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2019 Houston Astros Thread

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Newest Astro fan was born earlier today at 12:09 am Mez3, holla!

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9463

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oh, and jv is set to pass cy young in career strikeouts on sunday.
but somehow not on sunday night baseball, again.

It’s a bit ridiculous if you still buy in to the “game of the week” idea* but that’s it. The production is shit, the announcing is shit, the earlier start this year is nice, but as someone who live 3 hours away and likes making a weekend game every now and then, the more Sunday days games on home weekends the better

* which it’s not. It’s the game that involves the best opponent for the Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees or Red Sox
Every now and then, spice it up with the better teams from the NL (Braves, Nats, Cards and Mets)which typically has shorter game times.
That’s about it... seriously. Red Sox and Yankees are the only two AL teams currently scheduled to appear on Sunday Night Baseball the rest of the season (11 games set; 7 weeks TBD
(Angels (rained out) and Indians are the only others that have appeared so far)

I’m assuming June 23 in the Bronx will get selected as our lone appearance this year.
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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9463

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We are gonna win the West by about 30 games

That’s probably not far off. It wouldn’t be outrageous to set o/u at 24.5 right now.

I’ll take 24.
That would mean 104-58 with 2nd place 80-82.
(That’s what 2nd place was in 2017, fwiw)

The rest of the division is already doing its revolving door for 2nd place like it did two years ago. First Mariners, now Rangers. Angels and A’s will take their turns the next couple of months.

(And yes, the Rangers are excited about their current place in the standings:

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Mez2

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7 hours ago, UTexasFight said:


That’s probably not far off. It wouldn’t be outrageous to set o/u at 24.5 right now.

I’ll take 24.
That would mean 104-58 with 2nd place 80-82.
(That’s what 2nd place was in 2017, fwiw)

The rest of the division is already doing its revolving door for 2nd place like it did two years ago. First Mariners, now Rangers. Angels and A’s will take their turns the next couple of months.

(And yes, the Rangers are excited about their current place in the standings:

 

 

Play boomer sooner?

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Scraps

Scraps 13561

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8 hours ago, UTexasFight said:

It’s a bit ridiculous if you still buy in to the “game of the week” idea* but that’s it. The production is shit, the announcing is shit, the earlier start this year is nice, but as someone who live 3 hours away and likes making a weekend game every now and then, the more Sunday days games on home weekends the better

 

* which it’s not. It’s the game that involves the best opponent for the Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees or Red Sox

Every now and then, spice it up with the better teams from the NL (Braves, Nats, Cards and Mets)which typically has shorter game times.

That’s about it... seriously. Red Sox and Yankees are the only two AL teams currently scheduled to appear on Sunday Night Baseball the rest of the season (11 games set; 7 weeks TBD

(Angels (rained out) and Indians are the only others that have appeared so far)

 

I’m assuming June 23 in the Bronx will get selected as our lone appearance this year.

 

Highly doubt it. Its a 2:05E game because that is their legends day and they do a game prior to the real game starting at like 11:30am

 

Also we were already on Sunday Night Baseball against the Indians...so that may be our lone appearance.   This Sunday it is probably mainly because the Red Sox play an afternoon game Monday, while the Braves and Cards are both off Monday.  

 

 

 

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29191

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3 hours ago, Scraps said:

 

Also we were already on Sunday Night Baseball against the Indians...so that may be our lone appearance.   This Sunday it is probably mainly because the Red Sox play an afternoon game Monday, while the Braves and Cards are both off Monday.  

sucks to be a cardinals fan this season.

i think they've had 2 fridays off, and now they have memorial day off (when almost everyone has a day game).

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WBT

WBT 20588

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2 hours ago, huge said:

Atros odds are -5000 to win the division.

 

That's 2% return to be paid off in just over 4 months.  That's a little better than you can get on a CD and probably less risk.  Sign me up.

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Rimbo

Rimbo 25970

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Some redditor shared this piece from The Athletic today on JV, Cole and Pressly, and their improvement in the Astros organization.

