You got that right!! Are the cubbies fans in chi town worried Shagia?
They're trying to fake it, but I can see through it. They know their team's history too well not to be worried. Any word on where the Cubs-Stros series is going to be played? My dad said he heard something about St. Louis, which would be better for us than Chi-town, for sure.
They scrapped the idea of playing anywhere else for now. It all depends if they can play on Sunday and just double header on monday. I hope thats what happens and we can continue to own them this year. Stupid Cubs wanted to play in Milwaukee, that last time the cubs played there it was like 50% cubs fans and if that happened it would be 99% cubs fans.
Yeah, that was my thought too. At least in St. Louis we'd have anti-Cub support.
LOL well there is no love loss for us there either but yeah I think they hate the cubs a little more. Considering we are in the ahead of the cards they might want us to lose.
I dunno about that...A lot of Cards fans I've met personally don't hate the Astros.
Aww, HORSE !
http://www.astrosdaily.com
Pe ion for Divorce: Pe ioner - Willie B, Astros fan; Respondent - MLB
"It never ceases to amaze me how many of baseball's wounds are self-inflicted." - - - Bill Veeck from The Hustler’s Handbook.
This notice is to serve as my official separation and divorce from Major League Baseball. After following the league for about half of century, I've finally reached the point of irreconcilable differences.
Before anyone thinks this is just an angle for a weekly AstrosDaily.com piece or some silly knee-jerk reaction to Bud Selig and MLB announcing that Milwaukee’s Miller Park would be the 'neutral site' for the Astros-Cubs series, it's not. The decision to play the games in Milwaukee did push me over the edge and bring this split to a head. But like so many actual marriages, it's rarely a case of one event that brings a couple to call it quits. It's been building inside me for a while now, and parting ways is simply the best thing for me at this time.
The game of baseball will forever be an unshakeable part of me. But the business of baseball, marketing the product off the field instead of the action on the diamond, has been something I have never been able to adjust to. The business of baseball isn't anything new, either. It's been there certainly since I've been around and was finding joy in following players like Yogi Berra, who was on the back side of his career, Carl Yastrzemski, who was just beginning his, and Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, both of whom were in their prime. I've never faulted an owner for looking out for his business interests or a player who simply chooses the contract that pays the most money. At the same time, I expect the owners and players to not find fault with me placing the interests of the game ahead of their cash cow or believing that pitching at Coors Field, regardless of the schools in Denver, isn't a very good career choice.
Moving this series to another stadium is not the issue; it's the location and stadium they chose that chaps my ample backside. And my beef about the way the whole thing has been handled and remedied is not just with the commissioner's office. Let's start with Drayton McLane's idea to move last Friday's game up to the afternoon in order to squeeze it in just before Hurricane Ike's arrival. If that really was McLane's idea, then shame on him for thinking with his wallet instead of his head. You simply don't make a plan to bring people into an area about to be struck by a Cat 2 storm. If that was the grand plan of one of McLane's bean counters or marketing stiffs, then let's hope he puts that person in the unemployment line.
I never expect a fair or wise decision from Selig, so his approval - - if not his own bright idea - - of playing the games in Milwaukee and calling that a neutral site is not a big surprise. If what I'm reading is true, that the plan is to not even sell tickets in the upper decks or bleachers of Miller Park while all other tickets will cost $25 to $60, then it goes against the precedent set in early 2007 when the Indians and Angels moved a canceled set from Cleveland to Milwaukee. When weather forced that decision, tickets ran $10 and I don't remember reading about any part of the stadium being closed off. Why the big jump in ticket prices this time, and just who decided the prices? One can only guess the tickets were priced lower for the Tribe and Halos since it truly was a neutral site and MLB was dependent upon the good citizens of Milwaukee to come out. Now, with Chicago Cubs fans a mere 90 minutes away, you have to assume they're counting on Cubs fans to scoot up old US 41 to Beer City for this 'neutral site.'
