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10/10/11: It Was 50 Years Ago Today – Colt 45s Begin

Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times talks all about The Good Ol Days. Check it out.

Double dip of playoff games today!!!!!

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 10th, 2011 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Astros baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

26 Responses to “10/10/11: It Was 50 Years Ago Today – Colt 45s Begin”

  1. Eric says:
    October 11, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    Crane met with Bud the Dud..

    http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/10/10/jim-crane-has-constructive-meeting-with-bud-selig/

    Just wish Crane’s deal would get rejected and Drayton lowers the sale price of the Astros to a more reasonable level for a more palatable owner to take over. It seems that the Nov 15-16 owner meeting will be where it is either accepted or rejected. Although I’d expect rejection to be the more likely conclusion to all that, especially as you and Becky said..after the McCourt fiasco.

    Eric

  2. Eric says:
    October 11, 2011 at 7:23 pm

    Annnnnnd…my dad was part of the Colt. 45 organization when it started out. He showed me the old spring training home of the .45′s which was in Georgia. It’s through him that I got to meet Tal Smith..I’ve visited him a few times – even at his office in the Galleria for Tal Smith Enterprises.

    Got to meet him at spring training in Kissimmee as well a few years ago. Dad is also the one who pointed me towards the book “Moneyball”

    This year was actually the first year that me and dad didn’t go to Houston to take in a three game homestand by the Astros in the last few years. We normally stayed at the Magnolia down the street from MMP. He also told me that the hotel where he and Mom stayed at for their honeymoon is a little further down the street. Both are UH alumni by the way and I’m a Bellaire native as is everyone else in the family except Dad..he’s a PA native. (boo Steelers and Pirates)

  3. Becky says:
    October 11, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    Eric-Did you check your pockets after you met Tal Smith? He’s the biggest leach of a man I’ve EVER seen. Few people realize it’s Tal Smith who has been “running” this team, for awhile now. Drayton listens to ONLY him, which is
    exactly why they are in the shape they are in.

  4. Lisa Gray says:
    October 11, 2011 at 9:41 pm

    eric

    we can only hope for crane to be rejected. i keep praying he gets caught – as the old expression goes – with a dead grrrl or live boy. the stuff about the sale price elevating franchise values stinks with the same stench as the baloon real estate market with mortgages built on nothing but repackaged debt

    i understand why you and your dad wouldn’t waste time/money coming to hosuton to watch AAA ball – especially after bourn, kepp and pence got traded.

    and as i keep saying – if crane sells us out to the DH league, that will be the instant and permanent end of my astros fandom. (and NO i am not rooting for the nolan ryans – seeing as how he likes to take credit for everything done by everyone else before he came there)

    becky

    no one pays the least attention to tal smith – and i have absolutely NO idea why drayton jumps when tal says BOO. wouldn’t be even a little surprised if gerry leaving also had a lot to do with tal. hopefully, both he and milo are GONE when we get a new owner

  5. Eric says:
    October 12, 2011 at 10:31 am

    While I won’t make any comments on Tal Smith..after all, my father and him are friends…I know that I wouldn’t root for the Astros if they got shipped off to the AL. I can’t stomach the pansy DH rule.

    It’s where they put players who still can hit..but can’t field worth a lick.

    Wait that sounds like Carlos Lee. *rimshot*

    But if you really wanted to know, yeah everything was still in my pockets, Becky. =D

  6. Eric says:
    October 12, 2011 at 10:33 am

    On a side note..the rain was nice…while it lasted. It wouldn’t hurt to rain SOME MORE, Please God. Oh please.

  7. Neil says:
    October 12, 2011 at 11:06 am

    I don’t know why the DH is so bad. I used to be completely against it because baseball has come to be about tradition, but now that I design games for a living, I can better appreciate the benefits of the DH to the game. I think the DH is better than having an excitement-killing easy out or boring bunt attempts almost every time the 9 spot comes up. Not to mention a jacket-wearing station-to-station guy on the bases who is (rightly) more concerned with not hurting himself or getting too winded than about being a good baserunner.

    “Strategy”? There is less of it, because pitchers give you fewer options and fewer decisions to make. Swing away in a bunt situation? Nope. Put on a hit a run? Nope. Steal? No. The opposing pitcher also has fewer decisions to make. Pitch around or nibble? No. IBB? No. Defensive positioning? Standard.

    I do think that good-hitting pitchers should have some reason to hit, though, perhaps starting out with a 1-0 count or similar if you use them instead of a DH.

    I’m also for computerized calling of balls and strikes. I think the game should be about how the players perform, not how the umpires perform. Take that, tradition.

  8. Becky says:
    October 12, 2011 at 10:06 pm

    Lisa….I’d like the Astros to make a move for Maholm, if the Pirates don’t resign him. What do you think??? We *need* another lefty, and he’s only 29yrs old.

