The Crawfish Boxes: FanPosts

I know this is old but what do you think about the draft the Stros had?

buse — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:42:15 -0000

I personally love the Jason Castro pick. And I know I am going to get heat for this but I like Ed Wade and Bobby Heck and the way this year is going I know we are going to have a top 10 draft pick again but that doesnt bother me as long has we get some good playerrs then it'll be fine. But I want to hear want yall have to say. And I have one more question are there any international prospects out there we will sign?

Switch Pitching?

Stros Bro — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:27:50 -0000

This is very interesting... and kind of crazy. We all know about switch hitters and have heard of pitchers who have hurt their arm and eventually became pitchers with the other arm(Billy Wagner), but I've never heard of a pitcher that was good enough with either hand to be able to pitch effectively with both... until now.

Link

Venditte, the 20th-round pick of the New York Yankees in this June's Draft, received national attention after making his debut with the Staten Island Yankees June 19. With two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the ninth inning, switch-hitter Ralph Henriquez came to the plate representing the Brooklyn Cyclones' last hope. What resulted was a moment of high comedy: Henriquez entered the batters box batting right-handed, so Venditte switched his glove to his left hand. Henriquez then decided to bat lefty, so Venditte switched his glove back to his right.

And on and on it went. After a prolonged delay, Henriquez was ordered to bat right-handed. He then struck out on four pitches to end the ballgame.

Villareal and Quintero Out, Borkowski and Towles Join the Astros

entropic soul — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:45:51 -0000

Looks like management has seen enough of Oscar Villareal in an Astros uniform. At least for the time being. He's been designated for assignment and Dave Borkowski has been called up to take his place.

You can read about it right here.

We all know Villareal sucked, so I won't go into his stats here. Borkowski sucked too... at least while he was with the Astros this year. So what about his performance in Round Rock? Not too shabby. He started one game and got the win by pitching 5 shut out innings. He took one loss as a reliever in 11 appearances and gave up 5 runs. Those runs were given up in four games so he has seven scoreless appearances as a reliever, twice going more than 1 inning.

As for Quintero (if you didn't see last night's game,) he was hit in the head by a swing by one of the Dodgers batters. He fell to the ground and it looked like if may have knocked him out for a minute. He was eventually helped off the field and will spend the next 15 days on the disabled list.

J.R. Towles, of course, is taking his place. You might argue that he sucked even more than Villareal last time he was here, striking out just about every time he had the bat. He gets another chance starting tonight. He had an OPS of .954 in AAA with a few home runs recently and an On Base Percentage of .380. So maybe that will translate to something decent in the 8 spot.

Oh, and if you haven't heard, Lance will take part in this year's home run derby.

where is our international prospect (IFA)??

HubertL — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:37:55 -0000

anyone remember that we had a tryout camp at Latin America and it reported that astros vow to sign at least 1 or 2 top prospects (1M+ signing bonus).

A's sign the top arm Inoa for 4.2M out-dule Reds(5M) and Rangers(5.25M) with better player development plan. Yankee fire their vice president of international operations because they fail to get Inoa(not offering 6M?? lol).

Learn quickly please, McLane! Astros always react slowly, take 5 year to figure out the price tag of Ace(after 5 years RJ gone then they know they should give big money to Oswalt); take 2 year to figure out the slugger's price tag (Beltran gone then paid to Lee).

Wake up!! No longer premium prospects for couple thousands, the world is changing quickly.

Padres are never a generous team on both payroll and draft, but you know what? They plan to spread 8.5M+ on international free agents signing this year.

Reds also pushing hard in IFA, don't surprise if they spent more than 5M this year on that.

We used to be good at IFA digging, but we are falling behind in this decade.

Debating the Astros Line-Up

Stephen Higdon — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:19:02 -0000

Reading through Crawfishboxes yesterday inspired me to use the Baseball Musings Line-Up Tool to see what it would say about how the Astros could optimize their line-up for run production. While I feel the results are by no means the final say or necessarily the best way to maximize productivity, the tool provided some interesting results and also some very entertaining ways to make the line-up as inefficent as possible.

