Results tagged ‘ where is he now ’
A costly win…
…if Roy can’t make his next start.
Yeah, we won. Yeah, Chris Sampson was 100% shocked that he was being called out, and he dominated because, well, that’s what Chris Sampson does, besides being nice enough to chat with fans. Because he’s a beast. But Roy got hurt. So that’s not cool.
We have won three series in a row. I’m very proud of my boys pulling themselves out of the depths of suckiness and beating the top two teams in the AL East (Rays, Red Sox) and the not-bottom team in the AL West (Rangers).
I also got to see Justin Ruggiano play for like, five seconds, who happens to be Brian Ruggiano’s brother, who happens to play at A&M. Unfortunately Justin got optioned like, two days after the series ended, so that was sad.
Still working on figuring out that Denver trip.
My brain’s not really fully functioning right now, so excuse the pointlessness of this post.
The Rockies need to pull it together. I love them to death but seriously, guys. Get rid of Brian Fuentes, nab some prospects, and let’s get on with our lives.
Troy Trevor hit a homer the other day 
Made my day. But that craptastic play yesterday didn’t.
Only a matter of time until they get clicking on all cylinders.
Where Is He Now? update (cue Baseball Tonight update jingle): Matt Albers is on the DL with a torn labrum. Either he’ll rehab for two months or have season-ending surgery. Get well soon, brah.
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I got a baseball…
…but I don’t think it counts as “snagging” it.
My friend works for T-Mobile, and apparently they have a suite at Dr Pepper Ballpark (where the Frisco RoughRiders, the AA team of the Texas Rangers, play). Somehow he wrangled a signed Texas League ball from Zack Parker (it was in the suite when they got there). He’s not doing real well right now, and the ball’s signed in Sharpie, but I totally don’t even care. He’s officially one of my new favorite players. And the brand-new, straight-from-the-Rawlings-box ball smells incredible.
Back in the Majors…
We won a game! No, wait. WE WON A SERIES! OHMIGOSH! And José Valverde got a save without allowing a run! WOW. I’m shocked.
I’m disappointed that Hunter’s play-at-the-plate didn’t even garner a mention on Baseball Tonight. Disgusted, even.
I finally figured out that they call Eric Young “EY…” I thought they were all stupid and thought his name was “Eli.” GOOD JOB Kylie. As long as I still get to be the mayor of Souvenir City.
I’m disgusted with Shawn Chacon. What a jerk. Chris Sampson had the same demotion but took it with grace, making me adore him even more (♥), while Shawn spewed a line of expletives that couldn’t be printed. You don’t perform, you get demoted. Lucky it wasn’t to Round Rock. I officially hate you, Shawn Chacon. Good luck making it back into the rotation–NOT.
I’ve read a lot of trade rumors. Do you think we should trade Roy Oswalt? In a completely non-groundbreaking idea, I think we’ve spent too much time trying to fix the now Astros. Instead, we should trade some guys (Roy, Tejada, Carlos, Brandon?) and build up the farm system. Look at the Rays! I think that’s my new slogan. They’ve sucked their entire existence, but all those years of number one draft picks have built up and they’re BEASTLY this year. I would hate to see any of those guys go, but seriously, long-term!
Where Is He Now?
Today we’re going to visit Brad Lidge in Philadelphia, where he holds an ERA of 0.89 as the Phillies’ solid closer. He has 18 saves, one of which came against the Astros at home. How about Brad? Just like so many other former ‘Stros, we got rid of him because he sucked and the change of scenery has brought him back to his former awesomeness. However, what we got for him in Michael Bourn (and Mike Costanzo, but… yeah) has helped out our team in a big way. I’ll be the first to say that although I do miss the Lights-Out Lidge that we used to have, I don’t miss the Light-’em-Up Lidge or that very distracting mole. Other than the mole he’s a very attractive man. Oh well. I’m proud of him for doing so well up there in Pennsylvania. Best wishes, Brad.
Pointless Ramblings:
1. AAH I’m still happy about Tulo being back. And Clint Barmes got activated too!!
2. That’s it, really.
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There’s losing…
…and then there’s “retro-losing.”
Yes, last night the ‘Stros had on their retro “rainbow guts” uniforms and THE GAME WASN’T TELEVISED. I have never been so cranky. I can’t believe I missed it! I wish the ‘Stros wore their retro uniforms on Sunday like some teams (Phillies, Blue Jays?) do.