  9. Lisa Gray says:
    October 13, 2011 at 12:13 am

    becky

    maholm is not worth any 9.5 mill but i sure would LUUUVVV to pick him up. trouble is that there are not real too many FA pitchers available and plenty of other clubs will offer him more than we will. and if the horrid rumors abot crane gonnja get OKd in nov if he signs an agreement to move to the AL, , well, we DEFINITELY are not signing him because cane said no FA. and if what i’ve heard is right, he’s dumping wandy and his 10 mill, too.

    maybe we’lll FINALLY be able to beat the 63 mets

  10. Billy says:
    October 13, 2011 at 10:09 am

    2011 has been a memorable year for the Astros that I really want to forget. Maybe Pam will wake up while I’m in the shower and tell me about a weird dream she had with Jim Crane, Bud Selig and realignment to the AL.

    The last people given any consideration concerning the disposition/dismantling of the Astros are the fans. I can’t let that slide. Moving us from the West to the Central was a much I could stand.

  11. Lisa Gray says:
    October 13, 2011 at 2:36 pm

    i just don’t know what to say – bud selig is gonna get his wish to turn the leagues into only 1 league and he’s doing it with a team with the fewest fans except the rays and they already in the fake league

    i wouldn’t be an AL astros fan if they turned into the best team in the majors every year. heck will freeze before i would ever root for an AL team

  12. Anonymous says:
    October 13, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    Even with the uproar over Gammons’ tweet yesterday, there was still no coverage in the Chronicle today about the possible sale and move to the A.L. Wouldn’t you think there would be stories interviewing some fans to see what they think about the move? Instead, nothing. The Chronicle has turned into garbage.

  13. Lisa Gray says:
    October 13, 2011 at 7:21 pm

    the chron is not interviewing fans because the comments/emails have been running like 100-1 against the move to the AL and they don’t want that published. same reason they quit letting fans on the radio talk about it

    i can’t get anyone to confirm the sale or the move – so we’ll have to see. but all i can think is that buddy boy just figures it won’t be so terrible to have yet another crappy worthless franchise which is what the astros will be with crane and the AL

  14. Anonymous says:
    October 13, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    The Houston media has been awful. It’s almost as if Crane is paying people not to write stories. The Chronicle had a whole library of previous Crane coverage, but then they didn’t even mention any of it when Crane was announced as the buyer. What kind of newspaper is that? Most papers would have been congratulating themselves for their prior reporting, but the Chronicle went out of its way to ignore it.

    Now, yesterday, all of baseball was talking about the Astros, the sale, the A.L. West, etc., and the Chron doesn’t even run a story. Unbelievable.

  15. Lisa Gray says:
    October 13, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    ann

    maybe crane owns a large chunk of chron stock – but it STILL doesn’t explain the silence from all the radio guys. and all i can say is that after seeing all this – i do NOT want to hear the media guys screeching about steroids when they had it under their noses and they were too damm lazy to investigate, and too damm cowardly to speak up

    eric

    yeah i know what you mean. TLR and the careds getting Rings too is collateral damage i guess

    and i’d like to see latroy hawkins get a Ring too – the brotha has been a good soldier for years and i’d like to see him finally get one

    but i’d root for a central team over a DH team anyday. except the c*bs – just do NOT kno what i’d do there. hopefully i’ll never have to worry about it…

  16. F. Allain says:
    October 14, 2011 at 10:28 am

    Lisa,

    Eddie Ewards the former Governor of this state was the guy who made the “dead girl or live boy” quote many years ago when he explained how he could be in trouble.

  17. Eric says:
    October 14, 2011 at 5:59 pm

    If Selig wants a team in the AL to balance the teams..Milwaukee should go back. AFTER all, they were originally from the AL !

    Their brand of baseball would fit in very well in the AL anyway.

    Eric

  18. Lisa Gray says:
    October 14, 2011 at 9:52 pm

    eddie edwards – i thought i recognized the name – spent 10 years in federal slammer for major serious fraud/money laundering/corruption – and now he has supporters who want him to run for governor again at age 80

    and folks grouse about tejas???!!

    eric

    buddy boy
    1 – doesn’t want his team in the AL ???!!! for all his DH worship
    2 – has this bizarre fantasy that he can create a yankees/red sox type rivalry between houston and dallas

    sigh

  19. Eric says:
    October 15, 2011 at 3:52 am

    There’s a rivalry between the Astros and Rangers ? I always thought the Silver Boot “rivalry”was kinda…forced.

    I just don’t see any of the emotion normally associated with Yankees/Red Sox or even Duke/North Carolina. Or for the matter, UT/Oklahoma.

