First the good news: "They went 28-53 (.346) during the first half, 44-37 during the second half (.543). And that .198-point jump in winning percentage ties for the fourth-biggest increase in non-strike seasons since 1970, according to the Elias Sports Bureau's Kevin Hines." Now the bad news: "None of the other four teams that made leaps that dramatic made the playoffs the next year. And none even finished above .500." (source - ESPN website: http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stark_jayson/1042229.html) ------------------
There is a first time for everything Barring injury, and Biggio and Lima and Wagner proving that last year was a fluke, the 'stros should win the division. ------------------ When we tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view. -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
The good news is that the Astros may have improved the worst part of their team from last year. Anyone want to take a guess. The Bullpen. Now we just have to wait and see if Billy Wagner, Jay Powell and Mike Jackson have each recovered from there off-season arm surgery. Adding Doug Brocail will also help in the bullpen. Finally with the addition of Brad Ausmus he should help to call a good game and prevent runners stealing at will. Plus the starting pitchers love him so he should be a good calming influence on the starting staff. I see the Astros having a good year. ------------------ Titan's fanatic!!!! Counting down the days till January 27, 2002 (Superbowl 36 in New Orleans). [This message has been edited by Dream34 (edited January 29, 2001).]
But if you look at the stats of all teams who went from first in their division to last in two years, about 80% of them improved greatly in the third year. I still hold the belief that last year's absurdities was a fluke. ------------------ "Of course, everything looks bad if you remember it!" Homer Simpson
Wow, I didn't realize that we were seven games over the second half of the season. The getting used to the stadium have something to do with us losing alot in the beginning of the year. They are like playing away last year at enron cuz they are not very familiar and comfortable with the new park. Btw, I really really don't like the fences in too close because even guys like Bogar can bloop it out of the ball park. It makes homeruns less exciting IMO. Brad Ausmus makes a huge difference with his pitch calling! We are going to be pretty good this year...all depends on the pitching and where it will take us though. Hampton would have been perfect for enron. ------------------
u are right Dream34...Wags blew like 10 saves early in the season, and that took the air out of us the first half of the season...lost all of our momentum. ------------------
A lot of it though had to do with injuries and rookies stepping up to the plate. We had a bunch of rookies get playing time -- starting -- and they got a lot better over the course of the season. Now those rookies are solid players, we add back in some key injured players (Biggio, Wagner, and really Alou) who should play well, plus the aquisitions, we should have a decent team. ------------------ Stay Cool...
i think they will easily win their division, we have a good lineup . would this be are starting lineup for next year (please correct me if i'm wrong) 1.craig biggio 2.jose vizcaino 3.moises alou 4.jeff bagwell 5.richard hidalgo 6.darryl ward 7.brad ausmus 8.bill spiers pitchers - jose lima,shayne reynolds,scott elarton,kent bottenfield,octavio dotel set up guys - jose cabrera,doug brocail,jay powell pinch hiters - lance berkman,glen barker, and julio lugo closers - billy wagner,mike jackson ------------------ http://www.democrats.com
dc rock I would look for Berkman to start in place of Ward. Truby and Spiers will probably platoon at third. Lugo may get the nod at SS if Biggio is healthy. If Biggio is not ready, expect Lugo to start at 2nd (unless Vizcaino is better at 2nd than short). Reynolds is out for at least a month so Wade Miller will probably be in the rotation. It would not suprise me if they used Ward and a pitcher as trade bait to acquire a quality left handed starter (if any of those are available). ------------------ [This message has been edited by bobrek (edited January 29, 2001).] [This message has been edited by bobrek (edited January 29, 2001).]
