April 2010 Spike Award Winner

Michael Bourn has been elected the deserving one of the Spike Award this month by the TalksZone citizenry.  The masses have spoken and the SnS agrees, very good choice.  Often it’s said that if we were to chose the one action that we would expect from a Spike winner it would be running through a wall for the team.  Many players have reputation of doing such and some player look like they’d be the type, but with Michael, it is that he just goes out and does it night in and night out.  His ability to play defense at a level that puts him in the stratosphere of the best of the best just proves he is going to be tough to beat every month as the perpetual winner of the award.  Then again, if everyone played defense like Bourn, this team wouldn’t be in the dire situation it finds itself in terms of winning ballgames.

April 2010 Star Award Winner

Michael Bourn swept the SnS awards this month as he was the overwhelming choice for the Star award this month by the TalkZoners.  Again, the SnS agrees with the choice as does the statistical evidence.  Michael led the starters on the team in batting average in April to the tune of .311, while posting a .407 OBP and a .387 SLG percentage.  Bourn also stole 9 bases, several of which contributed heavily to rare wins by the team who struggled offensively in April.  His 23 hits in 21 games in April was impressive as he continues to use what he learned last year and applied to an everyday approach for success at the major league level.  Michael did have a high number of strikeouts in April, not many of which were about being a free swinger though.  He had a stretch where he looked like he was taking too many pitches in order to comply with the duties of a leadoff man and that got him behind in most counts leading to the high strikeouts.  He’s seemed to have made an adjustment and remains aggressive but controlled with his approach as the leadoff man.  Right now, Bourn is on pace to be the lone Astros representative in the All-Star game and if the SnS Star Award is a launching pad for said recognition, all the better.

This year, winners might also get any type of coupons we can acquire from local eateries.  Calls to the Whataburger food chain has not been returned, but we’re trying and we won’t take no for an answer, unless they call the police and put a restraining order on us.  So be prepared to provide your input at the end of every month as we honor those worthy of honoring from this honorable site.

July 2009 Spike Award

Well, he's got the closer snear down pat!

So the search was on for a pitcher that could provide good work to help salvage a season that was going nowhere fast.  In steps Alberto Arias, a pitcher who has a nice arsenal of pitches, all with late movement and just hard enough to keep hitters on notice.  Arias enjoyed a successful month as the setup man pressed into the role because of injuries to Chris Sampson and LaTroy Hawkins.  He did well, posting a .265 ERA in 17 IPs, recording 13 strikeouts and only 5 walks.  Now, with some of the injured returning, Arias is an interesting prospect for more work as a key setup man along with Sampson and Hawkins.  Some even think he may be a good closer candidate if he keeps up the good work.

Honorable mention: Aaron Boone got some love from the SnS because of his desire to return this season from heart surgery.  Wow, coming back from heart surgery all within the same season is hard to ponder, but he’s planning on it and it’s worth following.

Hey, a Wandy Rodriquez three-peat?

Yes indeed, it is a Wandy season after all, as the little lefty took home his third Star Award by posting an outstanding performance for the month of July.  He had a .075 ERA in 36 IPs, tossing his first complete game of the season.  He also posted his tenth win for the season in the month of July when he registered four wins total for the month without a loss.

Tipping my pitches, eh? Here, guess what I'm going to throw now!

10 wins is his highest win total so far for his career.  In the month of July, he had 34 strikeouts and 7 walks.  He also helped the club make a push upwards from inconsistency to solid winner, becoming a part of a one-two gut punch for opposing teams with Roy Oswalt.

Honorable Mention: Miguel Tejada continues to post good numbers, not succumbing to the late season swoon predicted  by many.  Miggy is the leader on the club now with the injury to Lance Berkman and the happy go lucky attitude of Carlos Lee.  Leadership is a wonderful thing if you post the stats to back up your words and Miggy has.

For the June Spike Award, the candidates were Geoff Blum, Jeff Fulchino and Darin Erstad. For the June Star Award, the candidates were Michael Bourn, Miguel Tejada and Lance Berkman.  Let’s see who won:

June 2009 Spike Award

This month’s Spike Award winner is a guy who stepped up for the team in many ways, one of which was in the leadership category. So much so that his influence as a manager-like came shining through when he took charge of a potential volatile situation and provided direction and proper management to a young player in order to keep a first inning mistake from escalating into a full blown mess.

The "Boss" takes time to speak to his boys around the batting cages. It's what a manager does.

Geoff Blum is his name, leadership is his game.  He’s also involved himself in some memorable Cub-killer situations.  In said situations, Blum delivered the death shot each time in walk-off fashion for the Chicago nine.  Many wait for the Cubbie meltdown in August, but for the month of June, Blum may of provided the percursor of things to come.  That he later mentioned how this sort of treatment against the Cubs was fun for his Chicago southside friends probably earned him extra points in terms of Cub hatedom.  Yeah, I’d say he’s a really good Spike winner, so take a bow Mr. Blum, our June 2009 Spike Award winner.

Honorable mention: Jeff Fulchino, a pickup by GM Ed Wade that has paid off, made a run for the Spike Award with his consistent and bullpen steadying performance for June.  I’m sure many would question a fan site that would give an award to a middle reliever, but that’s just how we roll.