Spoiler

Upon walking into the visiting clubhouse during the late innings, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow came upon a remarkable scene Friday night: Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander engaged in a deep conversation about Cole’s just-completed five-inning outing at Fenway Park.

Cole had required 99 pitches to hold the Red Sox scoreless, and here he was replaying it all with Verlander moments later — his thought processes, his pitch selections, his sequencing. The discussion was so detailed, so intense, Luhnow had little doubt the two would continue exchanging ideas into the night, after the game was over.

The Astros’ success in transforming the usage patterns of their pitchers is well-documented. They advise virtually every starter and reliever they acquire to throw fewer sinking fastballs, more breaking balls, more four-seam fastballs in the upper part of the strike zone. Cole and Verlander were among those who embraced the data-driven adjustments to their repertoires, but both say analytics is not the sole reason for their excellence in Houston.

The reality is more complex than a simple paint-by-numbers exercise, involving a combination of analytics, coaching suggestions and the pitchers’ respective curiosities and skills. The common denominator is the Astros’ emphasis on maximizing strengths. But within that framework, the pitchers also are free to navigate their own journeys.

Verlander, acquired from the Tigers on the final day of August in 2017, continues to draw on his vast wealth of experience. Cole, who arrived from the Pirates in Jan. 2018, taps into the minds of Verlander and other veteran Astros teammates. Reliever Ryan Pressly, an import from the Twins at the 2018 non-waiver deadline, benefits not just from an increased use of his breaking pitches, but also a reduced workload.

“If it was one thing, we would give it to every minor leaguer we have and have an abundance of success stories,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch says. “But we experiment. And we allow the player to experiment. The feedback is both ways.

“When you have players like JV and Cole, established guys who are still learning — what do you think (rookie right-hander) Corbin Martin is going to do when he gets here? What do you think Pressly is going to do when he comes over? They build off that.”

Much of the conversation about the Astros and their major-league best 33-16 record revolves around their .506 slugging percentage, which would set an all-time record (as would the Twins’ .502 current mark). Yet, the Astros also rank second in the majors with a 3.31 ERA despite losing three of their starting pitchers from last season — lefty Dallas Keuchel and righty Charlie Morton, who left as free agents, and righty Lance McCullers, who underwent Tommy John surgery in November.

Rival clubs fear pitchers reaching new levels of performance with the Astros, levels that make trades look increasingly lopsided over time. Consider the Pirates’ haul for Cole: right-hander Joe Musgrove, third baseman Colin Moran, outfielder Jason Martin and reliever Michael Feliz. Not bad, but less than it might have been if Cole had been the potential $200 million free agent he is now, rather than the pitcher who produced a 4.26 ERA for Pittsburgh in 2017.

Luhnow chuckles as he deflects the notion that teams should stop trading with the Astros, noting that he sent left-hander Josh Hader to the Brewers as part of a four-player package for right-hander Mike Fiers and outfielder Carlos Gómez in 2015. Still, few clubs, if any, get as much out of their pitchers as the Astros. And it doesn’t hurt that their two aces, Verlander and Cole, draw the best out of each other, too.

Gerrit Cole (Jesse Johnson / USA Today) Even before joining the Astros, Cole had started to evolve. Though the numbers don’t show him throwing the four-seam fastball more often in 2017, his final year with the Pirates, he had discussions with the team about making greater use of the pitch.

Club officials believed elevated four-seamers would help him produce better overall results as he changed eye levels with his curveball, slider and two-seam, or sinking, fastball. Yet even then, Cole says he did not fully grasp how much better of a pitch his four-seamer was than his two-seamer, or which locations he needed to hit to generate the best performance. The Astros gave him that information, and Cole’s former teammates in Pittsburgh have told him that the Pirates later made it available to players, as well.

