Lethargy and Lima Time

Posted on May 9, 2000 by Andyzipp in Zipper Flap

Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.
First of all, let me inform everyone that ripping the owner of a teats-up Major League Baseball franchise is an amazing way to get people to come out of the woodwork and write responses.

Contrary to popular belief, no threats were forthcoming from Drayton’s office. No harsh words were uttered. I stopped checking my brake lines after a couple of days. So, no, the reason I haven’t written a column has nothing to do with being tied to train tracks of any sort. I am very much alive and kicking.Read More

Success Depends on Management…Not On The Ballpark

Posted on April 20, 2000 by Andyzipp in Bleacher Rap

By Tone Loc

Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on April 20, 2000.

Perhaps the most tiresome cliche in today’s corporate world is the “paradigm shift”, a fancy-sounding buzzword that’s been used to describe everything from the decade-long bull market to the emergence of Jesse Ventura to the popularity of bread machines. Like all overworked expressions, its utterance today draws more groans than a trip to the proctologist, but even so all such platitudes contain in them a grain of inspiration, and a paradigm shift is exactly the most appropriate term to describe the new on-field challenges that the move to Enron Field has thrust upon the Astro organization.Read More

Open Letter To The Grocer

Posted on April 19, 2000 by Andyzipp in Zipper Flap

Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.

Dear Drayton,
First of all, as a life long fan of baseball and especially the Houston Astros, I’d like to thank you for putting a competitive team on the field since you took over the reins from John McMullen several years ago. I think sometimes I lose sight of what it was like to be a fan of a franchise where winning happened about as often as one of your current pitchers going more than an inning without giving up a homerun.Read More

Mister Dierker Needs To Step To The Plate

Posted on April 12, 2000 by Andyzipp in Bleacher Rap

By Spider Pellini
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on April 12, 2000.

Ok, so I stole the old Astros marketing slogan. Sumbitch just fits is all. Now I ain’t saying there’s not a lot to like about Mr. Dierker. All in all, he’s done a pretty fair country job. Especially handling them pitchers, now that’s a job would try the patience of a Saint. Pitchers just ain’t the same in the head as regular folks but they’re sorta like women, no matter how big a pain in the old keester they are you got to have ’em around. Read More

Astros 2001: It’s All About Pitching

Posted on April 10, 2000 by Andyzipp in Zipper Flap

Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.
Hello everybody! (Hello Dr. Zipp!) Welcome to another wonderful season of Astros baseball. Our motto for 2001 is “Welcome Home…if you have to pay 20 bucks for a hotdog and a beer while watching Rabbits and choo-choo trains in your house.”Read More

Bastards and Lackeys

Posted on April 10, 2000 by Andyzipp in Zipper Flap

Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.
Due to the last minute bolting down of some seats in the nether-reaches of Enron Field, my father and I were able to continue our tradition of attending the Astros’ home opener. Of course, being in Enron, it made the day that much more special, or so I would have been led to believe. Let me tell you guys, Enron is not all it’s cracked up to be.Read More