i don't know for sure. but the astros and a's have BOTH come back from similar deficits this year to contend. this year, alone. and on the heels of last year...a tombstone article in early June is pretty friggin stupid.
Before the season, I chimed in with my 2 cents that any team with great pitching (not good... but great) is always in contention... no matter what sort of bats they had. I also made the point that I didn't think the Astros offense was THAT bad. I thought playing in MMP, letting guys like Lane/Burke/and Scott prove themselves, and treading water till Berkman came back would be enough. I guess, in the end, my "predictions" ended up being 50/50. Yes... great pitching can carry a mediocre offense, but a completley INEPT offense can be death to any team... even if they're throwing Gibson/Koufax/Clemens out there. Another "prediction" I had was that either Ensberg or Lane was going to HAVE to have a big year for us to have a shot at making the playoffs.... Morgan is making that happen.
I'll admit that I turned the Astros off at the beginning of the season. I didnt want to watch.... The Beltran deal completely deflated me. I wanted to blame Drayton for our misery. Now I feel bad, like I turned my back on my team. I dont remember ever doing that until this season. Of course now Im watching again and cheering for another great comeback, but I feel like a fair weather fan. Shame on me!!
One thing about this season is the Astros are cleaning up on a very mediocre NL. When they were on their run that was stopped by the Cards, I was going to post that its good they are cleaning up on bad teams but they will have their problems with the better squads. Well there's only one very good team in the NL, the Cardinals, and the Astros can compete with everyone else.
totally agree. but, i think this is a good sign. we are not as good as the cards, we need a bat or two. we beat the teams we're better than and lose to those with more ammo. purpura needs to get to work. our pitching staff isn't getting any younger.
i totally agree... but i'll add that in baseball, teams really aren't fiiring on all cylinders all the time. baseball becomes pretty unpredictable when it comes down to one playoff series. the cards played awesome against us last week...but then just gave up 2/3 to the Cubs at home. anything can happen. honestly, looking around the NL, i'm really excited about the Astros' chances to win the Wild Card. i don't see a team that's better positioned at this point. particularly given unbalanced scheduling and the fact these NL East teams keep having to beat up on each other.
ok....here ya go... I honestly thought we would be AT BEST an 80 win team. Going into the year we were a horrible offensive team with excellent starting pitching and , imo, the best closer in the game. I actually thought 70-75 wins was more realistic. here is where I have been proven wrong (and gladly proven wrong I might add)... Ensberg has more than made up for the loss of Kent. If you take Kent + Ensberg of '04....and compare it to Ensberg + Burke of '05....i think we gained. I never thought that was possible. Not in a million yrs. While we may have lost out if you compare the playoff Beltran of '04 vs Tavares....we haven't really lost on the regular season Beltran vs Tavares. If you told me Willie would be hitting almost .300 and in contention for ROY, I wouldn't have totally thought you were nuts...but doing it while he knows he HAS to be the table setter because our lineup only goes 5 deep is another story. Even with the recent gaffs in the outfield he has committed, i really dont think we lost a whole lot defensively....in fact, Willie has a better...make than MUCH better arm than Carlos. I suppose if Beltran was on pace for 40/40, this comparison would be moot.....but I was fully expecting the 40/40 Beltran when I was pissed we didnt sign him. Clemens is even better than I thought he would be. I think everyone on this board would agree with that. I mean, he is an absolute freak of human nature. I knew he would be good but I didn't know how motivated he would be pitching with this lineup. Pettitte, while he has an occasional slight setback, looks like the guy I used to watch in Yankee Stadium. The guy is a pit bull. He smells success a mile away and I guarantee he will be there for us down the stretch...because he is still one of the best "big game" pitchers in the league. We would have a ring right now if he was healthy last year...no question about it. Unfortunately, I thought Backe would be a bit better...but he has been good enuf to the point that we are 3 1/2 out of the WC so its not all bad obviously. I certainly did not think that Wheeler would become the setup man that he has. I certainly never thought Id be hoping to get to the 8th with a lead so Wheeler could come in a make the bridge to Lidge I also thought, once we started out 15 games under .500 and 2-20 on the road, that we would never see .500 again this year (I think even camp Drayton had their doubts I would imagine). I also figured Florida to be one of the, if not THE best team in the NL East...forcing us to compete with them and Atlanta. I figured Atl and Fla for 90 wins a piece and given our lineup, I didnt expect to come anywhere close. Looking at our lineup vs Atl's and Fla's at the begining of the season wasn;t the most promising thing in the world. But, like RM and others said ...i am guessing msn said it too if RM said it ...that's why they play the games. Then again, I cetrtainly didn;t expect to be chasing Washington so I guess its sort of a wash. Overall, we are the "it" team right now. Baseball Tonight can't get thru an hour without mentioning our climb. There is an aura in the stands these days that was non existant early in the year...trust me...I have been to most of the games.....and you can tell the difference. I still think we need a bat to get over the "hump". As good as Palmiero has been lately, I dont think a Palmiero/Lane platoon is going to be our saving grace...althought I've been wrong before All I can say is that I am glad I was proven wrong...this has turned into the Summer of Excitement!