“They don’t have a Justin Verlander, though. And they didn’t have Dallas Keuchel. And they didn’t have Brian McCann,” Cole says. “Those guys played just as big a role, if not a bigger role.”

Verlander, a former Cy Young award winner, spoke with Cole about perceived velocity — what fastball velocity looks like to the hitter, based on a pitcher’s extension, where he releases the ball. According to Statcast, Cole has improved his average perceived velocity from 95.92 mph in his final season with the Pirates to 96.13 in 2018 and 96.45 in ’19.

Keuchel, another former Cy winner, explained to Cole how to tunnel pitches as well as how to make hitters lose awareness of one side of the plate and get them to expand. Right-hander Charlie Morton advised Cole on the similar transition he made to more of a four-seam/curveball type with Houston. And McCann, whom Cole regards as “one of the better catchers of all time,” articulated what he saw in Cole’s stuff from behind the plate, sharing more of a hitter’s perspective.

“We’ve really opened his eyes, I think,” Verlander says. “Some of it’s the analytics. But a lot of it was some of the stuff I had learned through my career and Dallas had learned. All the idiosyncratic baseball knowledge of how to pitch and use your strengths. Just talking to him about his strengths.

“That’s one thing they do really well here — they show you your strengths. As easy as that seems, it’s not. Once you know your bread-and-butter, then you can really go down this deep path of how to use that to the best of your ability.”

Cole, like Verlander, is quite cerebral; during home games, he will sit at the same end of the dugout as Hinch and pitching coach Brent Strom, bantering with them over decisions and strategy. He does not simply rely on the Astros’ data; he continues to do his own preparation between starts, poring over scouting reports, game-planning with catcher Robinson Chirinos.

His evolution also includes another important aspect: The adjustments he made in his strength and conditioning toward the end of his injury-marred 2016 season in Pittsburgh, which marked the second time in three years he had gone on the injured list twice.

“I hired some new (specialists),” Cole says. “I put more effort into movement patterns and creating stability. I never had a problem creating horsepower. But stopping in a sustainable way (decelerating his arm), there was room to be desired.”

His physical changes helped him make mechanical adjustments resulting in a higher vertical release point and dramatically improved spin rate on his four-seam fastball. (The Athletic’s Eno Sarris wrote in May 2018 about spin and Trevor Bauer’s insinuations that the Astros were cheating).

“Some of that is me,” Cole says. “Some of it is learning some of those moves from Justin of watching other guys who have sustained it for a long time. It’s hard not to learn in that clubhouse. It’s such a unique environment.”

And its impact on Cole is clear.

He ranks eighth in the majors in pitching fWAR, and for the second straight season leads the majors in strikeout rate, averaging 13.8 per nine innings. His career ERA plus, strikeout rate and walk rate are now remarkably similar to what Max Scherzer’s were just before he became a free agent at the end of the 2014 season. Scherzer signed a seven-year, $210 million deal with the Nationals. Cole, who turns 29 on Sept. 8, might end up in the same range.

“He was just figuring out his needs, physical and mental,” Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage says, referring back to Cole’s time in Pittsburgh. “We had some issues to battle with health, but what he is doing now doesn’t surprise me. He’s a smart kid, and being with experienced pitchers only sped up the process. When A.J. Burnett was here, he helped him. Peers are so valuable.”

Verlander, after joining the Astros late in the 2017 season, reveled in the team’s data like a child indulging in chocolate. The team’s analysts joked that he was the first player to ever ask for more information than the club was providing. With the use of a super high-speed camera, Verlander even improved the hand position on his slider.

To Verlander, 36, the move from old-school Detroit to new-age Houston was energizing. He was more than happy to credit the Astros’ state-of-the-art approach as he produced a 2.21 ERA in 36 2/3 innings during the 2017 postseason, winning the ALCS MVP and helping the team to its first World Series title.

