run the ball in on him. When he's hitting right-handed, go slow and slower on him. He's probably got the best shortstop arm in the National League." GILES: "Pretty good contact guy. Goes the other way good. He's the kind of guy who you really can't stay in any area for the whole at-bat. You've gotta do something on both sides of plate with him. Good contact hitter, prototypical No. 2 guy." DREW: "Having a great year, he can hit ball the other way as well as pull, that's why he's over .300. He's a plus runner and he's got a plus arm. You've gotta get him thinking about both sides of the plate with the fastball." C. JONES: "When I saw him, he really struggled from the left side. He hit the ball better from the right side. He's another early swinger who can swing and miss. Hitting left-handed, throw him some soft stuff early and then run the ball in on his hands. Hitting right-handed, try not to elevate the ball for him." ESTRADA: "Boy I'll tell you what, he's got a real contact-type approach at the plate. He'll try and pull the ball early, and late in the count he'll just try to protect. But he puts the bat on the ball. I think he's another guy you need to throw soft stuff to early to help set up your fastball." LaROCHE: "He's a pretty good low-fastball hitter. He's an aggressive first-pitch swinger. He's got a little bit of power; you can't play him cheaply. He's a very good fielder, another early swinger." A. JONES: "When I saw him he was trying to pull everything. A lot of times when he's in that pull mode show him inside and then go away. Pitchers have to adjust to what he's trying to do." CHARLES THOMAS: "Another guy who tries to make contact. People have had pretty good success running the fastball in on him. He had a hard time catching up to fastballs in on his hands. But he's a plus runner with a slap-type approach. He likes the ball out over the plate so he can hit it the other way." ORTIZ: "With Ortiz, he has battled control problems most of the year. He's good at getting in trouble and he's better at getting out of it, let's put it that way. He's the type of guy who, if he's just a little bit wild, you need to be patient with him at the plate." THOMSON: "The sinker is probably his best fastball. He's the kind of guy who needs to keep the ball down. He's a lot more effective when he keeps his fastball down. He's a sinker-slider type guy who can add and subtract on slider velocity to where the higher velocity sinker turns into a cutter -- that's more to get in on left-handed hitters." WRIGHT: "Jaret Wright has turned into a polished major-league pitcher this year in that he will pitch at about 89-92. He still has the ability to throw 97-98, but he usually does that when he wants to put hitters away with two strikes. Early in the count he'll be 89-92 and he's got a little bit of late movement on the fastball. He's not the guy everybody knew before who used to rely on velocity rather than location. Now he's turned it around to where he can locate his fastball and not have to throw it at 97." HAMPTON: "He will add and subtract on his fastball a lot. Sometimes he uses the higher velocity, 90-91, when he's behind in the count trying to get back into the count -- it's usually a four-seamer. He'll throw his sinker when he's trying to get people out. His sinker is his best fastball." BYRD: "He's a low, three-quarter type guy who has a couple of different arm angles. He has a deceptive delivery to right-handed hitters. I think lefties see him better. He throws strikes with all four pitches -- fastball, slider, curve, change. His fastball is a touch below average, but he has the ability to get it over the plate. His slider is probably his best breaking ball." SMOLTZ: "For me he's got three pitches: His fastball, which is pretty straight 95-98, his slider, and he's got a split (fastball). What he does with his fastball is go to the down-and-away area, but he creates a lot of downward plane angle. Down-and-away to right-handed hitters. He's able to spot it out there, everything he throws is hard. His slider is 90-92 and his split is 90-91. You'd better be ready. But what he'll do is, more often than not, he'll use his fastball and slider to get to his split as his out pitch. If he gets in trouble, he might go to the split right away, so you never know."
THE EDGE (Sportsline.com) HOUSTON ASTROS Overall Record: 92-70 Home Record: 48-33 Road Record: 44-37 How the Astros got there: Although Houston had been expected to contend for the NL Central title, injuries and the Cardinals seemed to erase the Astros' postseason hopes. But manager Phil Garner, who replaced Jimy Williams at the All-Star break, helped Houston win 36 of its last 46 games. ATLANTA BRAVES Overall Record: 96-66 Home Record: 49-32 Road Record: 47-34 How the Braves got there: This was the year the Braves' streak of consecutive division titles was supposed to end. No Greg Maddux. No Gary Sheffield. No Javy Lopez. Instead, the Braves won their 13th straight division crown under manager Bobby Cox. Infield The right side of the Astros' infield is solid with the two Jeffs -- Bagwell at first and Kent at second. SS Jose Vizcaino has filled in for injured Adam Everett, who just returned from the DL. Atlanta 3B Chipper Jones was hit in the right hand with a pitch Saturday and didn't play in the season finale. Atlanta SS Rafael Furcal has struggled since his arrest for a DUI earlier in the month. Johnny Estrada had a great year as the full-time catcher. EDGE: EVEN Outfield The offseason loss of Gary Sheffield created a huge void in the Braves' outfield, but replacement J.D. Drew had the best season of his career. Andruw Jones still covers center as well as anyone. Houston's Carlos Beltran has played well since arriving from Kansas City, but Lance Berkman has been the Astros' best hitter all season. Craig Biggio is a gamer in left. EDGE: HOUSTON (SLIGHT ADVANTAGE) Starting Pitching The Astros appear to be in fine shape for a short series, with two Cy Young Award contenders rested and ready. Roger Clemens will start Game 1 on full rest, and 20-game winner Roy Oswalt will follow. The Braves will go with a three-man rotation -- Jaret Wright, John Thomson, Mike Hampton -- as struggling Russ Ortiz goes to the bullpen. EDGE: HOUSTON (HUGE ADVANTAGE) Bullpen Brad Lidge has been superb since assuming the closer's role after Octavio Dotel was traded to Oakland. Atlanta counterpart John Smoltz did not pitch well in September. Like Smoltz, the other Braves relievers throw hard. EDGE: ATLANTA (SLIGHT ADVANTAGE) The Ultimate Edge Bobby Cox's Braves often get criticized for not winning more World Series titles, but the Astros never have won a postseason series in 42 years. Not only that, Atlanta has eliminated Houston three times in the past seven postseasons. Houston's Phil Garner is trying to follow the lead of Jack McKeon, a midseason replacement who led Florida to last year's Woirld Series title. Atlanta might be running into a buzzsaw -- the Astros have won their past 18 home games. EDGE: HOUSTON (MODERATE ADVANTAGE)
Damn straight! I don't know why put that line got me pumped. If the 'Stros can carry the momentum over to the postseason they have a really good shot.
