Well, since there may never be a American League Championship Series thread, (really strange) I will offer some serious thoughts on the series. All kidding aside, I expect a tight, close, hard fought series. IMO the regular season record means nothing. The Rangers appear to be the hotter team; they have swept two series. However, the Astros have ALCS experience and match up well. I think it is a toss up.
Rangers beat up on a limping Tampa Bay club and an inexperienced Baltimore club. Houston will definitely be a different beast for them.
They are going to try and Byron Buxton us with Scherzer. And I don't blame them. You have to get him on the mound at some point. But the reality is its very hard to walk out there and be up to speed out of the gate. That start will be an emotional pivot point in the series, one way or the other.
Scherzer may have a dead arm at some point in his start. We'll see how that works in our favor. Also, it would be nice if they had to use him as a last ditch effort (meaning we're already up 2-0 or 2-1 in the series. I would match up Playoff Javier over a less effective Scherzer any day
Houston does not have a tradition of open air baseball. three years as Colt 45s in a temporary stadium and a handful of games each year since 2000. We use the retractable roof to keep the natural turf alive, not to keep the rain and heat off the fans. If anyone here says otherwise, they are damned Yankees.
Roof needs to be closed. The Houston fans will bring it against the Rangers. I also expect a lot of Rangers fans to be in attendance which means having the roof closed to raise the decibel levels is crucial. We lost Game 2 with roof open, let’s not make that mistake again.
I think we make way too much about the roof. The Stros won a lot of games in the road without roofs. Including just a few days ago in 50 degree weather. We didn’t lose game 2 Because of the roof. We lost because Pablo Lopez pitched a gem.
Agree... and we will win this series if our starting pitchers show up. We get the good Framber and the good Javier and we are golden with our bullpen.
I once built a set for a professional production of Damn Yankees. The set was a theatrical representation of Yankee Stadium when it was still new. Used lots of structural aluminum for that shiny new stadium look. The set actually got a standing ovation for every show. If you have to take your wife to a play this is the one to go to.
I hate the Rangers. Houston should be hostile more so than ever. Remember how they denied their stadium in Harvey. I want the Astros to absolutely dump on this organization like they have done to them since Harvey. This one is personal.