Yet, like Cole, Verlander already was heading in the proper direction. He had begun to explore analytics at the suggestion of his former Tigers manager, Brad Ausmus. In 2016, he finished a close second to Rick Porcello in the 2016 AL Cy Young voting. In ’17, he had a 4.96 ERA on July 2, but after correcting his mechanics produced a 2.31 ERA in his final 11 starts before the trade.

“The data they had here, it helps,” Verlander says. “But at the same time, I was kind of figuring it out.”

Which isn’t to say that Verlander, who ranks second in the AL with a 2.24 ERA, lacks appreciation for the boost the Astros provided to his career. Just the other day, he was talking to Cole about his days at Old Dominion, before the Tigers made him the second pick overall behind Matt Bush — Matt Bush! — in the 2004 draft. Back then, and even until very recently, he failed to grasp that he was best throwing riding four-seam fastballs, not bowling-ball sinkers.

“Even going back to college, I used to get so mad,” Verlander says. “Guys would throw a ‘heavy’ ball. You’d hear that — the catcher is catching some guy and he’s like, ‘Man, that’s heavy.’ And I’m throwing to him and asking, ‘Is that heavy?’ And he’s like, ‘No, that’s really light.’

“I’m like, ‘F—! How the f—- do I get this heavy ball?’ But I’ve come to find out, and what has probably made my whole career, is this riding fastball that is the opposite of a heavy ball. Back then, I was searching for that. And it’s like no, what has made me unique is my spin and the way I stay behind the ball.”

Nearly a decade-and-a-half later, the Astros saw the same thing.

“I do think shoving the two-seamer has had a major impact,” Verlander says. “The way they explained it to me, some guys have good two-seamers, some guys don’t, and your two-seamer is basically a lesser version of your four-seamer. It doesn’t have any real two-seam action.

“That was a pretty simple explanation for me. Why am I using it if it’s just doing the hitter a favor, which it was? It doesn’t have any extra sink. It doesn’t have much more run. And it just has less rise. What are we doing here?”

Verlander — now in his second full season with the team, with a two-year, $66-million extension starting next season — continues to take advantage of the information the Astros offer. He says he spends four hours between starts searching for the tendencies and weaknesses of his next opponent, including two hours in front of a computer on the day he pitches.

And yet, he is not about to ignore the lessons of his years, the experience he has gained since first stepping onto a major-league mound on July 4, 2005. His internal hard drive is comprised of nearly 3,000 innings in the majors, including 152 1/3 in the postseason.

“There are always the instincts you don’t want to shy away from. That’s my big thing. I’ve got all this information, all these scouting reports, all these numbers, but when I’m out there pitching, I’m going to trust this …”

He points to his head.

“… and these …”

He points to his eyes.

“… more than anything.”

Pressly, who has pitched a major-league record 40 consecutive scoreless appearances, offers a straightforward explanation for his stunning improvement with the Astros. He knew he needed to throw his curveball more, but did not know how much more.

The following chart from BrooksBaseball.net reveals the answers:

Period    Four-Seam    Sinker    Slider    Curve 2018 Twins    44%    5%    27%    24% 2018 Astros 34%    1%    28%    37% 2019 Astros    38%    0%    27%    35% “It was always, ‘You have to throw your off-speed for strikes’ – everyone knows that,” Pressly says. “I just wasn’t able to do it until I had the freedom from (former Twins pitching coach) Garvin Alston to do it in (2018) spring training.

“He gave me the keys and the Astros pretty much just turned the car on.”

Another way to put is that the Twins understood what kind of car they had — Pressly’s elite four-seam and curveball spin rates led to him being coveted at last year’s non-waiver deadline — but perhaps had the wrong mechanics to maximize its performance.

Astros pitching coach Brent Strom recalls a conversation he had with Twins bullpen coach Jeremy Hefner, whom the Astros interviewed last November after their bullpen coach, Doug White, left to become pitching coach of the Angels.

“(Hefner) indicated their analytics people were talking about more of a (curveball) usage, but for some reason, there might have been a communication gap between their new analytics and whoever was on the field, I don’t know,” Strom says.

