2019 Houston Astros Thread

[Beau Vine 54381]

43 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

Is anyone else feeling a little bit ragey about the baseball talking heads running naked and screaming into the sky about the interference call? Not only did it not change the outcome of the game, but the call was the absolutely correct call and it's pretty clear in the rule book what the running lane is and when a runner is outside of the running lane and impedes the fielder from receiving the throw, it's interference. If Turner had been a step to the right instead of running on the grass in a straight line, Yuli's glove wouldn't have been knocked off his hand. It's crazy to me that everyone is ignoring that and not understanding what constitutes interference.

The arguments have shown a lot of overlap between "it was a bad call" and "it's a bad rule," which is unfortunate, because those are two completely different issues.  

[tx 3 putt 77335]

10 minutes ago, HoustonFrog said:

Not making Scherzer pitch last night was huge (in a bad way)

Warming up to the point you’re ready to come in is very taxing on the arm 

Edited October 30, 2019 by tx 3 putt

[Ichabod 184]

1. We are going to win

2. It has been a great pleasure with y'all this season

3. If we don't win we got Lil Shep as our ace in the hole for next year

[ChickenSandwich 9849]

Need to be aggressive. Reddick should

have been sent on Springers double. 

[TonyTexas 10524]

Everyone should brace themselves for the inevitable Gibson/Shilling storyline for Max Scherzer, warrior extraordinaire. Ad nauseam. 

[Mo Horn 8853]

So trying to find a bright side no matter what happens tonight. If we come up short does that give Cole reason to take less money knowing the best chance to get right back here next year is to stay with the Stros? With a ring the largest long term deal in the history of baseball is probably assured, but somewhere else. Without one... maybe it gives him pause. Having said that, let's just win it tonight and worry about that next week. 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

3 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Need to be aggressive. Reddick should

have been sent on Springers double. 

He would have been out.  So it was the right call not to send him.

However, Reddick screwed up by stopping and hesitating to see if Rendon could have caught it.  He was already way far away from first and thus would have been out had Rendon caught it.  So he should have just run.  Had he not stopped and hesitated, he scores easily.  That was the mistake.  Pettis did the right thing once the mistake was made.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

5 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

Everyone should brace themselves for the inevitable Gibson/Shilling storyline for Max Scherzer, warrior extraordinaire. Ad nauseam. 

Good thing I will be at the game and not have to listen to that bullshit.  Or look at the strike zone box.

[housious 468]

5 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

Everyone should brace themselves for the inevitable Gibson/Shilling storyline for Max Scherzer, warrior extraordinaire. Ad nauseam. 

All we need is a neck brace with some blood on it

[Pimphand 5853]

If we're looking for omens, here's one Astros fans don't want to know about. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Greinke will be the fourth pitcher to start a winner-take-all game in the World Series for a team that he didn't begin the season with. None of the previous three made it through the second inning.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

Fucking this:

 

[tx 3 putt 77335]

We break that streak tonight. 

[cabowabo 4513]

Need to be aggressive. Reddick should
have been sent on Springers double. 

He would have been thrown out by a mile.

[DaysOff 7969]

The arguments have shown a lot of overlap between "it was a bad call" and "it's a bad rule," which is unfortunate, because those are two completely different issues.  

A rule we all learned in 1st grade dad pitch.

[ChickenSandwich 9849]

Double

Edited October 30, 2019 by ChickenSandwich

[DaysOff 7969]

And there's a metric shit ton if inventory on the secondary market. I expect prices to continue to drop as the day goes on. It's definitely a buyer's market out there.

Sounds like Houstonians are super confident.

[FondrenRoad 4378]

7 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Fucking this:

 

If you listen to the announcers, we haven't had a bad call go against us all series.  Its ridiculous actually.

In the end, the stupid 10 minute pause in the game to review an unreviewable call iced Harris and that likely led to Rendon's HR.  They benefited from the only truly bad and wrong call made in that fiasco.  The decision to review. 

[runthebone 8029]

Fuck everyone else.  Embrace the heel turn and win tonight.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13521]

15 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

He would have been out.  So it was the right call not to send him.