And they retro-lost.
Oh, we came close. But Doug Brocail let the game go. Oh, Dougie. You had been so solid this entire year (except for that Jeter home run). Your recent ERA of 1-ish had been supporting my fantasy team. Oh, Dougie.
How could you?
Once again Wandy goes the distance (ish) and pitches a GREAT game and we can’t get him a W.
Our record in one-run games sucks (10-14), and so does our record in extras (1-1). 1-1, you say, that’s .500! NO, my friend. That means that we can’t get games close enough to make it into extras. Vomit.
But then again, I don’t know much about the rest of this game, considering that I couldn’t watch any of it except Carlos Lee’s homer.
Where Is He Now?
I decided that I absolutely had to get Matt Albers in here, so here he is. Last year was my first year “in baseball,” (OHMIGOSH yes I’ve only been a fan for a year but believe me, I’ve made up for lost time) and my dad and I literally would sit and talk about the team. We both decided that Matt was going to play a key role in the Astros’ future and rotation. Well, Matt was another part of that heartbreaking trade for Miguel Tejada. Don’t get me wrong, I love Miggy, but I was crushed to hear that three of my favorite Astros, Luke Scott, Dennis Sarfate, and Matt had been traded to Baltimore. I wouldn’t even get to see them at Spring Training! So now Matt is excelling in orange, posting an ERA of 2.77. His strikeout-to-walk ratio isn’t very good (25/21) but apparently, it doesn’t matter. He’s kicking butt and taking names as a reliable arm in the Oriole bullpen, and I couldn’t be prouder of the 23rd round pick. Good job, Matt.
And now it’s time for Pointless Ramblings. I do it so often that I decided to name it. And bold it. WOW.
1. Do I really need to reiterate my love for Darin Erstad? His two stellar defensive plays on Friday were just that–stellar. I love this guy.
2. Oh my God. Tulo came back on Friday, just as they said he would. I watched his at-bats from the last two games, and my heart swelled. I’ve never felt such happiness watching a player play. And the Rox are still wearing those black jerseys. I say throw away the others and just wear the lucky blacks. Except the grays with the purple pinstripes are my faves.
3. I’m watching last night’s Baseball Tonight. Two things: Shawn Marcum is hot, and C.C. Sabathia hit a homer! Even more evidence that the DH is silly. I love it.
4. The glove trick worked from the third floor balcony to the ground. Now I just have to actually get it to a park. We’ll see how it works out.
5. Another pitcher gets hit in the face.
6. UBALDO! And the Rox went back-to-back… and Tulo got a hit.
That’s it, really.
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Coop was right…
…it is embarrassing.
I attended four games last week, and we lost all four.
The first was the Wednesday game against the Brew Crew. That was the slugfest that I already blogged about.
The second was the Thursday (took me four tries to spell “Thursday”… this calls for a nap) game against the same. And it was another slugfest that we lost. Oh yeah, and thanks a lot, Brian Moehler, for making me lose all my fantasy pitching games last week because of your craptacular performance. I lost the WHIP game by 0.10. Is that sad or what? Fortunately, I dropped him an hour after arriving home and added Darin Erstad, and since then my lineup’s been doing well. I lost overall last week but it was 4 to 5, so I rose from 13th out of 14 to 12th! It’s a slow climb to the top, though.
The third was the Friday game against the Stankees. Let me take a moment out to say… I HATE THE STANKEES. However, I love Derek Jeter, which made it hard when he hit that home run off of Doug Brocail (also on my fantasy team). And we lost. We lost to Joba Chamberlain. What the crap?
And the fourth was the Sunday game, also against the Stankees. I am sickened with my team’s recent performance. I believe there were only about 8,000 people left in the park after the eight-run sixth.
I got absolutely no balls at batting practice from any of these games. Well, on Sunday I went with someone and didn’t have my ticket to get in early, so I didn’t get into BP, and I didn’t make it early enough on Wednesday, and Thursday was a day game. But I did get Michael Bourn’s autograph on Wednesday. He seemed nice enough, even though every time I encountered him at Spring Training he always said, “I gotta go” four or five times while denying every fan an autograph. Punk.
Where Is He Now?