To See the results and some commentary on them, click here

Half Way - The 2008 Astros' past, present, and future.

Stephen Higdon — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:15:34 -0000

So, the Astros are, "HALF WAY!!" plus one, through their 2008 season. My question is, should this inspire fear or determination in us? Let's take stock of our present and then disect the past, to discuss the future.

Click here for a detailed analysis of the 2008 Astros first 81 games, which we use to see what we should expect from the next 81 games. The quick summary: A marginally better offense (but no repeat of May), but probably some noteworthy improvements in the pitching. Remember, click here to find why.

The NL Needs the DH

BSmitty — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:14:59 -0000

A number of current MLB controversies have made it clear that the game is moving forward into a new era. One fan tries to find the best balance between past and present.

From http://www.splicetoday.com/sports/the-nl-needs-the-dh

Baseball is an exhilarating yet frustrating mess of contradictions, and this fan is caught in the trap—like millions of other men and women (save George Will, whose pompous moral certitude about the sport is immutable)—of trying to reconcile “purist” instincts with the undeniable improvements in the game over the past several decades. Last weekend, for example, while watching a slew of inter-league contests via the MLB “Extra Innings” package (which, regardless of varying prices depending on your locale and cable provider, costs less for an entire season of televised games than one day at a stadium for a family of four), I finally switched gears and figured it was time for the National League to acquiesce and adopt the still-controversial designated hitter rule.

Heresy, I guess, but what the hell; if you’re a Milwaukee Brewers’ devotee, wouldn’t it be delightful to see the world’s tubbiest vegetarian, Prince Fielder, in the dugout, contemplating his next plate appearance, instead of anchored at first base? One league’s dominance over the other usually runs in cycles, but the N.L. seems mired in a slump that’s likely to run longer than the Great Depression, and this was evident once again over the weekend. Sure, the strategy required of an N.L. manager is more intricate than A.L. counterparts with double-switches and more sacrifice bunts, but the two leagues might be more competitive if older free agents (or crummy fielders) could extend their careers as a DH.

That said, and here’s one of those curveballs, I can’t stand inter-league play, even though it pumps up attendance and allows fans to see star players who were once a mystery aside from the All-Star game (which, of course, has devolved into a meaningless exhibition game instead of a proud showcase) or the World Series. My 13-year-old son, with whom I have the pleasure of sitting next to in our matching easy chairs in the homestead’s television room, adamantly disagrees, but I chalk that up to his participation in a fantasy league with a bunch of school buddies. I just don’t like the disruption of the season’s rhythm, the fake “rivalries” cooked up by MLB schedule makers—sure, the Cubs and White Sox make sense, but the Rockies and Tigers?—for the sake of novelty and profit.

See the rest at http://www.splicetoday.com/sports/the-nl-needs-the-dh

Best Bench in National League?

pel — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:12:14 -0000

Who has the best bench in the National League? I was thinking that we should be high up on the list given Erstad and Loretta, two former all-stars (& gold glover, to boot).

Blum has an average I frown upon, but he does seem to periodically provide a clutch run in key situations.

Newhan's still too, *ahem* new, for me to form an opinion, and I'm not quite sure what to make of Abercrombie. Reggie certainly fulfilled his roll with the solo homer this past series, although his outing as a starter in one of the Rays games was not that great.

Post-Interleague, Pre-AllStar Schedules

pel — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:39:00 -0000

Cheer up guys, it's Monday!

Although we've not made it to the all star break yet, we're officially into the second half of the season, as 82 games have been played with 80 to go.

Some things to be happy about:

We're 3-0 in the last three series against arguably some of the best talent the American League has to offer. I may be giving too many props to the Rangers there, but they can be devastating against teams who don't produce runs when they're needed.
We're within four games of .500 and improved to "only" 10 back of Cubs
The schedule going into the All Star break could go in our favor

Scheduling wise, we have two positive series to potentially look forward to taking 2 of 3 from (@Pirates and @Nats), one to break even or take 3 of 4 on (Dodgers), and one to probably lose (@Braves). I'd say that's a decent schedule to work with for the next 13 games. Idealistically, I'd like to see our record at 47-48 going into the All Star break.

