stuff i wish i could watch every day

[JimR]

the battle in RF, especially Hidalgo's skills after his time away and Lane's ABs

Ensberg's approach at the plate, especially his swings on favorable counts

innings pitched by the guys trying to fill 4 and 5 in the rotation

Lidge's mechanics, especially his front shoulder

if all of this goes well, folks, we've got us a team.

[Texifornia]

I'd love to be in FLA to see this too.

Realisticly, what do you think about the chances that all of this does go well?

I suppose the Lane / Hidalgo situation is no-lose in that the competition will help both players, which is good regardless of which gets the starting job. I think Morgan will work to improve his plate approach, but knowing something intellectally and executing it in the spli-second of a pitch are different things. It will be interesting. I'm a bit more pensive about the last two spots in the rotation.

I am very curious about your take on Lidge's mechanics. I wonder if you might consider a more extensive post on this after ST has progressed a bit more. I know how difficult it is, for example, to correct a mechanical flaw in a golf swing even though one is completely aware of the flaw. I suspect that a mechanical flaw in a pitcher's motion may be similarly difficult to correct.

If the Astros get Lights Out Lidge back as closer, then I do think this can be a very successful team, even if some of the other things don't work out.

[Navin R Johnson]

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the battle in RF, especially Hidalgo's skills after his time away and Lane's ABs

So far Hidalgo has looked like a guy who hasnt played in 2 years.  He is noticeably thinner, but in the two games I saw him play he was getting over matched at the plate.   His bat speed appeared to be really slow, as he was well behind on any decent fastball he swung at.

I hope he comes around though, as I was always a fan of RH.

[Fredia]

is there good communication between the players? there are a lot of new faces out there and face it this year the team will look dramitaclly different.

[JimR]

PM me or email me. i have written a gazillion times about Lidge and don't want to bore folks with my meaningless opinions. i happen to think that the flying open flaw is correctable.

[strosrays]

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the battle in RF, especially Hidalgo's skills after his time away and Lane's ABs

Ensberg's approach at the plate, especially his swings on favorable counts

innings pitched by the guys trying to fill 4 and 5 in the rotation

Lidge's mechanics, especially his front shoulder

if all of this goes well, folks, we've got us a team.

I look at the division, and for some reason defunct American car companies come to mind.

The Pirates are a  Gremlin. They'll be on the side of the road, hood up and smoking, by mid-May.

The Reds are more like a  Pacer; kind of interesting at first glance, but closer inspection reveals the team is really just an oddly put together novelty (i.e., piece of crap.)

The Brewers remind me of a  Hornet; decently put together, mostly dependable performance.  Not really going anywhere, though.

The Cubs are an  Ambassador; big and kind of scary looking, drunks and other assorted dilettantes just love it.  They went out and got a lot of fancy parts from elsewhere to put it together.  Decent performance in the long run, but the new driver likes to keep it floored, eventually straining the engine.  Either way, it almost always breaks down somehwere (usually early) in the home stretch.

The Co-Ards are something like  a Marlin -- not the kind from Florida, the kind from Detroit.  Still looks pretty good on paper, and comes from a long line of hi-performance "pony" cars; but over the years they have taken one feature or another off it, and now it's pretty stripped-down.  The driver is, um. . . eccentric, so you never know.  Still enough muscle under the hood to get it to the finish line first, in the right situation; but just as likely to sputter, at which point it'll be put on the market, and something new will be put together for next year.

And the Astros are  a Javelin, I think. SST package, sport coupe.  Not much room in the backseat, which won't matter unless the car is still in the race in August, at which point a whole lot of bystanders will be wanting to pile in.  Some really hi-performance parts, mixed in with the standard nuts and bolts.  This baby has the ability to draft the bigger Ambassador and Marlin through most of the race, then slingshot past them both at the end.  Of course, if a couple of the fancy parts don't perform, and the team isn't hitting on all eight for a stretch, it could just as easily sputter and wind up in the pit, looking for a new carburetor.

Too bad I don't have any graphic design skillz.

[pravata]

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the battle in RF, especially Hidalgo's skills after his time away and Lane's ABs...

Garner has mentioned 3 candidates for the 3rd outfield spot.  None are Hunter Pence.  However, the same fan/media swell that put Luke Scott in the OD lineup 2 years ago has already started.  What is it that the fans/media are seeing in Pence that Garner and Purpura haven't?

[homer]

 

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What is it that the fans/media are seeing in Pence that Garner and Purpura haven't?

Its not what they see in Gunther, its what they don't see in Lane/Palmeiro/Hidalgo/et al.

Anything has got to be better than those guys, right?

[pravata]

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What is it that the fans/media are seeing in Pence that Garner and Purpura haven't?

Its not what they see in Gunther, its what they don't see in Lane/Palmeiro/Hidalgo/et al.

Anything has got to be better than those guys, right?