I think Berkman will start over Ward shortstop is totally up for grabs between Lugo,Vizcaino,Everret Until Reynold's returns from his injury our rotation should look like this ,scott elarton,wade miller,jose lima,kent bottenfield,octavio dotel with either bottenfield or dotel going to the pen when reynolds returns unless Truby has a bad spring he will open the season as our thirdbaseman and bat seventh ausmus will bat eigth I think Nelson Cruz is slotted for a relief spot and cabrera will be on the farm ------------------
yeah we did have tons of inexperienced guys last year playing...so excited just thinking of the stros again.. have they considered moving Bags to his old position at third base and moving ward to play his natual position at 1st? they really need to experiment with this because Ward needs to see some PT at first...he's going to be a nasty hitter...too damn fat and round to move much though... ------------------
Won't happen ChenZen from what I've heard Bags was never very good at third and he's bulked up alot since then.I think Ward will be fine in tiny left field when alou leaves. ------------------
Hopefully the Stros get to the World Series next year so i can get to see the Red Sox play in Houston. Did you know that the Red Sox had the third lowest offensive production in the entire American League?? Adding Manny Ramirez simply locked the Sox in to the Series. Nomar for MVP. Sox in 2001. ------------------ The next time I have meat and mashed potatoes, I think I'll put a very large blob of potatoes on my plate with just a little piece of meat. And if someone asks me why i didn't get more meat, ill just say, "Oh, you mean this?" and pull out a big piece of meat from inside the blob of potatoes, where ive hidden it. Good magic trick, huh?
Nomore Take Pedro away from that redsox staff and you have the worst pitching staff in the league. David Cone is not going to help that much. The sox will have to win a lot of 12-11 type games when Pedro is not pitching. ------------------ When we tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view. -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Take away Pedro, and you get the most underated staff in the league. Pedro, Nomo, Castillo, Arrojo, and Cone will be very solid. Here are the Red Sox staff's rankings. A.L. ERA- 1st with a 4.23 Wins/Losses - both 6th Saves- tied for first shutouts- tied for first innings pitched- 1st least allowed hits- 1st least allowed runs- 1st least allowed earned runs- 1st least walks- 2nd strikeouts- 2nd cg- 6th fewest homers- 3rd whip- 1st so boston's staff i would argue is actually the best in the league. ------------------ The next time I have meat and mashed potatoes, I think I'll put a very large blob of potatoes on my plate with just a little piece of meat. And if someone asks me why i didn't get more meat, ill just say, "Oh, you mean this?" and pull out a big piece of meat from inside the blob of potatoes, where ive hidden it. Good magic trick, huh?
If we don't do this, we'll have to trade him soon...It's just torture watching him run...looks like he's going to stumble and roll up into a ball every time he runs in the OF..really needs to lose some weight I tell you, he's getting quite round there...he doesn't cover much ground, that's what really fustrates me the most...he makes routine flyballs turn into diving or sliding catches cuz hes so slow to get to the damn ball...only positions i see him playing is DH or 1st base... ------------------
I saw a good interview with Hunsicker earlier this summer. Bill Speirs will not start. Apparently earlier in his career he started having medical problems and injuries when he played every night. Speirs knows he can't do it, and has accepted the postition as permanent 2nd-3rd backup. Hunsicker said that he is very good in that role, and has been able to stay healthy. He indicated that Daryl Ward would also play primarily the bench, backing up Bagwell, and platooning some in the outfield. He said that Ward has a lot of talent, and will be a big part of the team in the future, but that he has some things to work on. Berkman he didn't commit to, but he said he did a phenominal job last year, especially since he didn't get consistent playing time. I'd look to him to play more of a starter next year. I'm a lot more optomistic about the lineup this year. The big question mark will be how all of last year's injuries have been able to recover -- Biggio, Wagner, Alou, Reynolds, and Bottenfield are all key players that can be awesome if they are healthy. ------------------ Stay Cool...
Funny how every Astros thread turns into a Red Sox conversation. Got to love the Boston fans' optimism though, it reminds me of Cub fans for some reason. As for the Stros, it all comes down to injuries. If Biggio, Reynolds, Wagner, and Jackson come back healthy, and Lima can become a decent pitcher again, the team could compete. I still wish the team could come up with a solid #1 or #2 pitcher in free agency or by trade, to complement Elarton. But that's probably asking too much. ------------------ I am Jack's utter lack of surprise. www.clutchtown.com
(hate to be off-topic, but) Nomar, those Sox pitching staff rankings you listed include Pedro. Show us the stats without Pedro if you wanna prove that the Sox are underrated without Pedro. The rankings you listed are for the whole Red Sox staff. If you wanna prove your point, show me the rankings for the Boston starting pitches without Pedro. Don't show me the rankings for the whole staff including Pedro. Jeez.
