Dear gawd what a debacle.
The Astros are facing Jamey Wright – a pitcher so bad he makes Woody look good. He gives up six walks and only THREE freaking hits in 5.1 innings and the Astros score only 2 measly runs. Of course, the Astros left men on base in 5 of the 6 innings he pitched, and neither Pence not Lee hit. (Berkman sat this one out with a bruised hand, said the guys on the radio)
Roy gave up 3 runs in the 5th, then got a 1,2,3 out 6th, then walked 3 straight batters in the 7th before Rick White came in to relieve and left all 3 runners stranded. Roy was delighted that he wasn’t Francoed, even if he was Clemensed AGAIN. Not that I blame Phil for sending Roy back out in the 7th – he looked strong the inning before and the bullpen HAS sucked…
Poor Roy – he must be ready to strangle the hitters and the bullpen. I know I am and it ain’t me who is losing yet ANOTHER Cy Young.
White gave up a solo homer in the 8th, then a single, then a sac-bunt. Then Miller came in to “relieve” and got the first lefty out, them walked Lofton. Miller sure is walking a LOT of batters this year, isn’t he? Then Qualls comes in to relieve Miller, who is pulled with pain in his leg, and gives up a walk, 2 singles, and 3 runs. Lidge picked a bad time to quit smoking – or was it sniffing glue (yeah, joke, JOKE)
I like how Phil sends Biggio up to pinch hit for Bruntlett against Eric Gagne. Good grief. Biggio against what is left of Gagne – no contest at all.
Sigh.
I just hate watching Biggio this year. It’s so unfreakingbelieveably painful. I mean, I was 8 years old when I first watched him and he was so GOOD – 22 years old and an instant star – and he was what everyone thinks Pence is.
The Astros Biggest Rookie Star doesn’t remember Biggio. (Or Bagwell, but I digress) And then he spent the decade of the 90s being absolutely GREAT. I remember him as a force to be reckoned with. He sprayed doubles everywhere, stole bases, took the extra base, was the guy the opposing team HATED to see at the plate. I remember him as a 5 tool catcher with a great arm who could hit. And run. And block the plate, small as he was. I was SO disappointed when they put him on second base and replaced him at catcher with 2 guys who were so much worse at everything than he was. And somehow he learned to play another position and didn’t lose a beat. You see, I want to remember him for the greatness he was, not this, this faint shadow of him.
You know he is one of the 7 greatest, possibly 5 greatest second basemen of all time. It just kills me when my children look at him and ask why they let him play when he can’t hit or field. They don’t understand the explanation – well, because he USED to be great, and in truth the owner is dissing him by making sure he gets 3000 hits in order to FINALLY get an Astros player in the Hall when Biggio was a no DOUBT about it Hall of Famer 3 years ago. The owner is also using Biggio’s last year of horribly embarrassing himself to milk as much money as he can for marketing purposes. They think I’m making that up and I only wish I was.
I just HATE HATE that their memories of Biggio will be what they are seeing now, a guy on his last legs who has nothing left but his hustle, a guy whose career death throes are the basis of this year’s Astros marketing campaign.
I’m almost glad that this team is so terrible that Biggio’s awfulness is masked somewhat by the failure of almost everyone else. Ah well, only 7 more hits to go until The Big One.
Not that anything will really change…
Final game (Rangers have won The Boot already) is Chris Sampson vs Robinson Tejada, RHP. Naturally, Biggio will be in the lineup. Sampson is PRAYING it is Bruntlett at short and Loretta at third because he’s remembering ALL the hits that “found holes” 5 days ago…
Tags: Houston Astros
Just a few more words about Biggio and I’ll shut up on this. I agree with you that it’s painful to watch him play. But for me, it’s also infuriating to watch how the Astros — McLane and/or Garner — have handled this.
In 2000, Bill James wrote that Biggio was the best player in the major leagues. At the height of Griffey’s greatness, James said Biggio was a more valuable player. At the end of that decade, James had him 4th all-time among second basemen. It was a huge wake-up call to most serious baseball fans.
In 2007, Bidge ranks last among 23 qualifying second basemen in OBP. Last year, he was 22nd of 24. Conservatively, he is in the bottom quarter defensively.
For some non-baseball motive–either a misguided sense of respect, or money, or both–the Astros have made him the starter and leadoff hitter. (I DO think this is either the worst or second-worst position to put him).
As a result, the Astros have given kids and casual fans a memory of Biggio that’s completely at odds with his legacy as a terrific, versatile, and selfless player. They’ve also hurt the team’s chances of winning (do they think that early season wins are less important?), signaled to players and fans that a personal record is more important than winning, and have probably damaged the prospects of Burke, one of their few solid players under 30.
It didn’t have to be like this.
sigh
double sigh
it didn’t have to be like this. but mclane couldn’t say no to the marketing
and i really think that concentrating on that milestone ruined the team too because they really DO think that early wins are less important
magic end of the year runs are just that, magic. it’s not something that happens every year, like the 4th of july
I just got back from Arlington (no, not all was lost, the Astros weren’t the only part of my weekend).
I won’t beat around the bush. This team is terrible. Up, down, all around, awful. They are to old and slow. The offense finally comes around in Anaheim, and then they go to sleep against the worst staff in baseball. Their pitching in general is not good. The defense is laughable. The manager and general manager…enough has been said. The only teams in baseball with a worse record are the Reds, Royals, Rangers, and Pirates. There isn’t much more to be said.
I haven’t watched the game tonight. It’s in the 8th and I see that Sampson has pitched an outstanding game but he’s been lifted after 96 pitches. Why? Was he laboring in the 7th?
He has only gone over 95 pitches once. His last start. That blew up on Monday when they left him in in the 7th. Of course watching this bullpen…
And to answer your question, Sampson was pitching quite well. This bullpen is just awful. Horrible. Horrendous. Terrible. And a few other words that I won’t mention.
Well they finally one a game. Until they can win 2 out of 3 on a regular basis, we are all blowing smoke. If they do not sweep the Brewers the season is basically over.
madison,
sampson looked very sharp in the 7th. who knows why phil lifted him, seeing how the bullpen has been doing
robert,
thank you for keeping this blog nice and G-rated. it is okay, by the way, to say the bullpen pitched like horse “stuff”
francois,
the season IS over. i’m a realist.
lisa
They only have to go 58-29 to win 90 games. Uncle Drayton should be printing those playoff tickets any day now…
well,
shrug,
i agree with all the columnists for once. it’s time to think about next year. and drayton needs to go take a GOOD long look in the mirror and ask himself how long he is going to insist to himself that if he can make himself a billionaire from running grocery stores, he can build a winning baseball team because they are exactly the same thing except that for some bizarre reason, you have to pay the employees a lot more than grocery store clerks and managers…