wouldn't it be ironic if the texans and rockets end up w/ the 1st pick of the draft..

Speaking of "gas can" Micelli:

Were my eyes deceiving me or did I see that he is still in the bigs "saving" games for somebody?

 

T-Mac was huge. i'll give you that.

look...the proof is in the pudding between these two franchises right now. it's not close. the astros have been to the playoffs 6 times in the past 9 seasons...in a sport that only allows in about 26% of its teams into the playoffs each season. in basketball, the rockets have made the playoffs once in the past 5 seasons. a sport that allows more teams in the playoffs than it sends home. one team is a year removed from a league championship. the other hasn't won a playoff series since 1997.

 

It's quite probable that the Astros don't make the playoffs in '04 without Dan Micelli.

 

Precisely. Everyone always points at Miceli's blown games in the playoffs and b****es and moans, but dude was nails when the Astros needed him during the regular season.

 

You are still assuming that everything would have transpired the EXACT SAME WAY if the Astros would have won game 2. For all we know, the Braves might have won games 3 and 4 (and maybe 5 for that matter). We'll never know.

And as long as you are pointing out typos, the Astros never had a pitcher named Pete Monroe.

 

As a fan, I prefer a smart owner who knows how to manage and build a team. The Spurs and Pistons don't go around constantly making big trades every year to win. They built their teams over time. Perhaps what you see as "effort" is not necessarily the way to win.

 

Hey I can not argue with those numbers but the fact is with a healthy T-MAC and Yao the rockets are much closer to winning a nba title than the Astros are to wining a world series.

I love the Astros but we won 89 games in a watered down NL and if we would of lost lets say two more games we would of not been in the playoffs.

This year I think we have a chance but I would not bank on it.

As far as the Rockets I think we will rebound and win 55-60 games next year.

Your right percentage wise it is harder to make the playoffs in baseball but come on how many teams in baseball can really compete?

 

Perhaps if Wagner was on that team, he could have lost some games and ended our season, just as he did when we made the playoffs with him. But of course, in fantasy land, he would have been perfect and we would have won it all.

 

6-wins
6-losses
2 saves
3.59 ERA

yeah, studly.

We won't even discuss the cannon moon shots off him in the playoffs that everybody sitting in the stadium and watching on television could see coming a mile away.

 

I agree with that point, but in fairness in sports you need to strike while the iron is hot and he thought we would win a title in those years.

As far as the draft day deals Les was trying to land impact players because ours were aging and he wanted impact guys to come in.

Now we have two stud players all we have to do is put good roll players around them. I look for big things from the rockets over the next five years.

 

While you're waiting for those things to happen in the future for the Rockets, the rest of us are watching big things from the Astros and their greedy owner who puts a winning product on the field.

 

September 2004 - 11 games, 9 IP, 14Ks, 0 (ZERO) earned runs

 

He gave it all back in October and then some.

 

The NL has had 8 different champions the past 8 seasons.

5 different teams have won the World Series the past 5 seasons.

In the past 10 years, 6 different teams have won the World Series. 13 different teams have participated. In the NBA over the past 10 seasons, there have been 4 different champions & 10 participants. (NFL is 7 & 14).

 

Don't call me out I watch ever second of every Astros, Rockets and Texans game I also never missed an Oilers game back in the day,

I have full season tickets for the Texans and Rockets and I attend over 50 astros games a year and the thirty or so astros games I miss in person I watch every second on tv.

I bet you don't have that dedication, were you still watching the Astros play out the schedual during all those terrible years in the late 80's and early 90's? Are you watching every second of the Rockets now even though the season is over? Well I have and I am now and if you do too than thats cool I'll listen to you and your opinions but if not then take your bandwagon ass home.

 

Here is your beloved astros owner at work.

One of many stories that you never hear about.

go to www.chron.com and then search Richard Justic's article Mclane let the big one get away.

It's a great read about how your boy uncle drayton let Drew Stubbs who is right now the best player in all of college baseball get away because he low balled him.

 

1. a healthy t-mac and yao haven't won a playoff series yet. the astros were just 4 games from a world championship. they were IN the world series. that comment is absolutely ridiculous.

2. you just made my point for me. the astros compete because they've built a team that increased revenues...because they put a compelling product on the field, even when they had to eat money in the dome to do it. regular season accomplishments actually mean something in MLB...and the Astros have been very, very competitive for a long time now.

 

doesn't the fact that Drew Stubbs has still elected to continue to play college baseball say something about his willingness to hit the bigs, anyway???

and here's what justice says now; an article that is inconceivable before Drayton was owner of this franchise:


http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/justice/3768939.html

This franchise's success has come the right way


By RICHARD JUSTICE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

THE Astros are a no-frills operation with a basic philosophy. They do things right. They win. Simple, right?

