I guess you are trying to call me out? So, I'll tell you what I have said in the past.. go look it up all you want. I did not think we would be this bad this year. I honestly thought we would be in the playoffs but I didn't think our offense and defense was going to be good enough to beat elite pitchers. The kind we would play in the playoffs. As for Jimy, never liked him! As for the our problems, it's the same as it was before the season. Go and look it up!
i'm not calling you out at all. i said i would believe you...because it's verifiable. so without me looking it up, i'll assume you'd tell me the truth. great. so you said we had some weaknesses...but should be in the playoffs? right? but that ultimately we wouldn't win the big one? the reality is far worse than that, as i'm sure you know. my point is, if you didn't predict that reality, i'm not sure we can all look back in hindsight and now blame it on the owner and the gm. this isn't the NBA....if you make it to the playoffs in baseball, you've already had a damn good year. even teams that don't make it to the playoffs can say they've had a good season in baseball, sometimes. ultimately...even you thought this team was good enough to make the playoffs. they're not playing up to the level of expectation that we all had for them. i can't fault general managers or owners for that...you put out a team that you think gives you a shot...and when they fall on their face the way this team did, it's on the players.
If you thought that a team that went 87-75 last season would be this bad after the additions of Clemens, Pettitte, and Beltran then you should call yourself Miss Cleo. I don't think anybody could have predicted this.
that's my point. if you called it...great...you're the smartest baseball guy i know! but if not...then it's real hard to hold anyone else to that standard, particularly when sportwriters, players and coaches alike all talked about the astros being a force to reckon with before the season started.
Settle down in here guys. Face it, the Astros just flat out stink, and everyone shoulders that; from Gerry to the players, to the managers and coaching staff.
Larry Dierker For those that have ever been in the real world, you know what Larry is saying in this article. The players should get the blame, after all they are the ones that are playing. But the truth is, they didn't hire Jimy, they didn't put together this bullpen, they didn't put together this defense, they didn't put together this lineup, they didn't trade away Wagner, they didn't acquire Weathers, they didn't move Biggio to the outfield, they didn't put Berkman in right, they didn't trade so many players to Detroit and San Diego when Tal's son was there, they didn't give away Linebrink, they weren't the ones that didn't get enough for C Everett, Hampton... they weren't the ones that allowed the Santana's of the world to get away without getting anything in return. See MadMax, you can say we went out and snatched up Kent last off-season, but we now know that was a mistake. We all knew that Kent wanted to play close to his home, we also knew that he was coming over and giving that snake oil salesman a hometown discount. We all know that Kent had limited range at second, was a locker room cancer, and was injury prone. But guess what? We signed him anyways... See MadMax, you can say that we went out and picked up Pettitte and Clemens this past summer. But, I will say it was after we traded Wagner because he spoke the truth. Again we get a hometown discount and the move was made because the houston media and fans started to call Drayton out. See even your hero, GERRY called Drayton out towards the end of last season. The underlying theme: Hunsicker goes out there and finds out who is interested in the Astros. Negotiations start, Drayton gets his finance guys to build a model that takes into account positive press, and deals are consummated. Those players come in at a DISCOUNT but at a COST! It cost us the best bullpen this year.... See MadMax, the Biggios are on this team not because of their skills now, but because Drayton doesn't want to make a Nolan Ryan type mistake. But the problem is, the Biggio's of this team are the biggest problems. See Biggio is a locker room lawyer that manipulated our GM into firing the best and most productive manager we ever had. See Larry Dierker was fired because the team didn't hit in the playoffs... Guess what? Our team still can't hit but it is during the regular season now. See Mad Max, you say Biggio is having a great season offensively but I say Biggio gets fat on bad pitchers. See you look at his numbers this season but I look at the last two seasons. See you think he is doing something special, I say it is time to bring up someone that can do more than just get on base against the the below average/average pitchers. He (Bagwell, Ausmuss, Everett, Ensberg, Hidalgo..) could never hit the good pitchers. You know if a pitcher has a good slider, the guys can't compete. That is what we would see in the playoffs and that is why I didn't think we would win it all this year. The root of the offensive woes lies in the fact that this team tries to pull every pitch. Yet, we don't do anything about it. See, none of the managers really have any control because all of the control is shared by 5 people in this organization. Drayton, Tal Smith (via the trades with his son), Hunsicker (via the firings of two managers without taking any of the blame), Biggio, and Bagwell (my favorite player). Championship teams have character, championship teams get along with their teammates (at least most do), championship teams have excellent leaders that come through in the clutch, championship teams address their liabilities, championship teams get better when their backs are against the wall, championship teams are built to win not to compete. I would love to have the Marlins ownership instead of Drayton. They bring in champions and make the tough choices (whether the press or fans agree with them or not). The decisions aren't based on PR. I am not expecting to spend like the Yankees. I do expect championships. Anything short of A championship falls on the decision makers. That is the five that I called out. That is the five that should be blamed! Wins will pack Minute Maid Park not band aids! The snake oil salesman has gotten away with it for a long time. I feel bad for the fans that voted for the new