At the beginning of the year, I was completely frustrated, as I expected the Astros to compete because of their pitching staff. I figured they would win 75% of the games that Roger and Roy Pitched, and 65% of the games Petitte pitched, 50% of the games Backe pitched and 40% of the games that our number 5 starter pitched...thus giving us arounnd a 63% winning percentage or so.... I could not believe the start the team got with their bats, I have never seen a more anemic offensive lineup, part of it I blame on Garner for tinkering too much. It is no coincidence that the team has started hitting as the players are more set....Lane and Burke are more comfortable knowing they are going to play most days, and Tavares...well, he is only INCREDIBLE ! Hopefully, the pitching will hold up and the offense will continue, and we can get another shot at the Cards to get to the series. I am SOOOOOO Geeked....again !! GO STROS !! DD
I was ready to throw on the towel by late may to say the least. I knew Mclane had gutted this team pretty dang good, BUT so far we haven't had many injuries and right now everything "look"s good. We will still need another big bat if we want to go deep in the playoffs. Get'r Dunn Mclane!
At the start of the season, I figured we would be a decent team that had an outside shot at the wild card. I thought we lost too much offense to compete with the Cards and a healthy Cubs team is scary. I expected our pitching to be solid. Clemens, as good as he was last year, has been a surprise. I expected him to be good, but better? Oswalt, quietly, has been dominant again. With Clemens getting older and Pettitte coming back from elbow problems, it's nice to have Oswalt pitch so many innings. I thought Backe would do better than he has. I guess I was still enamored with his playoff performance. I'm a little dissapointed with his command problems, but he's a solid fourth starter. As far as the offense is concerned, I knew we weren't as bad as we started. But, when Bagwell went down, I lost hope. Biggio is a solid hitter, but he's not a number three hitter. It's great that Ensberg has stepped up and played GREAT, and is continuing to play that way. Berkman is Berkman again. If our young guys (Burke, Tavares, Everett) continue to improve, we should be okay. However, we are still one bat away from maintaining this run and making noise in the playoffs. The acquisition of Dunn and/or Griffey would be nice, although Griffey's contract is a mess. Anyway, I am very excited about this team now and hope they can go on a magical run like last year.
Well, one thing last season taught us is just when you think the Astros appear to be done for, it is only an illusion. While the early season was disappointing and, in one stretch, may be the worst baseball the Astros have ever played, we knew that this team needed to find themselves and adjust. Who steps up for Kent? Who steps up for (last year's) Beltran? Well...we now know who that is so I won't even say it. And, one shouldn't forget about how we would go about replacing Bagwell? I just didn't think it would be that rough early. I thought we were better than that and, obviously, we were. What this team is doing now is just incredible. I didn't think it would be possible to top last season's run but I'll be damned if we aren't doing it again! I've never been more excited about our team than I am right now. But, after last season, the feeling of "we will come back" was never out of mind. This was basically the same team from last season except for two players. And, those shoes have been filled and, damn, do they feel nice! I can't say enough about the job Taveras and Ensberg have done. My mistake for thinking Biggio should lead-off in the batting order. Taveras is about to break Biggio's single season infield hits record...and leave it in the dust. Berkman is getting his groove on. Bench players are coming up big and different ones on different nights. I like that Lane, Palmeiro, Burke, and Lamb combination. Even our relievers who don't do so well can come back to have good games and contribute. I mean...what can you say? This is what it's all about. The team is together and picking each other up. Hell, they even go to Walter Reid in Washington to visit the hurt soldiers. Keep up the good work!
I though they were done when they were 15-30. Watching their games was so bad. They would barely score 1 or 2 runs. It was painful but they showed me I was wrong.
At the beginning of the year, I expected them to finish well out of contention, mainly because of their lineup. After they were 15-30, it was time to throw in the towel. It just goes to show what two hot bats and a good leadoff man can do to turn things around.
After the 2-22 start on the road I thought this team would lose 95 games but baseball is a weird game. I didn't think they had the talent to go on another crazy run like last year but its happening again.
I am just so happy to see someone like Taveras (who they all said was the least ready of the young core) show up from the begning and just fly with the job. He might have his moments out on the field but other than that he is doing everything he needs to as a leadoff guy. Hell the guy is got a better average and OBP than mr Beltran...
I've always had hope for this team. Even with how poorly we played at the begining of the year, I had faith they would turn it around. I mean, we weren't that good for the first half of the season last season and look where we went. I really thought we were going to be good with the good quickstart, then all hell broke loose. Oh well, I bleed orange. The young guys have been doing a great job, Taveras! OMG! he is great, the only real flaw he has left is his stupidity at mis-reading balls and turning the wrong way while trying to catch it. Burke has been great as of lately, lane and lamb are putting up good numbers, and Berkman is back to his old self....Oh yeah, did I mention MORGAN FREAKIN ENSBERG!?!?!?!?! Go Astros!
I never gave up. And the Chronicle "tombstone" article in early June still pisses me off. It was an insult to both the Astros players and the fans that stuck with them when things got rough. Now the Chronicle writers are praising the Astros. What a piece of crap publication. They owe both the players and the fans an apology.
At the start of the season i expected this team to win every game. After the first loss i expected the team to win every game thereafter and so forth. As of today i expect the astyros to win the rest of their games...then sweep through the playoffs.
we started better than i expected, then, we played worse than i ever could have imagined. now, we are playing some of the best ball in the league. please mister purpura, earn your salary. GO STROS
I expected a win total somewhere in the mid 80's. A contender for the 3rd spot in the Central and nothing more. I'm still a worried about the Astros future since we will likely be losing both Pettitte and Clemens in the next couple of seasons. You can't easily replace quality starters like that.
I figured we were a .500 team. We still don't have a good chance at the World Series without adding a couple of pieces, but we should be able to win the wild card.
I'd like to see NJRocket's response to this thread. I wasn't sure at the beginning. I didn't think they would be as bad as some on here thought. It seemed that they were right until June. I thought they had the talent to make a playoff run. I knew they had no chance at the Cardinals. I figured a 2nd place finish but no playoffs. I know I'll be right about one of those things. I hope I'm right about the other.
agreed entirely. writing off a team in early June is an insult to the Astros players..and an insult to baseball fans, in general. what a freaking joke. i worked for the chronicle one summer as an intern...i used to LOVE the chronicle, particularly the sports section. now, i think it's a freaking joke. i dropped my subscription about a year ago. as for the 'stros...i thought they'd be competitive. my opinion was written off, because i'm a homer. but that's what i thought. starting pitching flat out wins. when you have the best rotation in baseball, you will be in contention. i can't remember a team that didn't at least stay competitive with great starting pitching...it masks a lot of other shortcomings.
Out of curiousity, does anyone know if a team 15 games under 0.500 has ever come back to win a wildcard or division title?