That's what this opening night was about. The Astros celebrated themselves.

Good for them.

We love to grouse about our hardball team. We wish the owner would spend more money. If we just had one more bat or one more arm or a little more speed, we'd be champions.

We constantly see our glass as half-empty even when it's not. We focus so much on the small failures that we sometimes minimize the large successes.

The truth is — and please don't tell Drayton McLane we're saying this about him — the Astros are one of the best-run franchises in all of sports.

We're lucky to have an organization that puts a premium on the right things. We're lucky to have an owner who has gotten it right so often.

Take a walk through the home clubhouse at Minute Maid Park. Not a single jerk. No embarrassments.

Look in the manager's office. Local boy comes home and leads club to its two best seasons. Perfect.

We'll return to our regularly scheduled complaining about a thin rotation and the lack of offense in a day or two. For these opening two days of the 2006 season, let's push the pause button and reflect on what has been.

Six playoff appearances in nine seasons. Only the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees have been more successful over the same stretch.

No, there hasn't been a championship. There has been plenty of everything else. Like 18-inning classics and final-day clinchers and even postseason success.

The Astros are a homegrown team at a time most clubs have revolving-door rosters. Seven of their nine starters Monday night never have played a big-league game for another organization. Their farm system has been so good that the generations have blended together, each new one linked with the previous ones.


Success of past saluted
The Astros have won so much that it has come to seem normal. They saluted their success appropriately by bringing back Nolan Ryan and Larry Dierker and Shane Reynolds. They gathered at midfield with Lance Berkman and Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio and Andy Pettitte and Jose Cruz.

Those eight Astros represented the eight playoff teams. To a man, they reflect the right values on the field and off. They've been easy to root for.

And the night was about Jeffrey Robert Bagwell. His empty locker represents the hole in the 2006 club. Those playoff appearances are his legacy.

"People don't see what we see," Roy Oswalt said. "His leadership is something you can't replace. It's like a brother leaving a team."

Bagwell got the longest, loudest and warmest ovation of the night when he trotted out to join his teammates for the pregame introductions. Perhaps more than any other player this franchise has had, he represents the right stuff.

He was always the best teammate in the clubhouse and one of the best producers on the field. He always cared about the things every player should care about.

His ovation began with a thunderclap, but dissolved into something more, a slow, constant cascade of cheers. Players from both teams joined in. Bagwell said later he couldn't stop his knees from shaking. His best friend, Brad Ausmus, talked of a lump in his throat.

"It was wonderful," manager Phil Garner said. "It's better than words. Your heart flutters. There are tears in your eyes."

Bagwell peeled off his uniform before the game ended and departed for his new life. He hasn't given up on playing again, but acknowledges he might need a medical miracle.

"I was reminded I did some good things in my 15 years," he said. "I want them to know how much I appreciated them throughout the years. Fifteen years with one organization, with some great times, not too many bad times. It has been amazing."

Just before game time, the National League flag was raised in center field. McLane stood beside the National League championship trophy and proudly told the sold-out house: "It only took us 43 years to get this."


Biggio keeps going
Once the ceremonies ended, Oswalt threw eight shutout innings, and Biggio keyed the game-winning rally in the seventh of a 1-0 victory.

The club that was once known as "Bagwell and Biggio" has shifted toward a new generation. Yet Biggio keeps going.

He understood the evening was about more than a new season.

"Over the last 10 years, we've taken our organization on a different path," he said. "That's the thing I'm most proud of. I'm really proud to be an Astro on a night like this."

There'll be another pregame ceremony tonight when the National League rings are handed out.

Wednesday, we'll find something to fuss about.

 

Seriously, we've been over all this before. Repeatedly.

MLB would not allow the Astros to sign Stubbs for what he wanted at the position he was drafted. They use a slotting system for draft pick compensation & teams that go outside of the guidelines (signing 3rd round picks for 1st round sandwich pick money, for example) set a precedent & force the other teams to do the same - raising signing $$$ for everybody. MLB does not want this, and the League Office told Drayton in no uncertain terms to knock it off. (It's also been speculated that this deal falling through helped the Astros get the Troy Patton deal approved by the league, kinda throwing the Astros a bone after getting screwed out of Stubbs).

It sucks, and you can spin it however you want, but that's what happened. All deals are approved by the MLB League Office, and they had no intention of approving this one.

 

Come on Buck...logic isn't going to convince these guys of anything.

The Astros are one of the most successful franchises in the past 10 years. Some people have no idea how lucky they are to be Stros fans.

There's a reason why I pay $160 a year for MLB Extra Innings here in NYC but have no interest whatsoever in paying for any other sports packages. I love my Rockets but I can wait for their games on TNT or ESPN or listen on Sirius.