The Cubs are demonstrating early signs of their 2nd half collapse by not being able to break their difficulty with road games. Their last two series were against the Orioles and White Sox, which were lost 1-3 and 0-3, respectively. The Cubs are at a crossroads and need to start taking series on the roads if they want to cement their lead of the division.

I happen to think the opposite will happen, and they will start losing games at home. The law of averages, if nothing else, tells us that.

Regardless, they face the Giants on the road this week for four games, followed by the Cardinals at St. Louis. Having those two teams duke it out can only help our division standing. They finish with the Giants and Reds at Wrigley, which may be good for them, but could also call into question their Wrigley staying power if any of those home series are lost.

The Cardinals face the Mets at home, followed by the aforementioned Cubs at home, and then face the Phillies and Pirates on the road. The Phillies series should be challenging for them, the Pirates series beneficial to them, and I have no idea how if they'll be challenged by the Mets or not. In any case, their (Cards) performance should give us an insight on their sturdiness for the next couple months.

To summarize: Our scheduling for the next few series should only help us. The Cubs -may- move up slower in the wins column than we move up. The Cards will help keep the Cubs down (to our benefit) and coupled with Phillies contest, move up slower than we move up.

Hopefully. Maybe. With my rose-colored glasses and Pollyanna wig on.

J.R. Towles update

exit53 — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:28:10 -0000

hadn't heard too much lately about Towles, so I thought I'd check in on his Round Rock stats and post them up here. not too bad - not too great - but the average is quite better than the non-average earlier this season with the Astros, and a good SLG and OBP.

AVG: .275

OBP: .393

SLG: .510

AB: 51

H: 14

R: 12

2B: 3

HR: 3

RBI: 9

SB: 3

E: 1

Dodgers Win... without a hit

Stros Bro — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:10:31 -0000

It's true, last night the Dodgers beat the Angels 1-0 and failed to record a hit the entire game.

The Dodgers have been trying to win without hitting all year and Saturday night they literally did.

They were held hitless by Angels starter Jered Weaver and reliever Jose Arredondo, but recorded a 1-0 win anyway with an unearned run in the fifth inning. It was only the fifth time since 1900 a Major League team won a game without a hit.

Although by MLB rules it doesn't officially qualify as a no-hitter because the Angels didn't pitch nine innings, it was the first time the Dodgers were no-hit since Kent Mercker and Atlanta, April 8, 1994; the first time a Dodgers team won a game without a hit and the first time any team won a game without a hit since 1992, when the Indians beat Boston and former Dodgers pitcher Matt Young.

Source

Pretty crazy stuff...

Back to the Future Lineup

lnewcomer — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:02:41 -0000

Pence jumps back to the 2 spot and Tejada drops to 5. Berkman and Lee at 3 and 4 respectively.

http://blogs.chron.com/unofficialscorer/2008/06/astros_make_major_lineup_chang.html

Random manager quote generator-speak from Cecil Cooper regarding the change:

"I think they're all pretty much interchangeable," said Cecil Cooper, who pulls the trigger on the move following a stretch of scoring 40 runs in 13 games. "They've all hit 5, 4, 3. Except for Lance having a little bit higher on-base percentage; that's the only difference."

Following the last shake-up, the Astros embarked on a 25-game stretch of going 18-7 and hitting .280, averaging 5.7 runs per game.

"It was just a change; sometimes you have to change things," Cooper said.
"Maybe we'll get jump-started again."

Vacation

Stros Bro — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:01:25 -0000

If anyone cares, I will be going on vacation for a few days to San Antonio and will be without internet. I am leaving on Monday and should be back some time on Wednesday.

I will schedule the game threads to post before the games for the days I will be missing, so I doubt you'll even notice I'm gone.

Hopefully my absence will boost the Astros chances of winning. It couldn't hurt..

