2018 Houston Astros Season Thread

[henrygandorf 29,189]

after the bullshit play at the plate (in fenway, big surprise) that kept us from a sweep, i came out and made a big fucking speech about the call on the field.  for the last fucking time, in every fucking sport - the call on the field shouldn't matter.  the guys in new york (super neutral) shouldn't even know what the call on the field was.  they should get a buzz on their 1991 motorola two-way pager, and turn on the game with zero knowledge.  they should black out the jerseys and the score and everything else.  the question should be posed to them - what did you see?

if they saw an out, it's an out.  safe, it's safe.  if they absolutely can't fucking tell, then the call can stand with whatever the original on the field call was - which is none of their fucking business.  they shouldn't even know.  the guy on the phone should say, "we don't know, do your thing."  the answer should never be, "well, we don't really have enough evidence to overturn your call, so we'll trust what a 65 year old fat dude thinks he saw from 150 feet away while he was running full speed (slow) with 45,000 people yelling around him."

the replay rules in general are fucked.  they say they only incorporated them "to get the call right."  but then they add in the "call stands" vs "call confirmed" bullshit.  it's like in the nfl.  "we only want to get the call right...unless the replay is kinda slow and the team happens to rush up to the line of scrimmage and snap the ball before the coach has a chance to throw the flag, because that's just smart football right there."

if this happened to the yankees**, there would be a committee formed overnight, and the rules would be changed by the weekend.

**it obviously would never happen to the yankees, that was just a hypothetical

 

[APMP 688]

Like Roy O in Game 6, momentum in baseball is quite simply your next starting pitcher. And we got Justin freaking Verlander.

[Gut Wagon 8,065]

If we hadn’t finally won that WS title last year, I’d be even more annoyed by all this than I already am. This freaky stuff happened to us every postseason for decades.

[ballrific 215]

The situation isnt fucked man...and i'll be at game 5 tmw. We're good

[Guadaloopy 10,962]

Oh and by the way... what the hell is MLB Network thinking bringing in Tyler Bauer for commentary?

[Pibald 18]

I’m still pissed about the Altuve HR. Just got home from the game and haven’t read this thread. Fucking robbed. 

Ill be there again tomorrow. Only other comment is that MMP needs to step it up. I can’t speak right now, but that place sounded quiet. So many T-shirt fans. 

 

Go Stros and go Verlander. 

[utxmike05 1,828]

6 minutes ago, Guadaloopy said:

Oh and by the way... what the hell is MLB Network thinking bringing in Tyler Bauer for commentary?

Hopefully he at least talked.  Tyler White would probably not say anything.  

[drewlaws 126]

Back at my hotel after going to the game tonight. Haven’t read the game thread but checking in to say we got robbed on that HR, but we didn’t do ourselves any favors the rest of the game. Fuck Mlb and fuck the Red Sox. 

[clapclapclap 9,000]

If some of y'all going to the game tomorrow wear rainbow wigs and bring signs saying Rule 3.16 you'll have a good chance of getting on national TV.

[henrygandorf 29,189]

finally caught the whole rundown from the mlbn guys.  bauer actually did a nice job.  emsinger led the charge with the "ball should've been a homer" call.  taking the opposing view, bill ripken (fuckface) was the lone voice of dissent, but for his own reasons.  his opinion was basically, "mookie was gonna catch that, so you gotta let him catch it, and if you're joe west, you can assume he's gonna catch the ball."  so essentially, ripken invented a reason to say he agreed with the call, since it's clearly not dependent on assuming anything, but whether the ball was in the field of play or the stands, blah blah, whatever.

emsinger also pointed out the upcoming pitching matchups (along with kimbrel struggles, etc) and said not to count out the stros.  price will start g5, but considering his situation, and the fact that he got warm at least once tonight, it'll basically be a bullpen game for the sox.

so here's my question - if you're aj hinch, do you go back to the basics tomorrow, and bat bregman 3rd and correa 4th?  to quote robards in all the president's men - "fuck it.  let's stand by the boys."

i say yes.

