he's pitched like a back of the rotation pitcher on a triple A club. I actually expected less from backe, I thought he'd be worse. he's never done anything to convince me otherwise, minus a few brilliant playoff performances. Sampson would be a better option, thats who I'd replace him with. Sidney Ponson, fricken Chan Ho Park, any other teams left over scraps, anybody, he sucks sucks sucks. I'd take any triple A pitcher we have over Backe right now. He's reaching Woody Williams level of suckage.
I wasn't expecting anything out of Backe. I was hoping for 25-30 starts and a decent record. He has the ability to pitch very well. We all know that. He just can't seem to put it together in consecutive starts. It's no one's fault but the Astros that they were relying on him being consistent enough to be their number 3 in an obviously weak rotation. What I meant to say previously isn't necessarily that they should cut him today. Give him the rest of the season. Should the huge inconsistencies remain, offer him a spot in the pen or release him in the offseason. At the very least, make him compete for a spot. He didn't have to do that this year. He was pretty much guaranteed to be the #3 since the alternatives weren't very good.
It's not hard to imagine considering the majority of this staff has been below average (with respect to their career numbers). If nothing else was different except for Roy being Roy, we'd be quite a bit closer to contending for the Wild Card than we are now.
Backe freakin sucks. Walking 2 hitters to load the bases with 2 out, give up 8 runs with 2 outs in the inning.
does anybody else play the Brandon Backe game? before his start, get 5 friends to throw in 5 bucks each. each person draws a number 1-5 and whatever inning he gives up a homerun, the person that drew that number wins the pool. the cool thing is, you don't need more than 5 players because backe rarely goes beyond the 5th.
Just left the game (my wife and I are in Chicago on business) and it was hard wearing my Astros jersey and watching my hometown team get creamed (but my wife and I cheered the good guys on). Cubs fans are class acts all the way. I got some good natured ribbing and heckling, but all in all it was a great experience. It was our first time at Wrigley and the sight lines are amazing. There is a good sense of nostalgia around the stadium, but what I came away impressed with the most was how diehard the fans are in and around the stadium. No one left early (at least not in my section) and the whole stadium sang their home town song after the game. The atmosphere was electric for a Wednesday afternoon. We'll be here for three more days, if anyone knows some of the sights around here to see, please let me know.
