{"id":9489,"date":"2011-08-08T10:17:48","date_gmt":"2011-08-08T15:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spikesnstars.com\/?p=9489"},"modified":"2011-08-08T10:20:10","modified_gmt":"2011-08-08T15:20:10","slug":"expect-the-worst-hope-for-the-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/2011\/08\/08\/expect-the-worst-hope-for-the-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Expect the Worst, Hope for the Best"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everybody seems to wonder what it\u2019s like down here<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I gotta get away from this day-to-day running around,<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Everybody knows this is nowhere.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

My friends.\u00a0 My parents.\u00a0 My wife.\u00a0 Co-workers.\u00a0 Cousins.\u00a0 Collection agents.\u00a0 All of them, without exception, ask me the same question:\u00a0 Why do you keep watching this awful team?\u00a0 It\u2019s a difficult question to answer, if you try to be honest.\u00a0 They expect the \u201cI\u2019ve always been an Astros fan\u201d or \u201cIt\u2019s still baseball\u201d quips, but in truth it\u2019s not all that.\u00a0 It can\u2019t be.\u00a0 They really want to know what it\u2019s like to follow such a historically inept team.\u00a0 Because they all jumped ship April 2nd<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

The honest answer?\u00a0 It sucks.\u00a0 Big, hairy, sweaty, smelly, steamy, pimply donkey balls.\u00a0 What was once a nightly source of pride and excitement is now a black hole of disappointment and frustration.\u00a0 Even worse – I now expect the Astros to lose each and every game they play.\u00a0 And I\u2019m right 68% of the time.\u00a0 It\u2019s like throwing a heavy object in the air and saying aloud, \u201cthat will come down.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s neither prescient nor impressive.\u00a0 It just sucks.<\/p>\n

The bullpen could implode.\u00a0 The offense could disappear.\u00a0 JA Happ could pitch. \u00a0It\u2019s the same shit, different pile.\u00a0 But if you stare at that steaming pile of shit long enough, look past the undigested corn bits and beer snakes, \u00a0you\u2019ll see something else.\u00a0 Hope.<\/p>\n

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hope is all around, actually.\u00a0 There\u2019s the hope you see in the field and in the batter\u2019s box.\u00a0 Hope on the faces of the rookies who get called up unexpectedly. \u00a0\u00a0Hope in the new owner, his new management team.\u00a0 Hope that Pam won\u2019t cock-block a legitimate baseball transaction.\u00a0 And the hope that these trades, these rookies, these fresh faces all pan out.<\/p>\n

I know that by the time the Astros are in contention again my son will be watching alongside me, cheering for his team.\u00a0 I\u2019m happy that his first jersey won\u2019t have \u201cPence\u201d stitched on the back.\u00a0 Instead, it\u2019ll be Altuve or Singleton or Springer.\u00a0 A Cosart bobblehead.\u00a0 A Folty poster.\u00a0 A Wallace cheese grater.<\/p>\n

When that happens, and it will dammit<\/em>, I\u2019ll be able to point back at the garbage-pail kids who played in the 2011 season and smile.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll be able to talk about it with you idiots.\u00a0 We watched when the outcomes were predetermined.\u00a0 When excitement came from trading away the team\u2019s best players.\u00a0 When youthful mishaps and errant base-running were discarded as aggressive play, growth pains. \u00a0We were there for rock bottom.\u00a0 And we still watched.<\/p>\n

The Astros, a team that crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.\u00a0 The Astros, headed for the Playoffs.<\/p>\n

In 2015.<\/p>\n

Astros vs Diamondbacks<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Diamondbacks are doing their best to keep pace with Jeff Keppinger and the Giants.\u00a0 They sit just a half game back in the standings, and you know they\u2019re keying in on this series to take a step up.<\/p>\n