The Twins have not acknowledged such a gap, but they fired both Alston and bullpen coach Eddie Guardado at the end of the season and replaced them with two first-time major-league instructors who embrace data, pitching coach Wes Johnson and Hefner.

The difference in the Twins’ pitching is striking. After ranking ninth in the AL with a 4.50 ERA last season, they are fifth with a 3.82 ERA in 2019. The team’s 29-1 record when leading after six innings is further testament to its bullpen. But imagine where the Twins might be if they had not traded Pressly for Class A outfielder Gilberto Celestino, their No. 15 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, and Double A right-hander Jorge Alcala, their No. 18 prospect.

Pressly, 30, only was under control through 2019 at the time (he later signed a two-year, $17.5 million extension with the Astros through ‘21). The other mitigating factor was that the Twins were on their way to a 78-84 finish, and had not yet hired manager Rocco Baldelli and constructed the roster that currently leads the AL Central by 6 1/2 games.

“I give Ryan and the Astros a ton of credit. He made some quality adjustments and really took another step forward,” Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey says. “While it’s never easy to trade away good major league players we felt like we got a starter in Double A with electric stuff and high upside and an everyday position player who was one of the best from his international signing class for a year and a half of control of a good major-league player. For us, at the time and still today, we feel that was the right level of return to make that trade.”

The Astros, though, did not simply ask Pressly to increase the use of his curveball. The strength of their bullpen, anchored by closer Roberto Osuna, another acquisition at the 2018 non-waiver deadline, also enabled them to limit Pressly’s workload, contributing to the uptick in his performance.

Maybe the Twins would have made the same adjustment with Pressly, but through 49 games under their previous staff last season he had worked 27 1/3 innings in 28 games. Through 49 games with this season, he has worked 21 innings in 19 games.

“He had a monstrous workload over with Minnesota, which then impacts the breaking ball,” Strom says. “Sandy Koufax once told me it takes more power to throw quality breaking balls than it does quality fastballs. It takes more energy, more effort.

“(Pressly) being a breaking-ball pitcher primarily with a very good fastball, and us being fortunate to have enough people around him who were quality, allowed him to fit into a role as opposed to being a jack-of-all-trades, pitching three runs down, three runs up.”

So, it was not just one thing with Pressly. It is never one thing when it comes to the Astros and their pitchers, never one number that screams, “gotcha!” The team’s process is both more subtle and more expansive, “not a secret sauce,” Hinch says, “as much as a combination.”

Those voices you hear in the clubhouse? Oh, that’s just Cole and Verlander, growing animated about some 2-2, one-out slider one of them threw with a runner on second in the sixth inning, trying to protect a one-run lead.

The information flows. The conversations continue. The Astros carry on.

 

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29191

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“That was a pretty simple explanation for me. Why am I using it if it’s just doing the hitter a favor, which it was? It doesn’t have any extra sink. It doesn’t have much more run. And it just has less rise.

What are we doing here?”

straight out of moneyball.

great article, pos rep.

also lulz at minny with:

“While it’s never easy to trade away good major league players we felt like we got a starter in Double A with electric stuff and high upside and an everyday position player who was one of the best from his international signing class for a year and a half of control of a good major-league player. For us, at the time and still today, we feel that was the right level of return to make that trade.”

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Seasick Sailor

Seasick Sailor 3747

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Yordan Alvarez Has Figured Out this Baseball Stuff

By Dan Syzmborski

What does ZiPS have for Yordan Alvarez’s translation?

Is Alvarez for real?
 
Do the Astros need to call up Alvarez right now?

Scattered within my weekly chat questions about cat and chili, there were quite a few questions revolving on Yordan Alvarez, who has spent the first two months of the 2019 season traumatizing minor league pitchers. So naturally, instead of answering the questions, I greedily saved the Alvarez talk for an article on the subject.