Oh my goodness, Dan Wheeler has officially been beastified. His WHIP is 0.98 and his ERA is just a hair above 2. It appears that we’ve run into yet another case of “the Astros traded a guy away and guess what? he’s freaking amazing.” Mostly it’s pitchers, like Brad Lidge, Chad Qualls, and you know what? Matt Albers isn’t doing poorly either. I’ve got to get him in my blog somehow. Anyway, the former ‘Stro who was known for pushing the poor, innocent, perfectly lovely Chris Sampson in the dugout has been making batters look stupid in the AL East, and good thing too because there’s nothing I want more than someone other than the Stankees and the Red Sox on top of that division. I love the O’s too, but that’s mostly because of Luke and Dennis and Matt and Troy… sorry, Mike Costanzo, I had (and still have) really no idea who you are. So, in any case, Dan Wheeler is doing well for himself in the Sunshine State.
A few random notes:
1. Why the hell don’t they sell Darin Erstad t-shirts in the team store? Ever since I found out that Hunter Pence is dating a “bunny,” I have lost all respect for him. Darin, a player I became a big fan of immediately following his signing, rose to the top in my Astros player lovefest. He’s amazing.
2. I’m hoping to get a chance to go see Coors Field this summer.
3. Tulo’s coming back this week, probably! YAY!
4. Oh. My. God. I officially have a nerdcrush on Zack Hample. I got bored one day and saw his blog on the MLBlogs.com front page, and I started reading it… from the first entry in 2005. He’s a beast.
I’m 99% sure that this is everything for today, and I have laundry to do. I’m going to be at a Rangers game or two next week with my “Hamilton is my hero” sign trying to get him to sign my issue of SI, so we’ll see. I adore Josh Hamilton.
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This is pathetic…
…on so many levels.
We’ve lost five in a row, we have the same record as the Brewers, and we’re tied for third place at seven games back. We’re just barely over .500.
What the heck happened to the Astros team that was rocking the NL Central when I left for Los Angeles? I haven’t been able to watch any of the past few games but Sportscenter and Baseball Tonight have basically kept me up to date. This team stinks. And Jack Cassel got sent down… again! I’m gonna miss him.
There are good things, though. I’m glad to see that Chris Sampson, one of my favorite players (because he’s NICE! he’s so sweet), is feeling more confident since his move to the bullpen. That’s very, very good. And Lance Berkman is still a beast–and kicking Pujols’ sorry bum in All-Star voting.
My Rockies lost last night–pathetic, pathetic game. Tulo was taking fielding practice, though, so that was exciting.
Where Is He Now?
Today we’re going to check up on Morgan Ensberg. Remember 2005? Aah, World Series berth, Brad Lidge got ruined, and Morgan Ensberg was amazing. Unfortunately for him, 2005 was a really, really long time ago. He might be making Derek Jeter laugh, but he didn’t exactly make the Yankees staff laugh. He was DFAd on Sunday to make room for Scott Patterson on the 20-man. Poor guy. He was so excited to go to San Diego because he lives there, and now no one really wants him. I mean, his batting average was .203. I can’t say I particularly blame the staff for letting him go. What do you think they’re gonna do with him? I say release.
I think that’s it for now. I’ll be returning to Dodger Stadium on Wednesday to watch the Rox take on Clayton Kershaw (*gulp*). That should be interesting. And then I head home on Friday–and Saturday and Sunday I’m gonna catch the Aggies against Rice! Gig ‘em!
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It’s a pitch-a-palooza…
…because Jack Cassel was called up and Wandy has been activated!
Two of our better pitchers are ready, and Dave Borkowski was finally DFAd. Not that I don’t like him–he’s definitely one of the nicest people I’ve met in my life–but he stinks.
And OMG, Hunter Pence. Complete, total, utter beast. Five for five. WOWsers. There aren’t really enough words.
Shawn Chacon surprises me endlessly. I cannot believe what a bargain-bin beast he has turned out to be. I was not expecting him to be so consistent. I am constantly pleased with what I see from Chacon.
I am pleased with the lack of fighting in last night’s game. I got quite tired of seeing my team act like six-year-olds.
Where Is He Now?
Today I’m focusing on Luis González, who currently plays for the Marlins. I remember his smiling, Cuban-Brad-Ausmus-look-alike face from so many games while he was in Houston. He’s currently signed by the Marlins as a backup left fielder to Josh Willingham. I don’t really know what else to say about him because he hasn’t really done anything significant this year, I was just inspired to revisit him because here in Dodgertown, the people still remember him. Granted, his batting average this year is higher than it was in 2006 or 2007, and that’s good. We’ll keep an eye on him and see what happens.