Albers has labrum tear

mokulen — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:55:32 -0000

A magnetic resonance imaging test taken on Matt Albers' right shoulder has revealed a tear in his labrum.

The key losses in the Tejada trade were Patton and Albers and now they're both done for the season with labrum tears. Isn't it extremely difficult to come back from that? Tejada has been terrible recently and I'm still hopeful he rebounds - but even if he continues to seriously decine, at least it's good to know the Astros gave up very little to get him!

Gameday, now in "3D"

AstroAndy — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:58:01 -0000

Hate to distract from all the Chacon business, but it looks like Gameday is in 3-D now.

Check it out.

Zoom in, zoom out, rotate the field any which way. Of course, the players still look like cartoons, but I like that they're trying to bring more of the feel of the game to Gameday...as someone who only gets an Audio subscription, maybe it'll take the experience to the next level.

What do you think? Better or Worse?

On a Rant

TBurford — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:21:52 -0000

I was going to do my usual ‘Things that worry me…’ but I realized that just about everything the Astros do worries me now. They are poorly owned, poorly led, lacking talent, and apparently void of self control in some situations.

The Owner…It all starts at the top with Drayton McLane. McLane is one of the worst owners in baseball. He cannot see beyond the end of his nose as to what to do to help the Astros win. He will pay Carlos Lee 100 million dollars but not spend 10 bucks on player development. The Astros system is void of talent that can help the team in the next couple years. Of course Drayton could never envision trading high end players to try and bolster the minor league system. He would rather keep these guys so that when the Astros finally do have something coming out of the system today’s stars will be to old to contribute at their present levels. So McLane will continue lying to his fans and saying the Astros are going to compete so he can try and keep fans in the seats and keep the money coming. He is not smart enough to see that if told us the team was going to rebuild we would still go. Instead he lies to us and pisses us off.

The GM…Well I think after last nights incident we can see how well he treats his players. How come none of the players said that what Chacon did was wrong? Do they all like Wade as much as Chacon? Of course Wade’s philosophy of a strong bullpen has worked real well. So what if there is no lead to protect. Why spend the money just to spend the money? I would never condone Chacon’s actions but I will say I am a little jealous I can’t punch Wade.

The Manager… Cecil Cooper seems to coach with a philosophy of it has always been done that way so we are going to do it that way. When you are down by one run in the eighth, with no outs, a guy on first, you should have Michael Bourn bunt. Let’s just ignore the fact that all the numbers say you have a better chance to score with a guy on first and no outs than a guy on second and one out – even if the bunt had been successful. Yes there are ways the situation could have turned out worse but not many. Do you really think you are going to hit into a double play with Michael Bourn running? Cooper needs to try and learn about the game he is coaching.

The Players…I really can’t get down on these guys too much. They are playing up to – down to? – their talent level. There are not enough quality arms for the Astros to complete right now no matter how well Berkman and the others can hit.

The Fans – I was at the game last night when Erstad was on first, Bourn hitting, no outs, and the Astros down by one. The fans beyond the right field fence were trying to start the wave. Not cheering for the Astros, not giving it to the opposing pitcher, or trying to pump Bourn up. They were trying to start the wave. As I not so quietly noted this I was told to stop being a ‘sourpuss’. I was too surprised to even respond. This is a tight game with building excitement and a chance for your team to try and win. But by mentioning that I wanted to see this I was a ‘sourpuss’. Would you even see something like this in a first class baseball town? Would Cardinal fans be doing anything but losing their minds and their voices for their team in that situation? Would Red Sox Nation not be shaking the pillars of Fenway? But Astros fans are performing a ritual that was cool in Chavez Ravine in 1984. Way to support your team Astros fans.

At this point you can see that I am frustrated with just about everything Astros’. Unfortunately I can only see losing seasons for the next 5-7 years unless serious changes are made. At least the fans will have the wave down.

Astros/Red Sox tickets

exit53 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:30:17 -0000

Unfortunately for me I've been sick all week, yet I have tickets to the series this weekend. I've been able to get rid of all but Saturday's tickets. Mind you they aren't great seats, but they are seats nonetheless to a sold out game - and I'm not selling them above face value.

