Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.
Since there were no winners in the “Take A Legend to the Enron Opener”…(and don’t think I won’t remember this, you ingrates…) sitting on my couch watching on DirectTV and surround sound and of course Shiner Bock, was the next best option…The following is a look at the inner workings and one man’s opinion of the television coverage and mad amount of hype associated with March 30th, 2000.Read More
By Robert Snyder
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on March 23, 2000.
Since late 1997 when construction of Enron Field started I have avidly followed its progress. In my relatively short lifetime I have lived in Houston all of my life and have never been a witness to a new stadium being built. Even then the thought of seeing a new stadium go up gave me a never-before felt excitement. Throughout my lifetime I have seen a variety of baseball stadiums. In order of attendance and first year there is parentheses: the Astrodome (’84), Veterans Stadium (’87), Wrigley Field (’87), old Comiskey Park (’88), Busch Stadium (’89), new Comiskey (’90, and its horribly slanted upper deck), Riverside Stadium in Harrisburg, PA- Home of the AA Senators (’92), and single A, Kane County Ballpark- in Kane County, Illinois (’99- West of Chicagoland- in a location like Plano, or The Woodlands in comparison to their respective metropolitan areas). These stadiums have given me a background of sorts when comparing ballparks.Read More
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.
It’s very comforting to me to see that, shockingly enough, The Houston Astros are still the team to beat in the National League Central.
After an off-season that saw the No-Longer-In-Motion-Stars show mercy in general on the rest of the division by trading Mike Hampton to the Mets and specifically to the Chicago Cubs and the residents of Waveland Ave. by getting Carl Everett out of the National League completely, one might be led to believe that the gap had been closed between the Stros and the rest of the scrubs in the Central. If you watch enough ESPN or Fox Sports Net, you might actually come to the conclusion that the Reds have surpassed the “mud n’ blood” crew.Read More
By Limey
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on February 23, 2000.
Ray Lopez made one of the most crass comments I’ve heard about a pitcher. He said that Mike Hampton was much better than Jose Lima, as T2 was the ace and so faced the other team’s #1 starter. Lima, he maintained, was the #3 pitcher and so faced only the other team’s #3 guy. I’ve heard this repeated in the TZ, although it’s usually jumped on with gusto by those of us that know better. In addition to getting the rotation wrong (Shane Reynolds was the opening day pitcher and thus the Astros #1), Knight conveniently ignored the fact that off days, injuries and rain outs quickly make a mockery of the #1 vs #1 theory. Read More
By Historian
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on February 9, 2000.
It would be fantastic if every ballplayer who played for Houston lived up to the hype and expectations surrounding their arrival. Some were high draft picks of which much was expected. Some came through the farm system with rave reviews. Some were free agents brought in to get the Astros “over the hump”. Others were trade material for which Houston paid a great price to acquire. Alas, for every player who becomes a star, two or three just never pan out whether it be through injuries, failed opportunities, bad timing or they just weren’t as good as somebody thought they were.Read More
By Arky Vaughan
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on January 26, 2000.
Nolan Ryan, Joe Morgan, Don Sutton, Eddie Mathews, Nellie Fox and Robin Roberts all spent playing time in a Houston uniform, but none of them is wearing an Astros cap on his Hall of Fame plaque. Almost 40 years into its existence, the Astros organization has yet to see a player it can primarily call its own enshrined at Cooperstown.
That looks likely to change in the next 15 years. Houston fans, despite their frustration that the team has failed in three recent tries to win a playoff series, much less a pennant or world championship, have had the pleasure of watching two of the best players at their positions start for the Astros throughout the ’90s. Entering the 2000 season, have Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell already established themselves as viable Hall of Fame candidates?Read More