June 2009 Star Award

Turn on an inside fastball? Check!

Hey, no Wandy Rodriquez three-peat?  Hardly, he wasn’t even in the running.  But in a rare situation (rare because we’ve never seen it before, nevermind our awards have been around for only three months, so there is that) our last month Spike Award winner made the leap from hard nose wall banging spectacular catch making player to all around good performer for June.

Michael Bourn, having to cringe at his manager’s MVP pronouncement, kept a cool head about him and went about his business of being the leadoff man… nay, breakout player his GM put on him early in spring.  A consistent leadoff man doing his job well bodes well for the type of middle of the lineup hitters that the Astros feature.  Michael has managed to keep Cecil Cooper from scratching his name off the leadoff spot in the lineup.  In fact, finally Cooper is trying to manage the young player instead of just react to so-so performances with the bat as a reason to bench him in favor of a veteran.  It is all so much easier for the Astros when Bourn is performing as he has.  Keep it up kid!

Honorable Mention: Lance Berkman has had a steady climb upwards from well below the Mendoza line.  It’s taken some consistent multi-hit games and some monster offensive nights.  The month of June for 2009 will be the month that most will look back on and say “That is when Lance turned it around!”  Bank on it!

It wasn’t an easy choice for either award with so many worthy candidates, but the choices are in and here we go:

Honorable mention: Chris Sampson actually gave Bourn a run for the award, often pulling close in the voting only to see Michael walk away with the trophy.

May 2009 Star Award

Honorable Mention: Really, I’m surprised Hunter  Pence did not just win this award in a landslide, but the SnS has spoken and Mr. Coffee is a mere brides maid for this month.  Oh yeah, we know Tejada blah, blah, blah.  Well, all we can say is well done… if you’re around this month and some of next, we hope you really keep up the great work.  *wink, wink*

Any way, just to do a little recap, Spikes and Stars (dot com) has decided to jump into the fray and honor Houston Astros players for their outstanding monthly contributions to entertain the unwashed masses, including those who hang around here. We love our bread and circuses like no other, but I digress. We give out two awards monthly: A Spike Award to the one player who exhibits the hard nose play that shows heart, dedication and all out “what was he thinking?” responses from your typical SnS’er. The other award is the Star Award and true to it’s name, it’s about the best baseball performance of the month by a player.

So without further adeu, here are the winners of the April 2009 Spike and Star Awards:

April 2009 Spike Award
The first ever Spike Award goes to Jose “Papa Grande” Valverde. Valverde is currently enjoying an extended vacation away from the team to recuperate from his exploit that earned him the recognition from this site and it’s members. Jose was pitching to try and save a game against the hated LA Dodgers in an early season series when, after one out, he was struck in the calf by a batted ball traveling about 1,000 miles per hour. Or so it looked like to us. Valverde proceeded to attempt to throw out the perpetrator while wincing his way to the ground. He did not succeed to secure the out, but he did get up from the shot to the leg and took the hill to continue pitching. He proceeded to secure the necessary two outs to close the game by way of strikeouts. He did this with just one leg, as was evident to all who watched in amazement.

Jose celebrates like a Cossack!

This sort of thing was nothing new for Valverde as memories of last year’s incident, taking a batted ball off the face, was talked about extensively as this drama unfurled. A truly deserving honor for Papa Grande, although truth be told we would not recommend anyone on the Astros attempt this sort of thing to win our award (not that they would mind you, but juneberno), a simple bounce off an outfield wall to rob an opposing homerun, a sliding dive into a dugout or a punch of Cub fan in the face while leaning over a rail to catch a foul ball will certainly do.

Honorable mention: Props to Pudge Rodriquez who came in second in the voting.

We’ll borrow a frame of reference from Russ Ortiz here and point out that wins and loses are a product of team and not a reflection of the starter’s performance. That’s good, because in terms of w/l, the 30 year old Rodriquez did not set the world on fire, posting a 2/2 record in Mar/April. It is Rodriquez’s stellar 1.69 ERA, 27 strikeouts with only 12 walks and no homeruns allowed that made everyone stand up and notice. He pitched 32 innings in 5 appearances in Mar/April, basically averaging 6.4 Inning per Game pitched. Imagine if Cecil Cooper would just let him stay in a little longer, what Wandy could have averaged so far this season. Wandy’s goal is to solidify Houston’s number two starter in the rotation while pitching at or over 200 innings this season. Lofty goals, so far so good.

Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-galunga

Wany has been working exclusively with Pudge Rodriquez, who is said to be a calming influence on Wandy, not allowing him to get flustered in stressful situations. It’s showing, as little Eny is showing great poise on the mound (the proverbial “mound presence”), spotting a well located fastball (92 mph variety) inside and outside. This sets up his curveball, an almost unhittable pitch if the batter is trying to stay on top of Wandy’s fastball. All in all, a good game plan executed to perfection by the Rodriquez battery leading to good things for the lefty hurler.

Honorable Mention: Props to Michael Bourn who gave Wandy a run for his money as the Star Player of the Month.