The All-Star Break is over! The NEW MLB Thread - This half we get stickied for sure!
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Joe said:
That man would be Carlos Hernandez.
He was awesome in 2002, then he got injured.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlbhist/players/gamelog?statsId=6782&year=2002
Or Chris Burke (2B)
22 SB
.314 BA
10 HRs
reggieandTFE
Member
The Cubs' farm system is absolutely stocked with pitchers; I'd rather they trade some prospects away for a consistent spark at the top of the lineup like Lofton gave us last year (but dear God not Lofton he was juicing for his contract last year
).I don't see why people complain so much about Dusty pushing his staff, I think the Cubs have had two or three complete games all year. He's actually depended quite heavily on his bullpen. The problem is that his pitchers (besides Zambrano) try to damn fucking hard for strikeouts all the time. Prior, Clement and Wood can't get out of an inning without at least 20 pitches. The entire staff is filled with flamethrowers and they seem to try to outdo each other; too many walks result.
HOWEVER, I'll take however he wants to run a staff considering the Cubs have the lowest ERA in the majors despite playing a quarter of their games against the highest scoring teams in the league(White Sox and Cardinals.)
Bullshit. Prior might be out the rest of the season and they could definitely crash and fuck-up but at this point the Astros and Cubs are not in the same position (as their having the third best record in the national league has shown). Despite the fact that the Cubs' ridiculous schedule has had them play only teams with winning records since the beginning of june (and until august) and their infield, starting staff and bullpen has been smashed by injuries, the Cubs have scored 10 more runs, given up 50!!! less and they have a higher fielding percentage than the Astros.
Don't try to paint two dissimilar teams with the same underperforming brush.
Strangely, despite the fact the M's lost the last two nights, I'd say they are are a better team and are more fun to watch. In the first half of the season you were so sure nothing would happen when there were guys in scoring position, but now when Bucky and Leone come to the plate you're thinking they could actually hit it out.
Matrix
LeBron loves his girlfriend. There is no other woman in the world hed rather have. The problem is, Dwyanes not a woman.
reggieandTFE said:The Cubs' farm system is absolutely stocked with pitchers; I'd rather they trade some prospects away for a consistent spark at the top of the lineup like Lofton gave us last year (but dear God not Lofton he was juicing for his contract last year
I don't see why people complain so much about Dusty pushing his staff, I think the Cubs have had two or three complete games all year. He's actually depended quite heavily on his bullpen. The problem is that his pitchers (besides Zambrano) try to damn fucking hard for strikeouts all the time. Prior, Clement and Wood can't get out of an inning without at least 20 pitches. The entire staff is filled with flamethrowers and they seem to try to outdo each other; too many walks result.
HOWEVER, I'll take however he wants to run a staff considering the Cubs have the lowest ERA in the majors despite playing a quarter of their games against the highest scoring teams in the league(White Sox and Cardinals.)
Bullshit. Prior might be out the rest of the season and they could definitely crash and fuck-up but at this point the Astros and Cubs are not in the same position (as their having the third best record in the national league has shown). Despite the fact that the Cubs' ridiculous schedule has had them play only teams with winning records since the beginning of june (and until august) and their infield, starting staff and bullpen has been smashed by injuries, the Cubs have scored 10 more runs, given up 50!!! less and they have a higher fielding percentage than the Astros.
Don't try to paint two dissimilar teams with the same underperforming brush.
Stop with your injury bs..the stros have had injuries and are full of a team of old farts.I dont see us making excuses for them cause of this and all you Cubs fans do is pull out the if "we didnt have to play tuff teams,if we didnt have injuries" card...cry me a fucking river.
Both teams are underperfoming and both teams wont win a world series...wake up and smell fucking reality.
You Cub fans have some major issues.If your damn team is as great as you all think it is they shouldnt be so streaky on offense and they shouldnt have the third best record in the nationl league and fighting for the wild card...this is a championship team in your eyes.THe Cubs have always been shit and comparing them to Houston is easy to do...they both never win anything.
D
Deleted member 1159
Unconfirmed Member
^Miguel said:
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This is just like that whole Jason Grimsley for Denny Bautista deal that went down a few weeks ago. Yeah, let's trade a 22-year-old pitching prospect with lots of upside for a mediocre 35-year-old middle reliever! Sometimes I wonder why I bother watching them play.