So if anyone is interested, let me know. The big kicker is that I live in Austin, so I would imagine you as well would have to live in Austin if you wanted them. They are 2 tickets in view deck I tix; section 413. Drop me a line if you are interested. Sorry for making this a fanpost, just thought someone here might be interested.

Chacon suspended indefinitely

exit53 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:24:57 -0000

And that's all I know... I think that's all that's been said, actually...

I assume it has to do with his attitude and reaction to demotion to the bullpen... Come on Shawn, seriously. Something else must have happened/been said that we don't know about. Thoughts?

I can't find any other information on the net about this; I'm going by what Brownie just said in the game. Anyone know anything else/have any story links?

From Chron.com, here

According Chacon, he was in the lunch room after batting practice when Cooper asked him to join him in his office.

“And I said, 'what do you want to speak to me about?'” Chacon said. “He said, ‘we just want to talk to you.’ I said, ‘anything you can say you can say to me right here. I don’t want to go to the office. He looked at me and I said there’s nothing for me to say to you guys.’ And I don’t think whatever they had to say to me they were going to make me happy. I didn’t want to get in a closed-room conversation. I just wanted to be left alone.

“I sat down to eat and Ed Wade came to me and very sternly said, ‘you need to come with me to the office.’ I said ‘for what?’ I said 'I don’t want to go to the office with you and Cooper.’ And I said ‘You can tell me whatever you got to tell me right here.’ He’s like, ‘oh, you want me to tell you right here?' And I said, ‘yeah.’ I’m not yelling. I’m calm.”

It deteriorated quickly afterward, according to Chacon.

“He started yelling and cussing," Chacon said of Wade. "I’m sitting there and I said to him very calmly, ‘Ed, you need to stop yelling me. Then I stood up and said 'you better stop yelling at me.' I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling and stuff and was like, ‘You need to (expletive) look in the mirror.’ So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him because at that point I wanted to beat his (butt). Words were exchanged.”

Matsui sent to DL

entropic soul — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:55:22 -0000

Dammit.

He's been pretty good for us. I hate losing him... especially the second time around. David Newhan has been called up to take his place... But Loretta will most likely take over 2nd base duties for awhile, I think. Of course, not every day, but I expect him to play the most. This most likely puts Pence in the 2nd spot. I guess we'll get to see how the line-up change will help us.

Of course.. this still doesn't answer the question on who will leave the team now that Hernadez is going to be called up soon. I guess we'll see.

Here's the article.

R.I.P. George Carlin...and recall his tribute to baseball

clack — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:04:52 -0000

Link As most of you know, comedian George Carlin died. I am a big fan of Carlin's humor. Unlike a lot of comedians, he was not a "flash in the pan" or a passing fad. He was a symbol of the tumultuous 70's. But in each subsequent decade, he continued to be one of the great comedians for succeeding generations. I remember seeing him on stage at the Paramount Theater in Austin during the late 1980s. One reason for his enduring appeal was his ability to dissect language and social customs with his humor. Carlin had one of the great all time monologues about baseball. (So, I am getting around to the subject of this web site.)

A search produced the linked web site which has Carlin's complete monologue on Baseball. The most frequently remembered part of this monologue is the way Carlin contrasts football and baseball, with his style of delivery making clear his preference for the social implications of baseball. Here are a few parts of that monologue:

Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game.	Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.
Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park. The baseball park!	Football is played on a GRIDIRON, in a STADIUM, sometimes called SOLDIER FIELD or WAR MEMORIAL STADIUM.
Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.	Football begins in the fall, when everything is dying.
In football you wear a helmet	In baseball you wear a cap.

Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting, and unnecessary roughness.

Baseball has the sacrifice.

Baseball has the seventh-inning stretch.	Football has the two-minute warning
Baseball has no time limit: "We don't know when it's gonna end!"	Football is rigidly timed, and it will end "even if we have to go to sudden death."

In football, the object is for the quarterback, otherwise known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his recievers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use the shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.

In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! "I hope I'll be safe at home!"