Projected Starters<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday, 8:40pm, Poolside<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wandy Rodriguez (7-8, 3.69) vs. Daniel Hudson (11-7, 3.67)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hudson is coming off an eight-inning, one-run outing vs Lincecum and the Giants last Tuesday, and he\u2019s one of the bright young pitchers that\u2019s emerged in MLB in the past year or so.\u00a0 He\u2019s had limited exposure to the current Astros lineup, which doesn\u2019t say much.\u00a0 He hasn\u2019t pitched in the Texas League this year, so what can you expect?\u00a0 Of the few who have seen him, Angel leads the way with a 2\/3 1 RBI performance.\u00a0 Carlos is the biggest goat at 1\/6.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t say much about Wandy that you don\u2019t already know.\u00a0 He\u2019s every bit as good of a pitcher as Hudson, but at this point he\u2019s bringing a sciv to a nuclear war.<\/p>\n

Tuesday, 8:40pm, Dry Heat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jordan Lyles (1-6, 4.36) vs Jason Marquis (8-6, 4.33)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marquis<\/a> looks like a douch-ier Mark Cuban.\u00a0 He was a National until last week, and he celebrated joining a contending team by allowing seven runs in four innings last Wednesday.\u00a0 Current Astros hit him pretty well, with Carlos (.405, 4 hr, 13 rbi) and JasonM (.615, 1 hr, 4 RBI) paving the way.\u00a0 Barmes (0-11) and Angel (1-6) couldn\u2019t hit a broad side of a black barn.<\/p>\n

Lyles is fresh off of his first MLB win.\u00a0 The only Diamondback he\u2019s faced is Jason Marquis, who\u2019s 0-3.\u00a0 Process of elimination tells me Lyles still took the loss.<\/p>\n

Wednesday, 8:40pm, Bullshit Time Zone<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brett Myers (3-12, 4.76) vs. Josh Collmenter (6-7, 3.58)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dodgers whooped up on Collmenter last Friday, tagging him for six runs in 2.1 innings.\u00a0 He\u2019s lost his last three and could be pitching to stay in the rotation.\u00a0 I bet he\u2019ll lock down that spot this week.\u00a0 The Astros, collectively, have two hits against him \u2013 by guys who are now in AAA (Wallace, Happ).<\/p>\n

If you exclude Myers\u2019 last start vs the Brewers (6 IP, 5 ER), he\u2019s been pitching fairly well lately (3 or fewer runs in five games).\u00a0 There\u2019s still a chance he\u2019ll get traded this year, so he may be pitching to impress a contender.<\/p>\n

Thursday, 8:40pm, Not-So-Getaway-Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

TBD (0-0, 0.00) vs Joe Saunders (8-9, 3.61)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saunders has been pretty salty this year.\u00a0 In his last 10 games, he\u2019s allowed more than three runs once \u2013 last week vs the Dodgers (4).\u00a0 Carlos knocks him around pretty well (.364, 1 RBI), nobody else has many at bats.<\/p>\n

TBD sucks.<\/p>\n

Promotions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not a damn thing.<\/p>\n

Injuries<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arizona \u2013 Blum (pinky), Castillo (shoulder) and Gutierrez (shoulder) are on the 15-day.\u00a0 Drew is out for the year for being an asshole who hits on my friend\u2019s wife while he\u2019s standing beside her.<\/p>\n

Houston \u2013 Arias and Lyon are out for the year.\u00a0 Castro might be back for the death rattle.\u00a0 Del Rosario should be back at the end of August.\u00a0 New Astro Jordan Schafer is due August 20.<\/p>\n

What to Watch For<\/strong><\/p>\n

Altuve, Martinez, Lyles, Barmes, Wandy, Shuck.\u00a0 Or for shits and giggles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everybody seems to wonder what it\u2019s like down here I gotta get away from this day-to-day running around, Everybody knows this is nowhere. My friends.\u00a0 My parents.\u00a0 My wife.\u00a0 Co-workers.\u00a0 Cousins.\u00a0 Collection agents.\u00a0 All of them, without exception, ask me the same question:\u00a0 Why do you keep watching this awful team?\u00a0 It\u2019s a difficult question […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[202,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9489"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9489"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9500,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9489\/revisions\/9500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}