With a large portion of the stadium closed off, seems to me that packing 13,000 or so fans into Dell Diamond over at Round Rock at $25 to $60 a pop would be a bit more just to the Astros. , there are probably some Houston Astros fans that had tickets for this weekend series before they evacuated to the Austin area to get away from Ike. Can't help but wonder if Selig gave any thought to his customers who have already s ed out money for the games, money that is sitting in MLB's pockets right now.
It's also worth mentioning here that this probably bothers me more because of the fact it involves the Cubs, a team that has been on my doo doo list since 1962 when one of their fans welshed on a nickel bet after my Houston Colt .45s finished ahead of Chicago in the National League standings. I'm not afraid to admit my bias along these lines. If it was a series against the Marlins or Pirates, it's likely that I wouldn't be as angry and frustrated with the events that have transpired. Come to think of it, given the attendance figures in Miami, the Marlins probably play at a neutral site all the time their schedule calls for them to be the home squad.
And yes, I do understand that 46 years is a long time to carry a five cent grudge. Still, it's the principle of the matter. I have offered to forget the wager if a Cubs fan would supply me with a 1962 Topps Lou Brock card, something I could've purchased with a nickel that year. Nobody has taken me up on the offer to date.
A lot of talk is going around about how this hurts the Astros' playoff chances, but I'm not buying into that too heavily. It's nothing short of amazing that Houston has pulled itself back into postseason contention, but from my seat it's what happened back in June that will be the cause of the club not playing on into October, not what happens in Milwaukee the next couple of days.
As for the disposition of all properties accrued in this union since I was the young, naive kid falling in love with baseball, I ask that MLB keep the boat that I might have purchased over time if I hadn't been spending thousands of dollars going to baseball games. I'll keep the scrapbooks filled with ticket stubs. MLB can also keep all of the Holy Toledo's that Milo Hamilton has uttered and will utter; I'll hang on to the understated style of Gene Elston who was as much a part of me growing to love the game as anyone. And Major League Baseball can have all of the $7 beers, $4 hot dogs and Chick-Fil-A Fowl Poles while I hang on to the priceless memories of going to games at 19 different MLB parks across this great country with my family and friends over the many years.
It's going to be difficult not following the majors in general and the Astros specifically. No doubt there are going to be times in the next two weeks and coming seasons that I'll be surfing on the idiot box and come upon a game, and I won't be able to help but stop and take a gander. But the simple truth is it's finally become something that just isn't fun any longer, and I accept that as ultimately being my problem and nobody else's.
So to Bob Hulsey and Scott Barzilla, to Darrell Pittman, Ray Kerby and John Lauck, to AstrosDaily.com readers who have dropped me notes over the years, including those who questioned the genus and species of my parents, to the many good friends I've made in the last eight years or so at several baseball fan sites as well as the friends and family who have been part of my baseball journey for decades, I bid y'all adios. Here's hoping that I regret this in two weeks time when the Astros are indeed in the playoffs. And here's to very safe, happy and healthy seasons ahead for everyone, regardless of where your team plays its home games.
Yeah, neutral site my ass.
we got ed but that but giving Big Z a no hitter was just pathetic.
astros v dodgers NLCS! both teams are playing the best baseball in the NL this month
sons this was the biggest joke ever. yes we should have played better, but taking away 2 of our home games and playing them 90 minutes away from Wrigley Field cannot be justified in any way as fair. Fortunately for the Astros, we are still within 3 games of the wild card. Let's just hope this bull favoritism for the Cubs from MLB didn't effect our momentum.
The Astros swept the Cubs in Wrigley a few weeks ago (September 1-3. 2008). I have a sneaking su ion that there were more than 24,000 Cubs' fans on hand at those games...
The Cubs had to play 22 games in 21 days in September of 2004 due to a hurricane, which helped Houston make the playoffs. I don't recall Houston fans ing about that.
Zambrano was dominant in that game. He hasn't had that kind of velocity for nine innings in at least three years. Lilly had one of his better performances of the year today. Zambrano's game could have been played on Mars; it wouldn't have mattered. After being pantsed, the Astros could only muster one hit against Thedore Roosevelt Lilly. I would prefer to tip my hat to the other team than think my own team was that mentally fragile.