But then we have Tejada: National Hero.
But then we have Tejada: National Hero.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=240718113
Jays are playing well tonight. I can't wait until the bullpen blows it.
Jays are playing well tonight. I can't wait until the bullpen blows it.
D
Deleted member 1159
Unconfirmed Member
Sigh, nice way to jinx the Birds. At least Mulder got win #13 today, LEADS THE MAJORS BITCH.
July 18, 2004, 11:04PM
A method to Garner's madness
By JOHN LOPEZ
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
THIS is by no stretch Phil Garner's first baseball drama, so he knows when to play the role of Scrap Iron and when to be Dr. Phil, amateur psychologist.
Through the first three games of his Astros managerial career, we certainly have seen more of Dr. Phil.
There has been more analyzing and interpreting. There has been more stroking, encouraging and supporting.
And Sunday, in his effort to get everyone on the same side, everyone pulling in the same direction and not "taking on too much," Garner even wooed the media with a contest.
The rules, sent to the press box by Garner, were simple. Pick a time of day when the Astros would score four runs in an inning. The prize: $100.
You gotta give the man his due. He knows his audience. If Garner tosses in a round of golf, a couple of koozies and some blank receipts, we'll be his for life.
Keep it loose
In the seventh inning of Sunday's sharp 5-3 victory over the Padres, with two runs home and Astros runners on second and third, Garner walked to the top step of the dugout and looked toward the press box "to see who was cheering."
Don't look at me 1:36 p.m. came and went with just a couple of runs across.
The four-run threat was snuffed when Carlos Beltran flied out, which means the 100 bucks remain on the table. So on a personal note, may we offer a bit of positive reinforcement to the boys for tonight's Dodgers opener: Think 7:46 p.m.
Moneyball aside, though, the point is this. Garner won't change the mindset of what was a stagnant team, not to mention a bitter and skeptical throng of fans and media, in one day, three days or even a couple of weeks.
But gradually, if the Astros work on the Garner philosophy for winning "Take a little piece of them home with you," as he puts it things will begin to change.
For now, Garner is playing nice. He's keeping things loose, and there are signs of a relaxed, confident team.
After Sunday's win, clinched with a two-out, two-RBI single by shortstop Adam Everett in the seventh, Everett got the pie-in-the-face treatment during a TV interview, courtesy of bullpen assistant Javier Bracamonte.
"I had nothing to do with that," Garner said, smiling.
Dueling pranks
Before the game, Bracamonte was the victim of a well-executed prank, returning from his bullpen duties to find his street clothes hanging from a hook in his locker like a giant, 5-foot cocoon. Someone had wrapped Bracamonte's clothes with athletic tape.
Take a little piece of them with you. That's the goal, and Garner knows there are several ways to get the message across.
Make the other team work hard on offense and defense. Make every play aggressive. Run as if your hair's on fire.
Roger Clemens' masterful seven-inning, four-hit effort and some nice fielding took care of the defense on this day.
And offensively, what the Astros did to the Padres left Garner feeling good.
It wasn't so much their first double-digit hit total (which included three solo home runs) since July 7. It was that scrappy two-run seventh, which came after the Padres had pulled within a run in the top of the inning, that showed more. Both Astros runs came with two outs, a rarity for this team during what has been a parched stretch at the plate.
What's more, the rally was kept alive with a hustling effort by Craig Biggio. He fought off an inside pitch, broke his bat on a slow chopper, and beat out the throw by Padres third baseman Sean Burroughs.
"It was either turn and get hit in the middle of the back or hit it right here," Biggio said, pointing to a nick on his bat near the grip.
Two pitches after Biggio's hustling effort, Everett slammed a hard single through the hole on the left side. Ballgame.
"We didn't check in after three runs," Garner said. "They scored two, and, bam, we came back."
This one said much about the Astros' beginning to reflect the style Garner hopes to establish. It reaffirmed the approach, perhaps getting things started for the second half of the season.
"I've just talked with them about what I've seen," Garner said. "They were taking in too much. They pushed too hard. They might forget to concentrate on the little things."