  20. Lisa Gray says:
    October 15, 2011 at 10:44 am

    eric

    i hear tell that bud selig thinks it is right THERE just waiting to bubble up. i mean dallas and houston have these seriuos rivalries
    - in hoops: rockets vs mavs.
    - in football: cowboys vs oilers/texans:
    - in soccer: the whoevers vs whatsis
    - in WNBA: oh yeah, there aren’t teams any more

    it’s just a convenient excuse to force the astros into the AL

    and by the way, speaking of AL, i hear that jim crane really HAS agreed to move the astros into the AL as a condition of him being approved as owner – that is true. but what isn’t true is that he WILL be approved fer sher because of the obvious money problem

    but like i said, if they go, i go. and so do most astros fans, not that crane cares one bit

  21. Becky says:
    October 15, 2011 at 12:22 pm

    Lisa…….you’re REALLY FOR SURE, Jim Crane has said he WILL move to the AL?????? Oh my GOD! I thought it was “just rumors”. WHERE or WHO told you that? This is MAJOR NEWS. The rest of us are hearing there has been no talk
    of anything for SURE. I’m really p!ssed off now. Becky grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

  22. Anonymous says:
    October 15, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    Jim Crane has made it perfectly clear that he’ll move the Astros as long as he gets paid to do it (and he may move them just to get approved). I can’t believe there are people online and on the radio who seem to think Crane is fighting the good fight. His recent interviews were as clear as could be: I’ll move, but I want to get paid. His deal is so debt-heavy that he’d probably move the Astros into the WNBA if the payoff was high enough.

  23. Eric says:
    October 15, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    - in hoops: rockets vs mavs. Tepid at best compared to LA/Boston. Although I know us Rocket fans hate Cuban with a passion for his screwing over Yao with his whining.
    - in football: cowboys vs oilers/texans: THe last time there was any resemblance of a rivalry was back in when Bum Phillips was coach and the Luv Ya Blue fad was in full blown mode. But the Oilers had a more fierce rivalry with the Steelers than they ever did with the Cowboys even back then. Largely because they were in the same NFL division – the AFC Central back then. Although Earl Campbell running over the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day is still a fond memory.
    - in soccer: the whoevers vs whatsis I don’t follow soccer either.
    - in WNBA: oh yeah, there aren’t teams any more What rivalry ? Heh.

    So what are the odds of Crane becoming McCourt v2 if the deal goes through ?

    Eric

  24. lisa gray says:
    October 15, 2011 at 9:59 pm

    becky,

    it’s true unfortunately – i got it from a really good source. crane HAS agreed to move the team IF he gets approved. ann is right about the compensation thingy.

    however, crane getting approved is NOT yet fer sher because bud is going to have another headache on his hands with another owner with minimal to no resources and no partners. AND a bad team/bad farm and a fan base that is rapidly srinking and will shrink a LOT further as soon as the astros are flushed into the crap league. crane don’t care – he’s looking forward to getting his 30+ mill a year for stinking – just like the pirates/royals/marlins

    eric

    i disremember luv ya blue – too young, i DO remember warren moon – teh HOTTTTT. not sure if that was the luv y blue era or if you are talking ken stabler and i think that was before i was born…

    i don’t know any native houstonians who are cowboys fans – out of the closet ones anyhow. or who care about them real too particular much

    poor earl campbell – he suffering BIG time with arthritis these days

    mccourt took a viable franchise, stole – uh, removed all of its assets, borrowed heavily against them – and he had only borrowed money to begin with. crane, best i understand, still has another 75 mill of his own if the sale goes through.

    the astros don’t OWN the stadium/parking lots/tickets the way the dodgers did so crane can’t get into that. i am sure that crane can easily worsen the franchise while rceiving his welfare payments – if he’s content with the 30 mill a year. trouble with mccourt is that he and jamie were terminally greedy and goodness knows how long the looting would have gone on if frank stupidly idn’t decide to divorce her – he’s an IDIOT – did he really think it wouldn’t all instantly go on the intranets???

    i would say that itis most likely that the crane owned astros will turn into another low payroll chronic loser team – think the mcclatchy/nutting pirates. or even the marlins. you can lose 100+ games every year and still make plenty of money being the yankees punching bag

    if crane gets this team, well, it means the astros are going to the AL and i’m one of the fans who will say byby without so much as a backward glance. as far as i’m concerne, texas doesn’t HAVE any baseball team.

  25. Anonymous says:
    October 16, 2011 at 12:30 am

    Lisa — There’s a lot of bad news in your last comment, but the part about Crane still not being guaranteed approval seemed like a bright spot. I hope your source was right about that. I’ve been figuring that as long as Crane does whatever Bud wants, he’ll get approved and be allowed to use the Astros like an ATM. I hope MLB looks at McCourt, looks at the Wilpons, and looks at Crane’s huge pile of debt — $350 million! — and says no.

  26. Lisa Gray says:
    October 16, 2011 at 9:22 pm

    ann,

    i am also hoping that bud is unhappy enough about the debt load that he will put that ahead of his endless desire to destroy the astros

    bruce

    if i was GM i would do all KINDS of things that would make buddy boy unhappy and we’d both be in the shtt

    eric

    starting pitching has been absolutely AWFUL in the playoffs this year, uncle, naturally, is KILLING the ball

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