 

[texashorne 1,177]

On 10/16/2018 at 7:12 PM, henrygandorf said:

after all the "former astro jd martinez" narrative, it's gonna be a guy like pearce that just kills us all series.

Benintendi's catch was easily the most heartbreaking play since Pujols/Lidge. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

4 hours ago, cabowabo said:

If you're Cora, I don't know how you can trot Kimbrel back out on the mound this post season.

3-1 series lead makes it easier.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

Seven fucking walks, three fucking wild pitches,  two hit fuckers.  We have to stop with the fucking bullshit.

[Rockethorn1978 6,077]

Just not our year, hope to see us not go down at home tonight and we should be taking a one game at a time approach. JV needs to be nails tonight.

[Texasborn91 935]

Altuve and Correa are not healthy. This is a good Boston team and we don’t have all our bullets in the chamber. Hope we keep it intact for next year to make another run. 

[Okie State 3,818]

This has been a very frustrating series to watch. Seems like nothing going Houston's way. Still a chance for a miracle, but not looking good.

[TonyTexas 10,510]

I’m going to be pissed off all day

[kevwun 15,776]

Man fuck whoever at MLB runs that twitter account.  You fuck a team out of a 2 run homer and then post that shit?

[Telegraph_it 3,357]

15 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

I’m going to be pissed off all day

That is just f’ing terrible. Taking a HR away in baseball is unacceptable when it’s far far from being definitive. Momentum is so important and you go from points to an out. Terrible. 

[formermav43 4,606]

1 hour ago, Texasborn91 said:

Altuve and Correa are not healthy. This is a good Boston team and we don’t have all our bullets in the chamber. Hope we keep it intact for next year to make another run. 

I agree with the first part. But that last sentence is kind of strange.

[Lat22 4,012]

Why do these games take so long? Regular season 9 inning games don’t go 4+ hours.

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

6 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

after the bullshit play at the plate (in fenway, big surprise) that kept us from a sweep, i came out and made a big fucking speech about the call on the field.  for the last fucking time, in every fucking sport - the call on the field shouldn't matter.  the guys in new york (super neutral) shouldn't even know what the call on the field was.  they should get a buzz on their 1991 motorola two-way pager, and turn on the game with zero knowledge.  they should black out the jerseys and the score and everything else.  the question should be posed to them - what did you see?

if they saw an out, it's an out.  safe, it's safe.  if they absolutely can't fucking tell, then the call can stand with whatever the original on the field call was - which is none of their fucking business.  they shouldn't even know.  the guy on the phone should say, "we don't know, do your thing."  the answer should never be, "well, we don't really have enough evidence to overturn your call, so we'll trust what a 65 year old fat dude thinks he saw from 150 feet away while he was running full speed (slow) with 45,000 people yelling around him."

the replay rules in general are fucked.  they say they only incorporated them "to get the call right."  but then they add in the "call stands" vs "call confirmed" bullshit.  it's like in the nfl.  "we only want to get the call right...unless the replay is kinda slow and the team happens to rush up to the line of scrimmage and snap the ball before the coach has a chance to throw the flag, because that's just smart football right there."

if this happened to the yankees**, there would be a committee formed overnight, and the rules would be changed by the weekend.

**it obviously would never happen to the yankees, that was just a hypothetical

 

Both the call on the field and the replay call would have been HR had it been a Sox player hitting and Reddick making that reach into the stands. No way West calls interference the other way. 

Add to that, the drastic difference in strike zones, and this game was a Montreal screwjob all around. But even with that bias and a -2 starting point, the Astros win if they play mistake free and get a clutch pitch or two.

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

10 minutes ago, Lat22 said:

Why do these games take so long? Regular season 9 inning games don’t go 4+ hours.