^^^ It's good to see you say those things, NJR. I totally agree with your point about Pettitte and what might have been last season.
NJRocket -- i hear ya on being the "it" team. all of them love the Astros. on Mike and Mike this morning they were talking about how well they're positioned to win the wild card. Brantley was on SportsCenter talking about how with that starting staff, he thinks they'll win the wild card. lots of love for our boys. great post by the way...you're right...there have been a lot of really nice surprises.
I generally don't pay much attention to the beginning of the baseball season other than watching the standings. I am focused on the Rox. I have to say that I thought that the 'Stros were through, though, around the time of the infamous 'tombstone' Houston Chronicle article. Last year I had hope, this year I just felt like it was an off year. I am so glad I was wrong. If we keep up these winning ways, we will clinch and run away with the Wild Card. Heck, if the Cards weren't in our division, we would win that, too. I suppose there is even an outside shot of catching them. Good times. It's no suprise to see the national media giving us love- they have always loved the 'Stros, and want to give us the love.
Am i the only one surprised that Luke Scott didn't do so good in the majors? /oh, i am. /i still think he'll be part of the Astros next year. He's kind of the Nachbar of the Astros, only better i guess.
I thought the Astros starting rotation would keep the Astros in contention long enough for them to make a trade for another big bat. Specifically, I expected Burke to hit like Taveras. Taveras to hit like Burke. Lane to hit for higher average. Ausmus to hit for worse. Didn't know what to expect from Luke. I was hoping he could atleast hit .240 with good power numbers, but that was hope. I expected Bagwell to stink up the place.
I was hoping for a .500 record for the first two months until Berkman was back at full speed. The Astros atrocious start left me feeling like the season had already been lost. Their hot June and August have reinvigorated my hopes for this season. Go Stros! I want my revenge against the wife's beloved Cardinals!
Before we get too juiced up, this is a team that was 1 game away from the World Series last year, on the cusp of greatness, prior to the disastrous off season. People are acting like this is a success. We are like 11 games behind St Louis and 3 back of the WC. Is that living up to expectations? Well, it's living up to our re-adjusted expectations after getting off to a slow start. If you told me that this is where we'd be at this point in the season after the end of last year, then I'd be disappointed. Perspective makes all the difference. Let's not go around thinking the front office did us any favors, because frankly, they botched Kent and Beltran about as badly as one could have botched it. It has taken miracle years from Ensberg, Taveras and Wheeler to keep us where we are today -- which is out of the playoffs if the season ended tomorrow.
The question deals with how did people expec the season to progress based on the roster that began the season, NOT the roster that could/should have been. What were YOUR expectations after the "disastrous" off season? Obviously you didn't even think they would be within 5 games of the playoffs on September 1 (at least not after their 15-23 start), so I would think their current situation would qualify as a huge success in your mind.
