Do you like apples?
by DyingQuail
on Aug 31, 2008 12:21 AM CDT
After Wiggy, Pence, and Blum went yard, the Astros have pulled themselves within four games of the Cardinals. Giving Astros fans everywhere reason to cheer. We may not make the playoffs, but we can, perhaps, ensure that won't be in the bottom half of the NL Central two years in a row.
Tomorrow's match-up features another one of the Cardinals' pitchers who got lucky to start the season and reeled off a few wins, making the mainstream baseball media (read: the "geniuses" on Baseball Tonight) gasp with adulation. Hopefully Todd Wellenmeyer's somehow below 4.00 ERA is balloned over the mark as we tee off on him tomorrow. With "Wandilicious" home-Wandy taking the mound, the Astros could be within three wins of burying the Cardinals in the NL Central basement.
So Tony La Rusa, "How do you like them apples?"
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Interesting enough note from Baseball Prospectus' "Any Given Sunday" column this morning:
Astros closer Jose Valverde has 36 saves this season, and his 83 since the beginning of the 2007 season ranks second in the major leagues in that span behind the 93 of the Angels' Francisco Rodriguez.
I read that and thought, "Huh."
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SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP!!!
We have a good team now.
Too bad it took 3 months to fit the pieces together.
by entropic soul on Aug 31, 2008 12:46 AM CDT 0 recs
Let's not get too
over-the-top here.
Either way though, beating the Cards would be awesome.
by jonthefon on Aug 31, 2008 1:55 AM CDT 0 recs
While it would be nice to beat the Cardinals and not be in the bottom half of the NL Central
…. anything less than at least making the playoffs is a failed season in my opinion…
Go 'Stros!
by Stros Bro on Aug 31, 2008 9:19 AM CDT 0 recs
Then you should have be way more pissed at the Astros then you are.
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.
by DyingQuail on
Aug 31, 2008 10:49 AM CDT
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Nah
I’ve come to grips with this season being a failure for a while… not saying I didn’t have hope that we could get back into this… but the scale has been tipping for quite a while that this season was going to be a failure… it’s just something you have to deal with…
Go 'Stros!
by Stros Bro on
Aug 31, 2008 10:58 AM CDT
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About Valverde
The key to getting a lot of saves is getting a lot of opportunities..
Valverde led baseball with 54 chances last season(blowing 7 of them) and is 2nd in baseball with 42 this season(blowing 6 of them).
I’m not saying that he’s not a good closer by any means(although he did worry me quite often earlier in the season); I’m just saying he benefits from getting more chances than basically any other closer.
Go 'Stros!
by Stros Bro on Aug 31, 2008 11:14 AM CDT 0 recs
speaking of Valverde
I looked at the pics from last night and it looked like he gave his throat slash at the end. With all the anguish and outrage over Villaneuva’s fist pump to his own catcher and the unthinkable untucking of shirts after the game is over, I would think a throat slash would cause some furor.
by ol Pete on
Aug 31, 2008 12:21 PM CDT
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Where does Valverde rank
in blown saves since beginning of 2007? in 2008?
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on
Aug 31, 2008 12:37 PM CDT
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Pretty sure he has the most since 2007
I haven’t found a resource that lets me sort 2 years by blown saves(I haven’t looked real hard), but from looking at the last 2 seasons seperately… it appears he leads everyone with 13.
Gregg from the Marlins leads everyone this season with 9 blown saves
Go 'Stros!
by Stros Bro on
Aug 31, 2008 1:00 PM CDT
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The more save ops you have, the more chances you have to blow a save
It’s a two way street.
I believe Valverde is on the hook for three losses right now. And in the end, that’s really all that matters.
by entropic soul on
Aug 31, 2008 2:37 PM CDT
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I don't think he considers that "move" a throat slash motion, even though it might look like it.
It some sort of “salute” or team unity type thing (based on some superstitious thing that Tejada does in the dugout?)…I can’t recall the story. I’m not much of a fan of that type of stuff anyway, but I am pretty sure it’s not intended as a throat slash and the other players know that…or else there would be more commotion. As for the Villaneuva event, as I said at the time, I don’t think Pujols is the right person to complain. He showboats his HRs as much as anybody, and Rolen jumped on him for doing it after he was particularly flamboyant after a HR he hit against Oliver Perez a couple of years ago.
by clack on
Aug 31, 2008 5:49 PM CDT
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago
|
97 | 64 | .602 | 0 | Lost 4 |
|
Milwaukee
|
90 | 72 | .555 | 7.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Houston
|
86 | 75 | .534 | 11 | Won 1 |
|
St. Louis
|
86 | 76 | .530 | 11.5 | Won 6 |
|
Cincinnati
|
74 | 88 | .456 | 23.5 | Lost 5 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
67 | 95 | .413 | 30.5 | Won 1 |
(updated 1.8.2009 at 4:10 AM CST)