Prior to this season, Alvarez was ranked seventh in Houston’s farm system by Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel on the strength of his raw power potential. Ranking seventh on the Astros says more about the team’s organizational strength than any negative about Alvarez; he’s not someone who would appear in a Fringe Five column. While with a lot of minor league outfielders, you try to see if they can stick in center as long as possible, this was never a realistic option for Alvarez, who is cut from the massive slugger template.

But if you thought he was a one-dimensional type of hitter, a Pedro Cerrano type, you’d be wrong. While it’s not believed that he’ll maintain high batting averages in the majors, I think he might hang onto better averages than many think. For one, he has an efficient, easy swing and is willing to use the entire field, making him less likely to be subject to shift abuse than some other sluggers in the majors. Just to illustrate, here’s Alvarez’s spray chart in the minors in 2019 compared to Max Kepler, a more pull-heavy left-handed hitter.

 

Alvarez-Kepler.png

Alvarez has kept his swinging strike rate under 10% in the high minors, and in the early going, he has cut off about a quarter of his 2018 strikeout rate. His walk rate has also edged higher; Alvarez is a hitter who eats what he hunts. ZiPS uses play-by-play data to estimate a version of xBABIP that I refer to as zBABIP (you don’t win the Kewpie doll for guessing what the z stands for). Alvarez won’t keep the .424 BABIP that’s currently driving his .400 batting average in the minors, of course, but the hit data suggests he may keep quite a lot of it.

 
Yordan Alvarez, zBABIP vs. BABIP
Year zBABIP BABIP
2017 (A) .360 .449
2017 (A+) .297 .316
2018 (AA) .382 .377
2018 (AAA) .318 .315
2019 (AAA) .404 .424

He’s hit a lot of home runs — 18 as I write this on Tuesday evening — but he’s hit nearly as many doubles, enough to result in a juicy isolated power north of .450. That he’s actually hitting minor leaguers as you would expect a .400 BABIP hitter to do (something which doesn’t even exist in the majors) largely suggests a batter that’s not being properly challenged at his level of play. Alvarez’s 31.6% line drive rate leads all qualified Triple-A hitters.

I went through all of Alvarez’s home runs to find a couple of the more interesting ones and then GIFified my two favorites. For the first one, an opposite-field shot, what strikes me is just how very casual it all appeared to be, as if he was casually smoking a cigar while knocking a 90-yarder onto the green with a pitching wedge.

giphy.gif

For the second one, I wanted to find one in Alvarez’s wheelhouse. Back in January, Jeff Quattrociocchi wrote about estimating minor league home run distancefrom MiLB hit coordinates. Using this estimate, fully half of Alvarez’s 18 home runs have gone at least 400 feet, with three over the 450-foot mark. The longest one, at an estimated 467 feet, was this monster that was intercepted by the sign for a concession serving delicious beverages of an alcoholic nature.

giphy.gif

So what does this all mean from a projection standpoint? Coming into the season, ZiPS projected Alvarez at .255/.315/.440, 107 wRC+, 1.0 WAR in 425 projected plate appearances (remember, ZiPS is agnostic on who teams choose to play in the majors). There were some real questions about Alvarez past his defense coming into the season. He still had limited time in the high minors, and thanks to a hand injury in 2018, still has not played 100 games in a minor league season. His Triple-A performance in 2018 was sub-scintillating, and ZiPS translated his two full minor-league years at .255/.308/.387 and .256/.319/.448.

For 2019, which includes adjustments for the increased offense in the minor leagues, ZiPS translates Alvarez’s 40 games in 2019 at .342/.420/.626 with 10 home runs. That’s… uh… good. That’s not a projection, of course, but a translation of a small slice of past play. But good news, I’ve got one of those projection dealies!