Did the Hurricane make it more difficult for the Astros? No doubt. ing about the site is pretty lame, however. Zambrano is a whopping 7-5 with 3.24 ERA at Miller, close to his career ERA of 3.41 (all figures include the no-hitter). This was Lilly's first win at Miller Park. His ERA in previous starts had been 4.50. Hardly a definitive advantage.
I am sorry for the city of Houston, but the Astros and their fans need to let these games go. Odds are they will face the likes of Ronny Cedeno and Felix Pie if the third game is necessary.
location doesnt bother me as much as the fact the stros had to travel and play in the same day after 2 sleepless nights.
Im sure their families still recovering has something to do with our bats getting cold. Time to snap out of it today!!
I'm not so sure. Did you see the games? Zambrano could have no-hit any team with his stuff from Sunday night. It wouldn't have mattered who or where the Cubs played.
The real question mark is the Lilly game. Lilly had great stuff, for Lilly. I can't necessarily say that the travel arrangements and general situation didn't play some role in that game. Lilly likes to pitch to contact and averages nearly one HR allowed per game, so great for Lilly isn't necessarily Nolan Ryan territory.
How do you know they were sleepless nights? Did the entire team call you to tell you they couldn't sleep?
Maybe if McLane had let the team leave town when it was obvious that a Category Two storm was going to hit Galveston and Houston, then this wouldn't have happened. I guess Drayton doesn't get the Weather Channel. Clearly, the Cubs are responsible for the fact that the Astros didn't evacuate in time.
Bottom Line: It sucks. I feel sorry for the city of Houston. However, the other NL Central teams hope that the Astros themselves are brooding over this as much as Cooper and the fans. Trust me.
This wasn't directed at the people here at SpursTalk, but some of the real delusional freaks at the Crawfish Boxes.
http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2008/9/...e-ble#comments
Check out that thread. Some people are actually saying that the Zambrano game should have an asterisk or something. That's the kind of crap that got my ire up in the first place.
EDIT: I see I was banned (along with a lot of other people) and a lot of this thread was deleted. Some of it was real trolling, but I was banned for pointing out the following: 1) The Astros had just swept the Cubs at Wrigley; 2) Zambrano's career stats at Miller and Minute Maid are pretty similar; and 3) Zambrano always has a LOT of movement on his pitches when he has more than seven days' rest.
Last edited by Reggie Miller; 09-16-2008 at 12:38 PM.
regardless we are still only 2.5 games back with 13 games to go ... we need to win at least 10 out of the final 13.
Damn it! I can't stay mad if you keep posting that picture of Stacy Keibler...
(When that much blood is diverted, I can only... Nevermind.)
WTF is up with Lance Berkman? he was on pace to have yet another career setting / MVP caliber year, but since the all star break his power has disappeared. Lance will have 1 or 2 good games in a row, then he will go on a 2-3 week long streak of not hitting a home run or driving in any runs. He has been stuck on 28 home runs and 100 RBI's for 2 weeks now.
I have often wondered that about him as well. He seems incapable of putting two good halves together. I am no Astros expert, but he is not known within the division as a guy with tendencies or holes in his swing, either. That is, he obviously makes good contact in most of his AB.
The Astros seem to struggle to find their offensive iden y every year, even when their pitching has been dominant. That's not unheard of, but they really seem to make a point of it.
common sense... not to mention several of them saying so to reporters.
why couldnt a double header have been played monday? instead it was a day game.
I was picking on you because the media repeats that sort of speculation until it magically becomes "fact" by osmosis. For all we know, most of the players were passed out after snorting ground-up phenobarbital from their mistresses' navels.common sense... not to mention several of them saying so to reporters.
why couldnt a double header have been played monday? instead it was a day game.
I wonder if Stacy Keibler would let me do that if I asked nicely enough...
well it was fun while it lasted, but this team has obviously completely given up now. good run at the end, but just not enough. let's hope to pick up some decent pitching for next season.
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