Any thoughts? In my opinion it was game 2 of the four game series in Chicago. When Barrett was jawing at Roy, he just looked at him, smiled and went on shutting them down. The team never backed down after the scrubs hit him and scored 15 runs and won the next two, and had a new attitude.
Berkman's HR in game 3 against the Giants. I fell asleep thinking the season was over. Woke up the next morning SHOCKED at what had happened.
I believe it was the precursor to this when Oswalt hit Barret in the back. Without that incident, he subsequent event would not have happened.
Of course, that's also the same game where Rice alum Lance Berkman "stood up" for his teammate by telling the media after the game that if he was Barrett, he'd be pissed off too if he thought he was hit intentionally. I honestly thought that was it. I foresaw clubhouse turmoil after that idiotic statement. So happy Roy O. was the bigger man and pitched his ass of the rest of the year.
I think I should get the credit, because they started playing well just when I stopped watching the games or otherwise paying attention to them . Actually, I guess it probably was the Barrett incident.
Berkman's comment was in no way a slight of Oswalt. His statement is accurate. Any player would feel pissed off if they were intentionally hit by a pitch. Lance is one of the best clubhouse guys around. He's funny and articulate. The Astros have a nice nucleus of well educated guys, including Ensberg, Everett and Lidge. They are great ambassadors of the team. Lance has been the team MVP at the plate. His statistics are incredible, especially his OBP. Quit trying to start something.
You never, ever not take up for your guy in the media. The correct response to the question that was asked of him (which was, paraphrasing, "What did you think of Barrett's reaction when Oswalt came up to bat?") would have been, "Who is the world is Michael Barrett to try and start something with one of the best pitchers in the NL". I guarantee you Roy O. wasn't too pleased with what he heard from both Berkman and Bagwell. I agree with this. I agree with this. Get over yourself.
The problem is, that wasn't the question. Lance answered the question, not what you thought was the question. Why are you so critical of Lance? He is one of the Astros best players, if not their best player. Why try to make something out of an old comment? The media seems to disagree with your assessment, although they can't read Oswalt's mind like you can.
I'm just saying how I feel about the comment. He was given a perfect opportunity to take up for Roy O. and pump up the clubhouse, but he blew it right there, IMO. It has nothing to do with Lance. He's been my favorite player since his days at Rice. That comment, along with Bagwell's from a few days before really pissed me off as an Astros' fan, especially since I love both of those guys. Bottom line, I was just professing my surprise that they did turn it around after that whole incident and the two players' reactions to it. Of course, it all sounds silly now that they've made their historical run, but that's still how I feel about that particular situation.
I'll go with the Barrett incident as well. But i also think Berkman's homerun in SF got us back on track after we were losing momentum. I think that helped us win the 7 games in a row after that. Especially since if we'd of lost 1 of those games we might not even be in the playoffs.
not to keep the thread focused on this one incident..... but I definitely agree. with the "winning cures all ails" motto , I've forgotten the incident for the most part. However, it still doesn't excuse Bagwell and Berkman playing the role of complete dicks in the clubhouse. In that situation, they both should have been behind their ace ONE HUNDRED PERCENT, but they then criticize Roy O at a point in the season was ludacris. In that series, criticism (instead of backing) of your star pitcher was not the sort of thing the team needed to light that postive fire under them to get back on the right track... eh...... not many hard feelings over it now...... but just sharing my point of view on that particular incident as well.
Does anybody else realize that we haven't lost at home since that Barrett incident? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say thats what changed our season.
i love berkman and i love bagwell, great players, outstanding guys(seemingly, i don't know them) but they definitely didn't stand up for their teammate. basically they turned their back on him in the media and it's simple as that. it makes no difference whether it was the honest answer it's just a sh!tty thing to do for team chemistry, particularly when oswalt is one of the main guys carrying the team. i didn't remember that incident until this thread and i'm sure they've all gotten over it as well but at the time i also thought it was the end of the season. i guess there could be two turning points, taking the series from the cubs and then that berkman homerun against the giants saving the season the second time.
"Bad for team chemistry"???? You gotta be kidding me. It WAS the catalyst that brought the Astros full circle. Gotta give Scrap credit for knowing how to nurture the team, however. Dude has done a really sweet job.