 
Updated ZiPS Projections – Yordan Alvarez
Year BA OBP SLG AB R H 2B HR RBI BB SO SB OPS+ DR WAR
Rest of 2019 .267 .333 .483 288 43 77 15 15 46 29 82 4 123 -2 1.7
2020 .272 .343 .508 445 74 121 25 26 87 49 117 5 133 -3 2.8
2021 .272 .348 .517 437 74 119 27 26 87 51 118 5 137 -3 2.9
2022 .269 .349 .518 438 75 118 26 27 88 54 121 5 138 -3 3.0
2023 .267 .348 .516 438 76 117 26 27 89 55 124 6 137 -4 2.9
2024 .267 .353 .524 431 77 115 25 28 90 58 124 6 140 -4 3.1
2025 .263 .351 .524 422 75 111 24 28 88 58 123 5 140 -4 3.0

That’s quite a shift, and ZiPS is not alone in its exuberance. Steamer has moved up 95 points of OPS from its preseason estimation as well. Simply put, there were some questions about Alvarez coming into 2019, and he’s answered them just as well as anybody possibly could in two months. In the eyes of ZiPS, Alvarez is now an equivalent offensive prospect to Eloy Jimenez after 2018.

The Houston Astros have a lot of questions about their rotation long-term thanks to past and future departures from their World Series roster. But with Yordan Alvarez’s breakout 2019, Kyle Tucker, and still some hope for Derek Fisher, the team will be able to absorb some losses in the outfield.

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WBT

WBT 20588

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8 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

also i like that luhnow clearly isn't over that gomez/fiers/hader deal, even after the obvious success of verlander, cole, pressly, osuna, etc.

good.  keep that anger.

To be fair, I'm not over it either

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Scraps

Scraps 13561

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Shit seems awfully steep....$100 

The Touch of History: Past and Present Tour offers an unprecedented opportunity for guests to view and touch historic baseball artifacts. Participants will connect with Houston baseball history through game-used bats, jerseys, baseballs, and more from Houston-area baseball legends, ranging from the time of the Texas League Houston Buffs up to the present American League West Division Champion Houston Astros.

This experience is led by our Tours Coordinator, who will share entertaining stories, while guests hold Houston baseball's most treasured artifacts. Touch of History: Past and Present guests will also enjoy a Pregame Tour of Minute Maid Park, including stops at the Upper Deck, Luxury Suites, and Honda Club Level before heading to the Raymond James - Alex. Brown Diamond Club seats to view Astros batting practice (locations subject to availability).

The Touch of History: Past and Present experience lasts approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. There are no refunds or exchanges for late arrivals or no shows. 

Touch of History guests will have the opportunity to hold 10 artifacts, randomly selected by our staff. Featured artifacts may include:

  • "Ducky" Joe Medwick Houston Buffs bat - 1932 
  • Dizzy Dean's cleats from his days with the Buffs - 1931 
  • Game-worn Houston Buffs jersey - 1959 
  • Oldest jersey in franchise history: Game-worn Colt .45's road spring training jersey - 1962 
  • Game-worn, original-style, Astros "shooting star" home jersey - 1969
  • Astros team-issued "shooting star" warm-up jacket - early 1970's
  • Jeff Bagwell rookie jersey - 1991
  • Craig Biggio game-used cap - 2000's
  • Craig Biggio game-used bat - 2000's
  • Final out ball of the National League Championship Series - 2005
  • Craig Biggio final game jersey - 2007
  • Jose Altuve Batting Title jersey - 2017 
  • Jose Altuve game-used batting helmet - 2017 
  • Alex Bregman World Series Game 7 jersey - 2017 
  • World Series Championship Ring - 2017
 

*Each artifact is subject to availability

Tickets are sold below on a first-come, first-served basis. Touch of History: Past and Present sessions may also be scheduled for private and corporate events. Please email tourstaff@astros.com with questions pertaining to the program or for information on how to book a private Touch of History: Past and Present event. 

Touch of History: Past and Present tour costs $100 per person.

