Not if we get whacked in the division series or NLCS. So if this is a whole new year, why isn't there anything new to say?
Dude, Similar things can be relevant in different years, and especially when 90% of the team is the same. I think you are taking too much for granted, we have only been to the WS once in 40+ years, and we got swept. You may be satisfied with that, but I certainly am not. DD
And that's always the same crap people spew when I or anyone else argue that the season's not over and the Astros have a good chance. Of course I wanted the Astros to win last fall, don't give me that "you may be satisfied with that" BS. I'd like the Astros to win the WS every year, and not even the Yankees have that. The simple fact is every year the whiners b**** and moan about the same stupid crap and every year the Astros are right there with a better chance than most NL teams. I've been hearing it since the late '90s, and I thought it was stupid then, too.
And how many championships have they won since the 90s? Or better yet, how many times did they get to the WS? The team has problems, yes, they did VERY well to get to the WS, and I do think last years team was weaker than the one the year before, but sometimes fate deals a better hand. This year's team is weaker still, how can you keep lessoning your team and expect the same results? If Rocket comes back, we got a chance, but if not, I see us squeeking into the playoffs at best, and then fizzling out. DD
And the scratched record drones on. 1) Adding Roger or Tejada or anyone short of Jesus guarantees nothing. Damn, 1998 should have taught us that. 2) Everybody "fizzles" in the playoffs eventually except the WS champion, who most of the time has "fizzled" previously and will "fizzle" next year. 3) "I see us not making the playoffs, and if we barely squeak in, fizzling" can be said of a dozen or more teams right now. We act like the Astros are in competition with themselves and the only factor between winning and losing is personnel decisions made by the front office. It's stupid. It's myopic.
you're so up and down with this team. baseball is a very, very long season. what were you saying a few weeks back when they were 19-9?
Everyone was hitting, and the young guns were pitching, now it looks to have leveled out. People say I go up and down and perhaps I do, but I call it like I see it. Right now the team has major holes on offense and defense, and the pitching has been sub par from starters and bullpen. I just think that Garner needs to be more proactive in making changes.....batting below .240 is not acceptable unless you are an incredible defender, and only one Astro qualifies there. DD
In the short run. This is why I call the takes of a lot of Houston fans "myopic". Case in point. Based on 16 games. 16. Games.
That is 10% of the season.......TEN PERCENT is a significant time, we stand 4 games out 25% through the season, and our hitting is not looking so good. Let's look at a quarter of the season then, we would not be in the playoffs if they started today. Yes, we are only 1 game out, I get it, I just want the team to WIN a division for once instead of settling for a WC. They did nothing to significantly improve this year, and lost possibly the greatest pitcher to ever play the game, unless Roger comes back, I don't see the same success. DD
How is 10 percent significant, when in 2004 65% of the season was done before the team decided to play like a playoff contender, and after the same 10% last year... this team is 10 games better? 15-30.... 25-20. You say this team isn't better than last year, but I have to disagree... the team that started out last year had no idea who they were... had no idea if they were even capable of playing .500 ball, let alone winning playoff series and going to World Series'. This year's team is simply better for having already gone through all that... and not overreacting for every single mis-hap along the way: Lidge, Clemens or no Clemens, young pitchers... it seems like nothing really can faze them anymore. I wish I could say the same for the fans...
The next two replies after yours dealt with this well enough. Last year's WC was pretty sweet. Better than all four of the other recent division titles combined. Yes, they did. Just because you disagree doesn't mean it's not an improvement. 1) Berkman is healthy. Shall I remind you yet again how the Astros fared offensively vs. the rest of the league once Berkman got healthy? 2) PW. Whine about his K's and misrepresent his career statistics all you want, he is a significant improvement over the .230-hitting Chris Burke we had in LF last year. So, from a team that stormed back from 2nd worst record in the NL to a WS berth last year, the Astros have replaced a guy who hit .235 with a couple dozen RBI with a career .264 hitter who averages 101 RBIs/year and 36 HR. And don't be fooled: several of those big years were in Florida, and his home/road splits look good. Write it off and whine about the K's all you want, that is a significant improvement. I see your point about losing Roger -- but 1998 taught us that adding a HoF and winning the division guarantees *nothing*. I wish more Houston fans would learn to just enjoy the ups and downs of the season without all the handwringing and fretting every time someone has a slump.