That’s really all I have for now, other than the fact that some dork in my fantasy league dropped Blake DeWitt, so I snatched him up and am quite pleased with my team now.
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All good things…
…must come to an end–but that doesn’t mean they can’t start back up again.
It’s really distracting, listening to Josh Groban in Spanish and trying to write about baseball in English, but it’s so quiet in here!
How about those Astros, eh? It’s been a wild ride.
Hunter Pence=still a sexy beast. Cute story about his niece WOW THAT RHYMED (sorta).
Where Is He Now?
Today, we will pay Chad Qualls a visit in arid Arizona, where the humidity is non-existant (sigh… I would appreciate that right about now). His ERA was 0.00 up until May 4, and currently it stands at 2.61, which is lower than it ever was with the Astros. He’s been doing quite well as a setup man for Brandon Lyon (who I put on my Anti-Fantasy team after he blew two saves at the beginning of the season–that was stupid). He’s been doing well, and fortunately so has the man that we got for him, José Valverde. It’s a good year for the D-backs… and although I am a Rox fan, I am pleased to see Not-So-Bad Chad doing well.
I was really pleased to read about that chat that Lance-a-Lot had with J.R. It’s nice to know that he’s returning the favor that he received not so long ago–and J.R. is one of my favorite players. It’s been hard to see him struggle, especially after he did so well last year.
To all my one reader: I apologize for going so long between entries! I just moved last week and Comcast doesn’t know that our address exists yet (oh, the woes of a new house), so I’m on my roof right now on someone’s unsecured network. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I decide to take advantage of that clearance sale on shop.mlb.com–buying things online on an unsecure network is NOT smart.
Anyhow, it’s time to run downstairs and find my charger.
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Who are you…
…and what have you done with the 2007 Astros?
And most importantly–what do you want in return? Because surely you couldn’t just give a city in despair something as valuable as this 2008 team and not want anything back.
Brian Moehler. After sitting through 16 innings of tied game against the Mets last year, I resented this man for the two runs he gave up. We lost. But last night was a different story–I cannot believe how well he did. Snaps for Brian!
Lance Berkman. The man has put the slow-start-curse far, far, far behind him.
Miguel Tejada. I knew he was good… but I didn’t know he was quite this good.
Hunter Pence. Has hit. His stride. And his socks. Are sexy.
José Valverde. I think he is back for real.
Where Is He Now?
Today, we will visit Mike Lamb, ex-Astros third baseman/utility player/all-around beast, current Minnesota Twins third baseman.
Yeah, maybe his average is lower than it’s been any time soon, but I really wish we had signed him instead of Mark Loretta. I like his style. He’s like a skinny Lance Berkman.
And, because you knew it was coming… random baseball-related ramblings.
TULO GOT HURT. OH MY GOD. He tore a tendon and is out until August… whatever shall I do?
Brian Bannister has beautiful eyes.
I’m addicted to TWIB now.
I think that’s it for now. No, really.
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I have before me…
…the box score of last night’s Padres/Astros game. Finally, a good reason to be the saberhead that I am.
First of all, Oscar Villarreal didn’t allow a run! I think it actually is a first. Secondly, how about Tim Byrdak? I had absolutely no idea, shamefully enough, that he was on our team. But he held up pretty well.
And finally, ROY OSWALT IS BACK for good. And helping himself out with the bat a little bit? Not quite Micah Owings yet but YAY! I am so pleased with the way our pitching staff is rounding out. If only José Valverde were a little more consistent and if Wandy weren’t hurt.
I’m so EXCITED about Jack Cassel! He did well in Triple-A and last September for the Padres, and he passes my most important test–the niceness test. He’s extremely nice.
That’s really all the energy I have to recap last night’s game–I think the score pretty much speaks for itself.
As for today’s Where Is He Now?, I will mention Luke Scott. Not only is he starting in right field for the surprisingly good Baltimore Orioles, his average is .381 and his OPS is 1.000. Looks like he’s doing very well. I guess he just needed a change in scenery. However, he will always be my favorite right fielder who gave me a high five and started recognizing me at the games.
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starrphishe
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