A lot of men on base in this game. But there also seem to be around 2 extra commercials per break. I think its a TBS thing. Its also exact. I watched one of our playoff day games on a PC and the commercial breaks had 100% accurate countdown clocks. After the break, live action wasnt delayed due to the stream. The station seemed to be controlling when action would resume.  During the year, the station doesnt control it and often has to cut back from commercial abruptly. 

Edited October 18, 2018 by FondrenRoad

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

6 hours ago, utxmike05 said:

Last year’s team could win 3 in a row, but not this post season team.  I guess the Indians were easy outs.  Boston is hungrier.

I would be optimistic, but you can’t fukin lose two in a row AT HOME in post season.  And lose with the same mistakes and poor pitching.  I just don’t see any “bright side” with our pitching except JV and James.  Bats are there but we left, what...14 on base!?   If they couldn’t bounce back today, then it ain’t happening 3 in a row.

1 game at a time. JV at home first. If he wins, we will see what happens in Boston. We are historically good on the road and average at home this year. Red Sox were down 0-3 in an ALCS before and won it. 

On the plus side, the bats woke up. However, Altuve looks like he is hurting bad. He would be taking a month off if this was the regular season. 

[TexArcher 37,774]

1 hour ago, TonyTexas said:

I’m going to be pissed off all day

No, Joe.  Here's what happened:

You made a terrible call because you're a terrible umpire.  MLB allowed it to stand because it benefitted the Red Sox and the powers that be wants a Red Sox vs Dodgers World Series.

P.S. You and Angel Hernandez should have to fight to the death and the winner should be mauled by bears.

[IDIOTsavant 8,483]

3 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

No, Joe.  Here's what happened:

You made a terrible call because you're a terrible umpire.  MLB allowed it to stand because it benefitted the Red Sox and the powers that be wants a Red Sox vs Dodgers World Series.

P.S. You and Angel Hernandez should have to fight to the death and the winner should be mauled by bears.

A lot of this is on MLB.Why the fuck are those guys working the playoffs? If I send a text BEFORE THE SERIES STARTS that calls an ump by name that will directly fuck us, that's a problem. 

[Scraps 13,561]

I'm not ready to stick a fork in us yet.  Win tonight.  Cole come back and don't fucking do what he did in game 2.  

Then get us to a game 7 where all hell breaks loose!

 

[Mez2 4,023]

This bitch is going 7 games. 

And Tyler White is back to remembering he's Tyler White.

[IDIOTsavant 8,483]

Also, I haven't read the entire thread from last night, but did anyone else see the pinned tweet from MLB? Can't attach it here at work, but it was a video with the following description: Rewrite the rules. #postseason....couldn't have been more perfect.

Edited October 18, 2018 by IDIOTsavant

[Scraps 13,561]

4 minutes ago, Mez2 said:

This bitch is going 7 games. 

And Tyler White is back to remembering he's Tyler White.

I said the same shit last night.... "Welcome back to Earth Tyler"

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

6 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

finally caught the whole rundown from the mlbn guys.  bauer actually did a nice job.  emsinger led the charge with the "ball should've been a homer" call.  taking the opposing view, bill ripken (fuckface) was the lone voice of dissent, but for his own reasons.  his opinion was basically, "mookie was gonna catch that, so you gotta let him catch it, and if you're joe west, you can assume he's gonna catch the ball."  so essentially, ripken invented a reason to say he agreed with the call, since it's clearly not dependent on assuming anything, but whether the ball was in the field of play or the stands, blah blah, whatever.

emsinger also pointed out the upcoming pitching matchups (along with kimbrel struggles, etc) and said not to count out the stros.  price will start g5, but considering his situation, and the fact that he got warm at least once tonight, it'll basically be a bullpen game for the sox.

so here's my question - if you're aj hinch, do you go back to the basics tomorrow, and bat bregman 3rd and correa 4th?  to quote robards in all the president's men - "fuck it.  let's stand by the boys."

i say yes.