One more thing. 19-9 is 28 games is 17% of the season........SEVENTEEN PERCENT is a significant time. Why do you pick out one set of games and make your doom and gloom analysis of how bad the team is while ignoring a *larger* portion of the season in which the team performed much better? Disingenuous. Look it up.
Look Doofus, you were the one that said it was a small sample, I said 10% is NOT a small sample. And at 25% of the season we look even worse. I get that it is a long season, I am just not going to bury my head in the sand and say everything is ok....because I don't think it is.....nor is the sky falling, but the team needs to improve or it will get out of hand. DD
ad hominem -- the true sign of a weak argument. It is a small sample. Smaller than the 17% you're conveniently ignoring. You didn't look up disingenuous, did you? But not as bad as last year. Or the year before. And, not as bad as everyone but 4 or 5 teams. And after a terrific slump. No, you're going to bury your head and whine. To each his own.
No, I acknowledge that it is larger, and that amplifies my point when it is extrapolated out to 25% of the season. What does last year have to do with this year....oh yeah, nothing. Yes, call it whining, I call it constructive criticism, and yes, you are free to remember the past, and think that we will be able to mount a glorious comeback every year.....SHEESH ! DD
Your 16 games extrapolated out to 25% of the season would be 14-31. But that's not what happened. At 25% of the season, the Astros are 5 games over .500, only 5 games out, and that after a horrifying 5-11 slump. What kind of team goes 5-11 and is *still* 5 games over .500?? The point is that anything can happen. But, twist my arguments all you like if it makes you feel better. What are you constructing? Thanks, I will continue to call it whining. When did I say that? I have also pointed to to the late '90s and specifically to 1998 in this discussion. You *still* haven't looked up disingenuous, have you?
Max, I enjoy consistent winning. MSN, I don't need to look it up, I already know it, and you can spin your argument however you like, I said that we are 25% of the season gone and 5 games back. That is not something to be proud of...while the Cardinals go to SF and hammer the Giants 2 out of 3, we lose all 3 at MMP. Not acceptable ! You can settle all you want, I won't. DD
You call it "spin" because you don't understand it or are avoiding it. Every piece of your argument has been systematically dismantled by more than one person on this thread. That's not "spin", that's "beat-down". BS. That line of crap, which is another scratched record redundantly repeated whine that one hears year in and year out from the unwashed myopic masses, is BS. Just because I don't whine like a freaking titty baby about crap that is out of my control does not mean I "settled". I'm sorry you can't see past a handful of games to the reality that the Astros have as good a chance as all but two or three teams in the NL to make it to the WS. I'm sorry you can't see that in recent history the favorite, the best team on paper, rarely makes it to the WS. I'm sorry you can't see past the fact that they've never yet won a WS to recognize that the Astros have been in a position to win more than any franchise except the Braves and Yankees for 10 years. 10. Freaking. Years. I'm sorry that's not good enough for all the myopic whiners. Really, I'm sorry. Because even if the Astros had signed Tejada and Clemens and resurrected Babe Freaking Ruth, there would be something else to b**** about, why cheap Drayton won't do the right thing, why Garner won't give so-and-so and chance, etc. Because even if the Astros had won the damn WS last year, there'd still be b****ing and moaning this year about how there's no chance to repeat because the Astros didn't do such-and-such and there's too many "holes" and "automatic outs". Some whiners are never pleased. It must be sad to never be able to enjoy anything because it can never reach your unrealistic imaginary "standard", below which you will not "settle".
