By Breedlove
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on April 20, 2001.
The Astros started the season with a 4-2 homestand, then followed that up with a 4-4 showing on about as long a road trip as they will have all season. That puts them at 8-6, good for second place in the NL Central. An 8-6 record doesn’t sound very special, but if they were to go 8-6 every 14 games all season, the Astros would end with over 90 wins. Read More
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.
So far the road is a good place to be… well at least 66.7% of the time… for the Stagnant Stars. Going 4 of 6 on the road is an important piece of most road trips. Never mind that half those wins were against the Brewers, still the Talking Heads favorite baseball team (please choose between “Same as they ever were,” or “This is not our beautiful house”.)Read More
By Carnac
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on April 5, 2001.
Season home run data for major league ballparks are generally reported as a total number of home runs hit, or alternatively on a home runs per game basis. Frequently, these data are also split between the homers hit by the home club and those hit by the road club.Read More
By Breedlove
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on March 27, 2001.
Train Wreck 2000 – The Astros’ pathetic inaugural display at Enron Field at Union Station.
While many in the Astros organization spent the last six months trying to wake up from that nightmare, Gerry Hunsicker had to relive it over and over to decide what had to be done to keep it from happening again. Much of his work goes on in the offseason, and it was his responsibility to use that time to ensure the Astros do not suffer a similar fate in 2001: A Baseball Odyssey. Here Brushback begins to openly wonder what hath Gerry wrought. Read More
By Breedlove
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on February 22, 2001.
“Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage. You can make a lot of mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you’re too inefficient.” — Sam Walton
Easily the biggest complaint of Astros fans is that Drayton McLane adheres too strongly to the business style of his old partner, the late Sam Walton. They say he runs the Astros too much like a business, with the notion–seemingly outdated in today’s dot-com world–of turning a profit, not enough like a hobby that a “good” owner would sink his millions into. But Astros fans have enjoyed a special benefit from the Walton/McLane business philosophy, and it’s a big part of what makes and keeps them fans.Read More
By Breedlove
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on February 21, 2001.
“Already, (the Tigers) feel more like a family than Houston ever did. I don’t respect that organization at all. It’s a joke, from top to bottom.”
He switch-hit. He hit .300. He hit with power. He had more offensive ability than any catcher in Astros history. Yet with these sickening words, Mitch Meluskey made clear to anyone with doubt remaining exactly why the Houston Astros dealt him to Detroit. He has less class than a substitute teacher and about as much professionalism as Mary Kay Letourneau. There is no player more fit to wear the tools of ignorance.Read More