Rest assured, there will come days when Garner will do things differently. He will need to take the more direct, Scrap Iron kind of approach.
Either way, Garner promises the big breakout inning is on the way. A four-run effort at, say, 7:46 tonight wouldn't be a bad thing to see happen.
john.lopez@chron.com
A method to Garner's madness
By JOHN LOPEZ
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
THIS is by no stretch Phil Garner's first baseball drama, so he knows when to play the role of Scrap Iron and when to be Dr. Phil, amateur psychologist.
Through the first three games of his Astros managerial career, we certainly have seen more of Dr. Phil.
There has been more analyzing and interpreting. There has been more stroking, encouraging and supporting.
And Sunday, in his effort to get everyone on the same side, everyone pulling in the same direction and not "taking on too much," Garner even wooed the media with a contest.
The rules, sent to the press box by Garner, were simple. Pick a time of day when the Astros would score four runs in an inning. The prize: $100.
You gotta give the man his due. He knows his audience. If Garner tosses in a round of golf, a couple of koozies and some blank receipts, we'll be his for life.
Keep it loose
In the seventh inning of Sunday's sharp 5-3 victory over the Padres, with two runs home and Astros runners on second and third, Garner walked to the top step of the dugout and looked toward the press box "to see who was cheering."
Don't look at me 1:36 p.m. came and went with just a couple of runs across.
The four-run threat was snuffed when Carlos Beltran flied out, which means the 100 bucks remain on the table. So on a personal note, may we offer a bit of positive reinforcement to the boys for tonight's Dodgers opener: Think 7:46 p.m.
Moneyball aside, though, the point is this. Garner won't change the mindset of what was a stagnant team, not to mention a bitter and skeptical throng of fans and media, in one day, three days or even a couple of weeks.
But gradually, if the Astros work on the Garner philosophy for winning "Take a little piece of them home with you," as he puts it things will begin to change.
For now, Garner is playing nice. He's keeping things loose, and there are signs of a relaxed, confident team.
After Sunday's win, clinched with a two-out, two-RBI single by shortstop Adam Everett in the seventh, Everett got the pie-in-the-face treatment during a TV interview, courtesy of bullpen assistant Javier Bracamonte.
"I had nothing to do with that," Garner said, smiling.
Dueling pranks
Before the game, Bracamonte was the victim of a well-executed prank, returning from his bullpen duties to find his street clothes hanging from a hook in his locker like a giant, 5-foot cocoon. Someone had wrapped Bracamonte's clothes with athletic tape.
Take a little piece of them with you. That's the goal, and Garner knows there are several ways to get the message across.
Make the other team work hard on offense and defense. Make every play aggressive. Run as if your hair's on fire.
Roger Clemens' masterful seven-inning, four-hit effort and some nice fielding took care of the defense on this day.
And offensively, what the Astros did to the Padres left Garner feeling good.
It wasn't so much their first double-digit hit total (which included three solo home runs) since July 7. It was that scrappy two-run seventh, which came after the Padres had pulled within a run in the top of the inning, that showed more. Both Astros runs came with two outs, a rarity for this team during what has been a parched stretch at the plate.
What's more, the rally was kept alive with a hustling effort by Craig Biggio. He fought off an inside pitch, broke his bat on a slow chopper, and beat out the throw by Padres third baseman Sean Burroughs.
"It was either turn and get hit in the middle of the back or hit it right here," Biggio said, pointing to a nick on his bat near the grip.
Two pitches after Biggio's hustling effort, Everett slammed a hard single through the hole on the left side. Ballgame.
"We didn't check in after three runs," Garner said. "They scored two, and, bam, we came back."
This one said much about the Astros' beginning to reflect the style Garner hopes to establish. It reaffirmed the approach, perhaps getting things started for the second half of the season.
"I've just talked with them about what I've seen," Garner said. "They were taking in too much. They pushed too hard. They might forget to concentrate on the little things."
Rest assured, there will come days when Garner will do things differently. He will need to take the more direct, Scrap Iron kind of approach.
Either way, Garner promises the big breakout inning is on the way. A four-run effort at, say, 7:46 tonight wouldn't be a bad thing to see happen.
john.lopez@chron.com
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