All guests participating in the Touch of History: Past and Present Tour are required to have a ticket to the game (sold separately). For game ticket inquiries, visit astros.com/tickets

 

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Rimbo

Rimbo 25970

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1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

Reading that Article Gave me goosebumps !!!

everyone in the Reddit thread is saying we should reward the author for this and other great articles by ponying up money to The Athletic, and I can't argue with that logic

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29191

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Posted

also (in regards to the article, luhnow, and the specific trades), how many front offices would've won a world series, then the following year made a trade for a former #1 pick and frontline starter?  and in that same year, completely rebuild the back half of their bullpen?  then the next year, sign a new cleanup man (especially considering our lineup)?

what's the opposite of complacency?

 

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Player

Player 4575

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1 hour ago, Scraps said:

Shit seems awfully steep....$100 

The Touch of History: Past and Present Tour offers an unprecedented opportunity for guests to view and touch historic baseball artifacts. Participants will connect with Houston baseball history through game-used bats, jerseys, baseballs, and more from Houston-area baseball legends, ranging from the time of the Texas League Houston Buffs up to the present American League West Division Champion Houston Astros.

This experience is led by our Tours Coordinator, who will share entertaining stories, while guests hold Houston baseball's most treasured artifacts. Touch of History: Past and Present guests will also enjoy a Pregame Tour of Minute Maid Park, including stops at the Upper Deck, Luxury Suites, and Honda Club Level before heading to the Raymond James - Alex. Brown Diamond Club seats to view Astros batting practice (locations subject to availability).

The Touch of History: Past and Present experience lasts approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. There are no refunds or exchanges for late arrivals or no shows. 

Touch of History guests will have the opportunity to hold 10 artifacts, randomly selected by our staff. Featured artifacts may (but not necessarily will) include:

  • "Ducky" Joe Medwick Houston Buffs bat - 1932 
  • Dizzy Dean's cleats from his days with the Buffs - 1931 
  • Game-worn Houston Buffs jersey - 1959 
  • Oldest jersey in franchise history: Game-worn Colt .45's road spring training jersey - 1962 
  • Game-worn, original-style, Astros "shooting star" home jersey - 1969
  • Astros team-issued "shooting star" warm-up jacket - early 1970's
  • Jeff Bagwell rookie jersey - 1991
  • Craig Biggio game-used cap - 2000's
  • Craig Biggio game-used bat - 2000's
  • Final out ball of the National League Championship Series - 2005
  • Craig Biggio final game jersey - 2007
  • Jose Altuve Batting Title jersey - 2017 
  • Jose Altuve game-used batting helmet - 2017 
  • Alex Bregman World Series Game 7 jersey - 2017 
  • World Series Championship Ring - 2017
 

 

Considering the piss poor job they did with the Astros hall of fame walk in left field, there's no way I'd pony up $100 for this. For those of you haven't been able to make it to MMP yet this season, the new HOF display showcases jerseys and caps for the featured players that were ordered straight from fanatics. None of them are game worn. Other than a few of Milo's old scorebooks and microphone, there are also very few authentic artifacts. I think there's what appears to be an authentic glove in the Shane Reynolds display case, and there also is an old glove in the Joe Niekro case, but it's a freaking first baseman's mitt. 

It's disappointing, especially since I know guys like Biggio, Bagwell, Dierker, Cruz, etc., would have all been happy to donate some authentic stuff to put on display. 

Scraps, I think you mentioned that you're going to Cincy next month. Allow yourself plenty of time to visit the Reds HOF when you go to the ballpark. It's badass, and there's a ton of cool stuff to see, and I think it's free with your game ticket as well. 

 

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Jshep34

Jshep34 2308

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Posted

That h.o.f. walk is a huge disappointment. Especially when compared to other parks. I know Astros dont have a huge history in the eyes of mlb national media but atleast put some real pieces in those cases.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

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elfenix

elfenix 34275

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27 minutes ago, Scraps said:

Yep I have the tour booked for Monday prior to the game in the afternoon and will go through that whole place

i'll be there for tuesday and wednesday.  adding that to the itinerary around trips to eat greek spaghetti (barf). 

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