Sure, especially if they know little about the alternative and listen to Charlie Palillo.  Palmeiro is the 25th guy. Pence is in no way a candidate for the peculiar attributes of that spot.

[homer]

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What is it that the fans/media are seeing in Pence that Garner and Purpura haven't?

Its not what they see in Gunther, its what they don't see in Lane/Palmeiro/Hidalgo/et al.

Anything has got to be better than those guys, right?

Sure, especially if they know little about the alternative and listen to Charlie Palillo.  Palmeiro is the 25th guy. Pence is in no way a candidate for the peculiar attributes of that spot.

A douche like Palillo is just positioning himself out front, so when Gunther does come up (after more development) and does well he can say 'See, I told you so. What took Purpura so long?'

Fans say 'give the kids a chance' because they heard someone else in their life say that once, and they think it sounds smart. These are the same fans that disappear during rebuilding, when the kids are getting their chance.

[JimR]

thanks for the eye-witness comments. is Scott hurt at the moment?

[Bench]

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What is it that the fans/media are seeing in Pence that Garner and Purpura haven't?

Its not what they see in Gunther, its what they don't see in Lane/Palmeiro/Hidalgo/et al.

Anything has got to be better than those guys, right?

Sure, especially if they know little about the alternative and listen to Charlie Palillo.  Palmeiro is the 25th guy. Pence is in no way a candidate for the peculiar attributes of that spot.

A douche like Palillo is just positioning himself out front, so when Gunther does come up (after more development) and does well he can say 'See, I told you so. What took Purpura so long?'

Fans say 'give the kids a chance' because they heard someone else in their life say that once, and they think it sounds smart. These are the same fans that disappear during rebuilding, when the kids are getting their chance.

Palillo needs to find a new poster-child for his "Astros are too conservative in player development" cause-celebre. Last year he spent a couple of hours each week baffled as to why Zobrist wasn't starting over Everett. Fortunately, the Huff trade put a stopper in that. Now, whenever Pence goes 1-3 in Round Rock on the same day Lane fails to get a result pinch hitting in the 8th inning, Palillo will be all over it.

[JackAstro]

Quote:

Quote:
the battle in RF, especially Hidalgo's skills after his time away and Lane's ABs

Ensberg's approach at the plate, especially his swings on favorable counts

innings pitched by the guys trying to fill 4 and 5 in the rotation

Lidge's mechanics, especially his front shoulder

if all of this goes well, folks, we've got us a team.

I look at the division, and for some reason defunct American car companies come to mind.

The Pirates are a  Gremlin. They'll be on the side of the road, hood up and smoking, by mid-May.

The Reds are more like a  Pacer; kind of interesting at first glance, but closer inspection reveals the team is really just an oddly put together novelty (i.e., piece of crap.)

The Brewers remind me of a  Hornet; decently put together, mostly dependable performance.  Not really going anywhere, though.

The Cubs are an  Ambassador; big and kind of scary looking, drunks and other assorted dilettantes just love it.  They went out and got a lot of fancy parts from elsewhere to put it together.  Decent performance in the long run, but the new driver likes to keep it floored, eventually straining the engine.  Either way, it almost always breaks down somehwere (usually early) in the home stretch.

The Co-Ards are something like  a Marlin -- not the kind from Florida, the kind from Detroit.  Still looks pretty good on paper, and comes from a long line of hi-performance "pony" cars; but over the years they have taken one feature or another off it, and now it's pretty stripped-down.  The driver is, um. . . eccentric, so you never know.  Still enough muscle under the hood to get it to the finish line first, in the right situation; but just as likely to sputter, at which point it'll be put on the market, and something new will be put together for next year.

And the Astros are  a Javelin, I think. SST package, sport coupe.  Not much room in the backseat, which won't matter unless the car is still in the race in August, at which point a whole lot of bystanders will be wanting to pile in.  Some really hi-performance parts, mixed in with the standard nuts and bolts.  This baby has the ability to draft the bigger Ambassador and Marlin through most of the race, then slingshot past them both at the end.  Of course, if a couple of the fancy parts don't perform, and the team isn't hitting on all eight for a stretch, it could just as easily sputter and wind up in the pit, looking for a new carburetor.

Too bad I don't have any graphic design skillz.

Well, if no one else will say it, I will. This is fucking awesome. One question - is a Pacer actually better than a Gremlin? Does it matter?

[BudGirl]

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thanks for the eye-witness comments. is Scott hurt at the moment?

Not sure if this was answered, but we overheard him say he has an achilles problem.  Which started at the end of last season.

[Bench]

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thanks for the eye-witness comments. is Scott hurt at the moment?

Not sure if this was answered, but we overheard him say he has an achilles problem.  Which started at the end of last season.

I've heard Milo say that his left ankle was bothering him, but I did not realize it was the same injury which hampered him down the stretch last year. If the achilles thing is chronic, that is not good news for Luke.

[Ty in Tampa]

I forgot to put in the report for you. And the link. Damn!