 

No, last nights lineup was more productive. But I dont lead off Bregman either. Should be Altuve, Bregman, Springer, Marwin, Correa

[Seasick Sailor 3,747]

We haven't caught a single break this series. Just take care of business tonight and hope that turns around. 

[Scraps 13,561]

Personally I would just flip Springer and Bregman.  

Springer, Breg, Altuve, Marwin, Correa, Yuli, Reddick, Machete, Kemp and lets go win the whole fucking thing

[Seasick Sailor 3,747]

Gross:

 

[IDIOTsavant 8,483]

1 minute ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Gross:

 

6 wild pitches? Almost all of those were passed balls...

[Seasick Sailor 3,747]

 

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

4 minutes ago, IDIOTsavant said:

6 wild pitches? Almost all of those were passed balls...

All in the dirt. I actually cant recall when Ive seen games with this many pitches in the dirt.

[IDIOTsavant 8,483]

3 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

All in the dirt. I actually cant recall when Ive seen games with this many pitches in the dirt.

Not true. Maldonado whiffed on a waist high fastball last night. Also he duffed a couple of McCullers breaking balls in Game 2 because he tried to backhand stab them before they hit the dirt. Maldonado has made one really good defensive play and about 6 really bad ones.

[WBT 20,564]

9 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

 

Yep, that's it in a nutshell.  We've scored enough for it to be no worse than 2-2.  The pitching carried the team all year and has not shown up this series.  Boston gets a lot of credit but there have been way too many walks and hbp.  Maldonado handing out free bases like candy hasn't helped either.

[Rockethorn1978 6,077]

My personal opinion is when you starting moving the parts around and changing a lineup you have had all season you are in panic mode. And it clearly hasn’t worked as we are down 3-1. Bullpen isn’t shutting shit down like last year. Boston is playing like Houston did last year, clutch hits, all the breaks and a great bullpen. It’s why no one ever repeats.

hopefully we get aggressive in the off season and load up 

[Bull Horn 118]

I said the same shit last night.... "Welcome back to Earth Tyler"

He also looks like Happy Gilmore’s caddy. So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.

Let’s get this one tonight and go from there.

Go ‘Stros!

[YChang 3,443]

Just go 1-0 tonight Stros. I don't care how they do it, please win tonight. 

[UDontKnow 10,444]

2 hours ago, Lat22 said:

Why do these games take so long? Regular season 9 inning games don’t go 4+ hours.

More breaks associated with more pitching changes and mound visits in the post-season?

[mbtex 683]

Still fucking pissed. 

[TexArcher 37,774]

Guy at the office coffee pot said he thought the call was right.  I stared at him for about 7 seconds until it became uncomfortable and said, "no."  And I walked away.

I can't be here today.

[Scraps 13,561]

Guy at the office coffee pot said he thought the call was right.  I stared at him for about 7 seconds until it became uncomfortable and said, "no."  And I walked away.
I can't be here today.

Kick him in the balls

[GHOSTUSER 361]

Still fucking pissed. 

Me too. Staring off at space in my office thinking about all the bad breaks from last night. Damn I’m in a crappy mood.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,190]

1 hour ago, Scraps said:

Personally I would just flip Springer and Bregman.  

Springer, Breg, Altuve, Marwin, Correa, Yuli, Reddick, Machete, Kemp and lets go win the whole fucking thing

Before this series started I firmly believed that there was no way McCann should see any playing time.  My belief has turned a full 180; Maldonado can go fuck himself before he fucks us again.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Fudge Nuggets

[UTexasFight 9,432]

More breaks associated with more pitching changes and mound visits in the post-season?

Commercial breaks are at least a minute longer too.
That’s a minimum of 18 minutes right there.

[UTexasFight 9,432]

Before this series started I firmly believed that there was no way McCann should see any playing time.  My belief has turned a full 180; Maldonado can go fuck himself before he fucks us again.

has someone gone back and counted the number of cross-ups since he came over?
Seems at least one a game and even more now in the playoffs.