They will probably win more games than the Astros this year, but after witnessing Adam Everett fly out to left with two outs and the bases loaded (and Mike Lamb on first) in the 8th inning of a 3-2 game, boy am I glad he's not on our team anymore. It's extremely frustrating to win by having good pitching and crappy hitting, and I don't want to ever endure that stress again. Even last year's team motto of crappy hitting and crappy pitching at least did away with the suspense--we were out of games too often for us to have a chance to blow too many.
I still wonder if the best case scenario was keeping Everett and Tejada moving to 3rd. I think we're going to miss Everett's defense more that you know this season. I, for one, will miss seeing the best defensive player in the game.
Adam missed a grand slam by about 10 feet. Gomez looked pretty damn good in his debut. Then Torii proved why he isn't worth the $.
We weren't going to win 3-2 cause where were we going to get pitching. That jennings trade really hurt us.
The point isn't about won-loss record. The point is that the Astros were one of only maybe two or three teams in the league (San Diego would be one of the others) where even winning was just much more difficult than it had to be. We didn't win a championship with that group, and we even had two blatant juicers heading up our pitching staff--let's not absolve Clemens and Pettitte just because they gave us our best playoff performance in franchise history. Basically what I'm saying is it has to get worse before it gets better. Teams win with young talent in both the starting lineup and pitching staff. There was no point maintaining faith in players (Everett, Burke, Lane, Ensberg, Scott) that had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate that they deserved to be in the major leagues. If we want to win the way most World Series winners do it...well first of all it won't happen within the next four years because that's how long it takes to grow a farm system. And we don't even know if that process has started yet, because you have to draft smart in order to do that. I guess what I'm saying is I was the biggest diehard Astros fan, but ever since Hunsicker left I've systematically lost faith in the organization so much so that the only chance I see of us being competitive again is if when Drayton abdicates control. And face it, he's not going to do that until he dies (he's not young) or becomes incapacitated like Steinbrenner. So that's where I stand.
Seconded. I'm still upset the 'Stros didn't do that. With the abysmal pitching on this team, they NEEDED Everett to save a couple of runs a game.
How are you obviously better with Everett at short and Tejada at third as opposed to Everett and Wigginton? Here are their numbers over the last two seasons: Wigginton 2006: .275 24 HR 79 RBI (444 AB) 2007: .280 22 HR 67 RBI(547 AB) Tejada: 2006: .330 24 HR 100 RBI (648 AB) 2007: .296 18 HR 81 RBI (514 AB) Other than average, Tejada is not that much better an offensive player than Wigginton at this point in their careers. This team had to get better offensively this season, and they replaced Everett with Tejada. Replacing Wigginton with Tejada is not a substantial upgrade.
My YHWH, we're still arguing about Adam Everett here. I'll say this...the Twinkies quickly became my 2nd favorite team.
After reading that quote again, I have to say that this should possibly qualify for one of those "Classic Clutch BBS" moments even though it isn't Rockets related. How in the hell are any wins frustrating? A win is a win is a win. If anything, those 2 years were the most exciting baseball I've ever seen. I can only hope I have to "endure that stress again". It's sad when people forget about the pure joy of the game. We've got people complaining about winning with defense and pitching. We've got people jumping off the bandwagon and skipping out on Opening Day because they don't like the team. Un-freaking-believable. If you can't enjoy Opening Day for what it is, I feel sorry for you. If you can't enjoy a close, well played game THAT YOUR TEAM WINS, I feel even more sorry for you.
Agreed. Over the course of a season, I'd much rather see a well pitched, well played 4-2 type game. Blowouts are certainly fun, but they are rare (regardless who you root for), so to expect them on a regular basis is inviting disappointment. The exhilaration of a hard fought win outweighs any stress the game itself caused.
Last night's game was the perfect example that good pitching wins games. The Astros new offensive lineup was shut down by one of the best pitchers in the game.