Castor I assume you deleted my thread a few days ago about the this current possible scenario the 'Stros will be faced with in the NLDS. I am not complaining just wondering if it would not have been better to just lock it if you had a problem with it. Oh well... Disclaimer I apologize if you absolutely do not know what I am talking about.
Castor SportsRadio610 reported that Mike Hampton will be going for the Braves in game 2 on Thursday. So I gues you must edit the initial post of this thread to reflect the right matchups. Thanks.
Um. I think I remember deleting it. I think it was a karma thing, but I am not 100% sure. There have been a bunch of thread deletions and merges the last week and I can't remember exactly what was in all of them. Thanks for the heads up on Hampton. I edited the first post with the info.
[FOXSports.com]: Clemens ready to go in game 1 Sorry if this was already posted, I didn't see it. http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3059864 Flu has flown: Clemens ready to go in Game 1 Joel Anderson / Associated Press Posted: 2 hours ago HOUSTON (AP) - A few hours before the Houston Astros' regular-season finale, Roger Clemens was sick to his stomach and hooked up to an IV tube. Astros owner Drayton McLane was overcome with disappointment until manager Phil Garner sidled up to him in the clubhouse. "I was absolutely crushed. Roger still wanted to pitch but ... I knew he was in no condition to go," McLane recalled later in a champagne-soaked clubhouse. "But Phil was telling me, 'Don't worry. This could work out perfectly for us."' It sure did. Brandon Backe took the mound in Clemens' place Sunday and delivered a clutch performance to help the Astros cap an incredible turnaround, clinching the wild card with a win over Colorado. Back in the playoffs for the first time since 2001, they begin a best-of-five series Wednesday at NL East-champion Atlanta. And in a magnificent stroke of timing and luck, the Rocket will start for the Astros on extra rest in Game 1. "Maybe it's part of a script," general manager Gerry Hunsicker said with a wry smile. "We're confident that it's one of those 12-hour viruses." Such a storybook scenario appeared farfetched when the struggling Astros fired manager Jimy Williams during the All-Star break. Garner made little immediate impact, and Houston was 56-60 on Aug. 14. Four days later the Astros lost star pitcher Andy Pettitte to season-ending elbow surgery. Disappointed by the team's struggles following such preseason promise, Clemens called the year a "nightmare." Then the Astros went on a major league-best 36-10 run to win an exciting stretch duel with San Francisco, Chicago, San Diego and Florida. And Houston is in great shape going into the postseason: Clemens will pitch on six days' rest as long as he's recovered from his stomach virus, and 20-game winner Roy Oswalt will be ready to follow. "It just so happens that our rotation is going to be set up for the playoffs," Houston outfielder Lance Berkman said. "We weren't even trying to do it that way. It's a break for us and we just hope that Rocket can get back to full strength." Clemens was lured out of his 78-day retirement for moments just like this. At 42, he is an improbable Cy Young Award candidate: His winning percentage of .818 led the majors, he tied for second in the NL with 18 wins and was fifth with a 2.98 ERA. He's also been the same power pitcher he was with Boston, Toronto and the Yankees. "It doesn't surprise me," former Yankees teammate Derek Jeter said. "When he retired, or supposedly retired last year, it was never a question of his stuff. He was throwing 95, 96 the last game when he so-called retired. "For him, it was a matter of, I think, being away from his family. Staying in Houston, he had a chance to do both." Fans returned to Minute Maid Park in droves to see Clemens, a Houston native. The Astros set a franchise record for attendance (3,087,872). The Astros are now counting on Clemens, who has two World Series rings and years of postseason experience, to help them end a humiliating string of October failures: Houston has never won a postseason series in 42 years of existence. "I don't think anyone left has more World Series experience than Roger Clemens," Garner said Sunday. "Our pitching rotation has been set up nicely because of Roger's illness." Said McLane: "I think the odds are in our favor. It's our turn." Maybe it is. The addition of Clemens has clearly made a difference on a club that once scared no one in the fall. "He's the same guy he always was," Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said. "Hopefully, that stomach virus will affect him. But I doubt it."
Okay. I understand where you were coming from. All is well. The astros are in the best possible position. I just hope we don't blow a 2-0 lead come this weekend.
man! I don't know about you guys but just reading all the different articles today and listening to the guys on 610 gets me so pumped up!!! can't wait til wednesday!! the rocket's gonna change the karma about houston astros playoff baseball!! i'm getting goosebumps as i write this
Can you edit the post again because I just heard on TV 51 KNWS that both games from Atlanta (game 1&2) will be aired on TV 51. The rest is still TBA.
