Gourmand

you sound like a dumbass Yankees or Dodgers fan. get over it. it's been 16+ years.....

Drellich is such a giant piece of shit and it's obvious to anyone with a whiff of common sense that he made himself a part of this story because of his long-running beef with the Astros front office during his time at the Chronicle.

Bumping this thread to say there's a lot of useful advice here (some of which I need to go back and read again) and also ask some questions and share some lightbulb moments I've had in my long journey from beginner to beginner guitarist. My first question for you seasoned players is about memorizing pentatonics. I started with the basic pattern 2 and pattern 4 major and minor pentatonic scales and went from there to learn all five shapes, but the further I went the more I was confused AF by what shape went with what respective minor/major pentatonic until I finally realized they were all the same five patterns (duh) and to just keep practicing them in different keys. Any good exercises I should try aside from playing over backing tracks? My typical routine is going up and down the pentatonic vertically but I'd like to have a better feel for them across the strings horizontally. I'm not all the way there with them but I'm comfortable and getting close to having the patterns down pat but more importantly I understand the importance of knowing the root notes and how those dictate the shape of the pattern. Man, CAGED is everything!! I would never have figured it out without first learning CAGED and understanding how those octave shapes define the chord shapes and the pentatonics are all from those chord shapes. If you are a beginner (or an intermediate) and you don't know CAGED, I highly recommend learning it because it will unlock the fretboard and make the guitar a lot less mystifying, it will help you understand pentatonics, and it will also help you be able to figure out what chord you're playing when you just land on some triad that sounds good. Also, another trick I used to help me visualize how the pentatonics relate to each other was to print up a pdf of each respective pattern in both minor and major form and then cut each one out into little rectangles. I then took those little rectangles and, starting with pattern 1 as you would on, say, the D chord from frets 2-5, laid each one over the next where the root notes match. In essence they are like little jigsaw puzzle pieces that fit together on each end. Amazing. I realize it probably sounds silly and obvious to the experienced guitarists but that was a really helpful visualization technique that also helped me understand how the parts fit into the whole.

excellent post

I agree with everything Granato says in that clip. he's spot on about Altuve, Beltran, the BBWAA, and especially Doug Glanville's take on the the difference between PEDs and sign stealing. I remember that piece when it was published and I've often thought of it when reading the hyperventilating criticisms of the Astros by fans and writers calling 2017 the greatest scandal in baseball history. Not even close, and I say that as a fan who thinks the worst thing about the PED era was the sanctimonious b.s. that came out of it. Here's the piece Granato referenced, it's a good read. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28850651/i-played-clean-steroid-era-peds-hurt-players-more-sign-stealing-does

Dana Brown!

Those two living the life, pulling more than offspeed pitches.

And would be more revered by Yankees fans than Jeter because of his size

Julks and Dirden are two players to watch that could make the roster or be on the very short list for call-ups as an injury replacement. I'm intrigued by Dirden because of the power numbers he put up last year in Corpus although he dipped a bit after getting called up to AAA, albeit in fewer games. He's a 25-year-old lefty hitter with some pop, and could be an asset off the bench later in the season. Also interesting to me is the case of Jairo Solis. The Astros had been high on him for years because of his high velocity and had protected him on the 40-man roster despite multiple arm injuries until they outrighted him last year. I didn't expect to see him in the system much longer but he didn't sign with any other teams and is a non-roster invitee to ST at age 23. He hasn't pitched since like 2018 and had two TJ surgeries. He won't make the roster but maybe they get lucky with him and he finally contributes at the minor league level and beyond?

We won the whole goddamn thing two months ago, I couldn't care less about any of those clickbait tweets/articles/predictions for the 2023 Astros right now, and I say that as Htown sports fan who has historically been quick to trigger over national media disrespect. Stros had sex and fucked em all, I'm still in celebration mode.

Or interview the guy directly under him who has been with the braves longer and oh yeah also was hired by Jeff Luhnow as one of his earliest hires and worked for the Astros for six years before joining the Braves in 2018. Mike Fast would make sense as the new Astros GM but part of me thinks he may have left on bad terms with Crane? Regardless it seems odd to me that his name isn't mentioned as a top candidate given his connections to the Astros and the success of both the Astros and Braves since 2017.

Any suggestions for a basic decent looper pedal for a beginner/intermediate guitarist?

This is hilarious to read almost ten years later https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1627250-prospect-pipeline-houston-astros-top-20-prospects-post-2013-mlb-draft

???? Framber, Javier, Garcia, Valdez....and that's not even including current Oriole reclamation project and success story Cionel Perez. Also we should note trades involving some of these guys that resulted in MLB returns: Wilyer Abreu and Enmanuel Valdez for Christian Vazquez and Bryan de La Cruz/Austin Pruitt for Yimi Garcia

Yeah same and imo it just shows how crappy the McLane organization was run and managed compared to his successor and the hires he put in place to rebuild the organization from the bottom up.

"We’re extremely excited to get Ariel into the Astros organization,” general manager Ed Wade said. "Ariel profiles as a middle-of-the-order power hitter with excellent defensive skills." Astros scouting director Bobby Heck described Ovando as an advanced hitter for his age who reminds him of Jason Heyward, Fred McGriff and Carlos Delgado.

Ha, I was about to ask the same question. Combing through old MilB stats trying to jog the memory. He barely made it past low A iirc. edit: Ariel Ovando

You're forgetting one very important and undervalued international acquisition who helped build a foundation for the Astros pitching dominance. In 2015 they signed 17-year-old Dominican OF Gilberto Celestino (and current teammate of Carlos Correa) to a contract with a $2.25 million bonus. Celestino was packaged with fellow Dominican pitcher Jorge Alcala and traded to Minnesota for the guy who threw the last pitch of the 2022 MLB season.

With Jim Leyritz's sterling bitchcock

I did for the Chas catch and the Mancini snag. Listened in the parked car in the garage with the seat fully reclined taking deep breaths. It might have saved my life because I don't think I could have watched the tv and not had a heart attack.

I love Ford and Sparks like no other broadcast team in Astros history. Yes, it's likely a function of those two being in the booth for the greatest era of the franchise, but they really are a fantastic duo with great chemistry and each does his respective role exceptionally well. Ford really grew into his seat and into my regular listening routine. They run laps around the bland boreshow duo that preceded them. Dolan and that other dude sucked ass and you literally couldn't tell one from the other.