Welcome Back My Friends To the Show That Never Ends

Posted on January 25, 2005 by Andyzipp in Zipper Flap

For the record, I’ve lost count (I think it’s like 5 or 6) of the number of incarnations various TalkZones have inhabited over the past 8 years. I like this one, but it’s one of those things that’ll take some getting used to. Similarly, the 2005 Astros are something that’s going to take a while to get used to this year.

Last year, about this same time, most of us were estatic about our starting pitching, wary of the hot/cold hitting and the lack of depth in the bullpen but still optimistic about what the coming season would hold. The more things change…Read More

Hardball: Instructional Baseball and A Winning Philosophy

Posted on January 22, 2005 by JimR in From The Dugout

Author’s note:

I coached HS baseball for a total of nine years at Brenham High School and at Austin’s McCallum High School. Before that, I pitched at the University of Texas under the legendary Bibb Falk, and I coached for one year at UT under the equally-legendary Cliff Gustafson. The outline posted here expresses my baseball philosophy and the system I used coaching high school teams. I used a scaled down version of this system while coaching my son and his contemporaries in youth baseball leagues. I do not pretend that this system is innovative or the only system. My coaching philosophy evolved from what I learned from those two outstanding coaches and from my Dad, who was the best pitching coach I ever had. I encourage readers to review the outline and to use whatever seems suited to your individual coaching situations. Good luck to you and to your teams.Read More

End Of the World?

Posted on January 21, 2005 by Arky Vaughan in Crunch Time

As the clock ticked toward 11 Saturday night, even the most jaded fan probably still held onto a glimmer of hope that Sunday morning would arrive with a belated $105-million present under the Astros’ collective Christmas tree. Not 15 minutes after that deadline passed, any such optimism lay shattered among the dead needles that have steadily dropped off that tree this off-season.

Empty-Handed

Posted on January 14, 2005 by Limey in Limey Time

My last LT was written in the state of euphoria that followed the home-sweep of the 3rds by an on-fire Astros team. That was three months ago. Since then, every day has seen a sliver of that euphoria shaved off by paper, until all that remains is bare, exposed, cut-ridden flesh. That, plus the halitosis and indigestion resulting from the massive shit sandwich served up by Messrs Beltran and Boras, has made it a very crappy to start the New Year for Astrodom.

The Astros, on a triumphant march back to St. Louis, stumbled, righted themselves and then had a kneecap smashed in by Edmonds. Game #6 is where the NLCS was lost, seemingly no sooner than it had been won in Houston. The controversial decision to start Munro was negated when the Astros rallied to tie the game in the 9th. The 3rds were shell-shocked and they must’ve been having visions of themselves having visions of deja vu …all over again… as the Astros put the go ahead runner in scoring position. A base hit…a ground-ball…a ground-ball with eyes… But it was not to be. The Astros fail to deliver the killer blow and the game rolled on for a few more innings until fate and a depleted pen conspired to set up the horrendous mismatch of a now very fallible Miceli vs. a dyed-in-the-wool Astro-Killah in Edmonds. Paybacks are hell, and the fuck-you-back walk-off homer was as hurtful as it was inevitable.

Game #7 put the ball in the Rocket’s HoF hands, but I truly believe the 3rds were resurrected by Edmonds blast. They’d left Houston beaten, crushed, mashed, shredded and humiliated. They stirred against Munro in Game #6, but really should have demolished him. They left the door open for an Astro revival, and when it occurred, they were dead. The Astros just had to call it, but an ill-timed strikeout let them off the hook and they never looked back. Fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck. Game #7 started brightly, but ended up a water torture as the Astros slowly sank below the waves.Read More

That Beltran Is A Son Of A Bitch

Posted on November 11, 2004 by Andyzipp in Zipper Flap

And so it begins.

Actually, I take that back. It began when the Astros acquired Carlos Beltran in a three-way that left the Peter Gammonses of the world agape and ajaw, dealing then-closer Octavio Dotel to the A’s and John Buck to the Royals. It continued when the move didn’t pay immediate dividends. The educated voices swirled that the Astros should “flip” Beltran (and Jeff Kent), seeing as they were going to lose him anyway.Read More

Five Lessons Learned (or Relearned) from the 2004 Astros

Posted on November 1, 2004 by Arky Vaughan in Crunch Time

The season may have ended a week earlier than hoped, but Houston fans will remember 2004 as one of the finest years in franchise history. The campaign not only took the Astros and their followers on a thrilling ride. It also served as a reminder of a number of lessons that are easily forgotten in more mundane seasons.

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