stadium. I was hoping we could build a tradition here but Drayton destroyed that dream. It's going to look like the Astrodome when we start over. But Drayton will blame the fans instead of himself. The time has come when reporters who work for the Astros have to bite their tongues. When times get tense, anything but complete loyalty sounds like treason. As a broadcaster, I always refer to the Astros as we, not they. Why would anyone want to be neutral, much less critical of the person who signs his paycheck? The adage "don't bite the hand that feeds you" is especially meaningful in times like these when sensitivities, like jock rash, cannot be ignored. Reporters are trained to report the facts. Columnists are a different breed of reporter. They, too, must keep the facts in mind, but they also are required to give an opinion. In broadcasting, the play-by-play announcers are more like reporters and the color men add texture to the game by offering opinions. In times like these, when the hand that feeds is jittery, it is difficult to report the facts and almost impossible to offer a critical opinion without rubbing that hand the wrong way. If you ignore the facts and continue to say the team has been unlucky, that everyone, including the umpires, is helping the other team, that losing with such a good team is an aberration, and that the team is bound to go on a long winning streak soon, you will lose your credibility. Most announcers who work for the team favor their paychecks over their credibility. Treading the company line Those who work for newspapers, radio and TV stations feel no compunction about attacking the team when they think it is warranted. Some even start cutting and slashing when it isn't warranted because they will get more attention, thereby making their employers happy. Still, most announcers prefer to work for the team because it is usually a more stable means of employment. But once they start cashing the checks, they know they are expected to speak the company line. Normally, it is not that difficult to fade the heat and do a good job without ruffling any feathers. But when a team, like the '04 Astros, performs well below expectations, things get a little dicey. I have been lucky because I was never in the position of promoting a team, like this year's Astros, that has failed so miserably. I did the job on a daily basis when the Astros had a record much worse than the current team. But in those seasons, no one expected to go to the World Series. This year, from the moment Roger Clemens inked his contract, a trip to the World Series has been the only acceptable outcome. I certainly expected more from them, and I am generally cautious about rosy predictions. Sure, I saw the signs of age, but I thought the older guys could still play well enough to win a championship. So did Gerry Hunsicker, who is usually more worried about the team than I am. The marketing department did great job of promoting this journey toward final redemption before the season even started. That is what they are paid to do. In a sense, it was like preaching to the choir. The fans who called the talk shows were already more buoyant about the team than I was, and, for this reason, they are even more disappointed and are jumping off the bandwagon. I can almost hear their feet hitting the ground. Spreading the blame No matter what the announcers say, the fans will believe what they see with their own eyes. It has not been a pretty sight. It would be nice if the people who are further up the management ladder than the manager would accept some of the blame. The players have accepted most of it already. I don't think many fans would deny thinking this team would do better. So why would they think Drayton McLane, Tal Smith and Hunsicker should have known better? I wasn't giddy about going straight to the World Series before opening day. But I did think the team would win at least 90 games. I don't think it is a disgrace to fail at predicting the future. And I don't think it is a crime if an announcer gets frustrated and says something that isn't entirely positive. The only way out of this battle is to concentrate on the warriors. Keep your eyes on the battlefield. And don't kill the messenger.
bigboy, you started out pretty good and then it all went to hell. What in the hell does losing have to do with the stadium? The Astrodome was an old turd. I'm too tired to comment decently on the rest. I feel you were right with quite a bit of your comments.
big boy. i quit. you win. yes...we're losing games because biggio isn't stealing bases. fortunately we have power guys like kent, berkman and bagwell to lead this team. they've done all they could...i think both has had at least 1 homer in the last 30 days...to get this ship sailing. oh, yeah...and it's jimy's fault too. we'd have been stealing more bases with garner in here a long time ago. thank God phil is with us now. i can already feel the difference. oh yeah...and it's gerry's fault. because he should have known that, though they kicked ass last season, kent and berkman would bring nothing this season. he should have known that trading for beltran would be worthless. he should have held on to a position of strength and the let the weaknesses of the starting rotation stay exposed. oh yeah...and biggio is killing us out there. it's mostly his fault. i'm in complete agreement with you, bigboy. are we done now? p.s. yeah...the marlins are the goal. shoot their wad twice...and the rest of their history involves the cellar of their division. keep up the great work.
Hey, at least they got to shoot there wad, can you imagine going 30 something years and never getting to blow your load. Talk about blue baseballs.
Marlins in last place? Astros or the Marlins? Marlins have two championships, you have the audacity compare the two. That's like comparing the Jazz to the Rockets! I see you are on the Hidalgo thread talking about how hindsight is 20/20. (And earlier in this thread) What you call hindsight, I call past performance. When you invest in mutual funds and you get your quarterly reports and see that you have lost 10% of your net worth and that this has been happening for as long as you remember, do you call your broker and say "well, hindsight is 20/20" or do you call him and tell him he was wrong? Do you keep that mutual fund that performed so well in the late 90s but has been underperforming for the past 3 years?
