It took a couple of days, but after Clemens grabbed hold of the Can o’ OrangeWhoopAss and shook it up on April 7, the Astros have been riding a wave. Who knows how long this run will continue, or if it will still be ongoing by the time this piece is posted, but 9-2 since that glorious day is blitzkrieg in its most literal sense.
It has been a joy to watch. For the most part, each facet of the game has picked up the others when they’ve faltered. Admittedly, on two occasions, the defense looks like all 8 position players arrived at the game in one VW Bug, but there have been some games where the leather has been flashing like Vegas at Christmas. Even without the services of Pettitte, the pitching has been fantastic (AP’s fateful start and AutoPop’s ignominious outings notwithstanding). But replacements Backe and Gallo have been great, while Duckworth has taken up enough of the slack to allow the offense to win.
Remember: Short, Controlled Bursts
Oh, the offense! Almost everyone is playing over their head. Biggio’s shorter swing has allowed him to lay off the low-and-away shit yet still give him gap-power. Bagwell claims that his high walk numbers are because he’s fouling off a lot of pitches instead of hitting them, yet he’s still hitting near .400! Hidalgo is just a brute, and must put the fear of FrankenBarry into pitchers at the moment. Berkman has come alive, even poking a granny right-handed (only in a baseball forum is that an acceptable phrase).
Maybe Jennifer’s got Adam channeling his energies into baseball (and if so, I’m willing to offer my services to keep her happy during this streak), but his transformation from an all-glove, no-stick luxury to a genuine five-tool player has been astounding. This one fact alone has given the line up a shape that we haven’t seen since Derek Bell’s last “walk” year. Fuck the Jakes, this has to be the most fearsome lineup in the NL, and perhaps the majors.
I barely touched on the pitching before, but there’s a level of expectation now with every start. That expectation is for excellence. That’s not to say that anything less is unacceptable, it’s just that almost the entire staff is lights out and so it’s almost a surprise when anyone gives up a run. Oswalt is one unfortunate pitch away from having figures better than those sported by the Rocket. And them’s some gaudy numbers. Miller has been solid, and all three remain unbeaten. The pen, sans Fernandez, has been every bit as good as last year. Dotel is improving and is the only reliever with a loss (from when he coughed up a run to the Gints in the Opener).
Stop your Grinnin’ and Drop Your Linen
All in all, the pre-season promise has been fulfilled. Now they have just the remaining 90% of the schedule to go! The Jakes are up and La Genius is already in mid-season form. The momentum was wrested from the 3rds in St. Louis and it would be nice to keep it for a while.
It’s Reading Right, Man!
Some of us have complained about all the cell phone activity that goes on immediately behind the plate and in many, less visible parts of the stadium. Well I have discovered just what it is these people are doing: and it’s called Toothing. It’s sweeping LimeyLand, and with the advent of next-generation cell phones in the US, it is likely here too. The lines for the bathroom just got longer.
Let’s Rock!
I caught The Psychedelic Furs at the Verizon Theater last Saturday. “So what?”, you may ask, and you’d be right. Well what’s what is the opening act. The Pleased took the stage to absolutely no fanfare whatsoever, and proceed to blow away the audience. A new act out of San Francisco on their first tour, they combine melodious rock, with sharp lyrics and a lead singer with a bad haircut and fantastic pipes. “We are the Doctor” has been stuck in my head for three days straight now (for a sample go here, the whole video is also available for download at their site). The debut album is “Don’t Make Things”, it’s very good, but it really doesn’t do justice to the energy of this band live.
We were doubly blessed at the gig, because The Alarm were unable to play. I did not know that they were scheduled to be playing, so I was extremely relieved to hear that one of them had to return to Wales at short notice. I think I would’ve ripped my ears off before they got to “Sixty-Eight Guns”. Even better, The Pleased got to extend their set.