Please keep this to talk about the series. As usual no Play-by-Play, or general Astros talk. If you need play by play see one of the many other sites that have game casts. 6-28 Bud Norris, RHP (2-5, 6.80) vs. Manny Parra, LHP (2-5, 3.83) 7:10 on FSH 6-29 Brett Myers, RHP (5-5, 3.20) vs. Yovani Gallardo, RHP (7-3, 2.36) 7:10 on FSH 6-30 Wandy Rodriguez, LHP (4-10, 5.64) vs. Dave Bush, RHP (3-5, 4.54) 1:10 on FSH
I've realized how much I take even average infield defense for granted after watching the last several games.
Well, one of them couldn't hit, but at one time we had Bogar at short, Biggio at second, and Bagwell (pre-shoulder) at first. Holy crap. Gutierrez was there a lot of that time, too; I can't remember how well he fared with his glove. Then earlier than that we had Cammy at 3rd, Bidge and 2nd, and Bagwell at 1st. Holy. Crap... We've been spoiled rotten by great, not good, infield defense and pitching over the years. Makes this fiasco now all the more difficult to watch.
That's before my time watching the Astros for the most part. I did see some great defense in Cleveland with the likes of Vizquel, Alomar, Lofton, etc...
The Astros never had a SS on Vizquel's level (perhaps AE in terms of defense, but probably not). Bidge was every bit as good as Alomar but never got the hype. I've heard people say Alomar had better range--but I watched them both and I don't buy it. They both had just *sick* range. I think people perhaps judge Bidge by his last years when his range was significantly reduced, but he was absolutely elite in his prime. Bagwell was one of the best defensive 1B in the game. He turned tons of DPs off of would-be sac bunts. Had a gun for an arm before his shoulder fell off. Had great instinct of where runners were and often made plays that not every 1B makes. Then there was Ausmus behind the plate -- dude couldn't hit, but he was an absolute defensive clinic behind the plate (as I've detailed ad nauseum on more than one occasion). And Hampton was a tremendous defensive pitcher. It was really, really fun to watch. I don't know if they rival the great Cleveland defensive teams all-around, but the guys I mention were just really fun to watch.
Alomar and Vizquel were just a SICK tandem. I still remember some of the incredible defensive plays they turned in on a regular basis and made it look EASY.
Vizquel's still doing it at 43-years-old! :grin: I believe I saw him playing 3rd the other day for the White Sox and he looked better than most of the top defensive 3B who are in their primes.
What are Vizquel's offensive numbers? Because seriously, when I think of his body of work I think "first-ballot HOF" just because of defense -- and the only other guy I've *ever* thought that way about was the Wizard (no, 21st century Astros fan, not that one).
You know who else was a good shortstop back in the day? Ray Ordonez. That guy was as slick as they get. Unfortunately, he had even less offense than Adam Everett.
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