However, Reddick screwed up by stopping and hesitating to see if Rendon could have caught it.  He was already way far away from first and thus would have been out had Rendon caught it.  So he should have just run.  Had he not stopped and hesitated, he scores easily.  That was the mistake.  Pettis did the right thing once the mistake was made.

Yep. Reddick hopped back and forth watching how the play was developing.  In hindsight, he needed to be more aggressive at that point in the game especially how we now know it turned out.

[Guadaloopy 11012]

17 minutes ago, Pimphand said:

If we're looking for omens, here's one Astros fans don't want to know about. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Greinke will be the fourth pitcher to start a winner-take-all game in the World Series for a team that he didn't begin the season with. None of the previous three made it through the second inning.

Meh... there have been a lot of tendencies broken and a lot of firsts in this WS. 
 

But I do appreciate the Yu Darvish reminder.  

[UTexasFight 9523]

Single SRO.
Asking $320
Well below current rate after considering fees.
Venmo/Paypal

Transfer via ballpark app.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

I guess catcher's interference isn't reviewable for the same reason the call last night wasn't--they're judgment calls. But there doesn't seem to be much judgment involved in determining whether a batter hits the catcher's glove. 

[Dnaguy 12045]

28 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Need to be aggressive. Reddick should

have been sent on Springers double. 

Redick should have gotten his head out of his ass and run full speed instead of 1.) stopping when it was hit and 2.) not running full out.

The Astros baseball IQ is low on the bases and it has shown this series.

They better hope their bats wake up or the Nats shit the bed defensively b/c they couldn’t manufacture a run to save their lives.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13521]

14 minutes ago, DaysOff said:

51 minutes ago, royiv said:

And there's a metric shit ton if inventory on the secondary market. I expect prices to continue to drop as the day goes on. It's definitely a buyer's market out there.

Sounds like Houstonians are super confident.

Houston fans were beaten down from 1978-2016 with the exception of 2 years of the Rockets. The result is that many people are so risk averse that they're more worried about wasting time/money on seeing a loss as opposed to potential of seeing a once-in-a-lifetime win tonight.

Geez, we were ready to throw the team a parade on Sunday night and now too many people are obviously down on them for a bad game. If the Astros play like how these people feel, we would be done. I think the team is better than that.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

4 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

I guess catcher's interference isn't reviewable for the same reason the call last night wasn't--they're judgment calls. But there doesn't seem to be much judgment involved in determining whether a batter hits the catcher's glove. 

Can't they also review hit by pitches to see if the ball brushes a jersey?  I swear I have seen that.  If so, catcher's interference when the bat hits the freaking glove should have been reviewable.

[TexArcher 38028]

25 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Fucking this:

 

Fucking bingo.

What this entire debate about the "controversial call" shows is:

A) media bias against Houston

B) fan ignorance of the rules

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

1 minute ago, Johnny Sack said:

Can't they also review hit by pitches to see if the ball brushes a jersey?  I swear I have seen that.  If so, catcher's interference when the bat hits the freaking glove should have been reviewable.

They can, and I agree. But I think for MLB's purposes interference = judgment call so no review.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

1 minute ago, TexArcher said:

media bias against Houston

Yeah, we are seeing the effects of the response to the Taubman incident and JV banning the Detroit reporter from the club house. 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

3 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

They can, and I agree. But I think for MLB's purposes interference = judgment call so no review.

I get a judgment call being whether they interfered with a throw or fielding.  That requires judgment.  But if the catcher's glove touches a bat during the swing, that is interference every time (just like a ball clipping a jersey is a HBP every time).  So no judgment is required.  It should be reviewable for glove hitting bat.  Because that is something that is easy to see on replay.

[FondrenRoad 4378]

48 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

Everyone should brace themselves for the inevitable Gibson/Shilling storyline for Max Scherzer, warrior extraordinaire. Ad nauseam. 

He will pitch 9 shutout innings. At the end, his arm will literally detach and fall off. It will be shipped to the HOF to go on display with Soto's game 1 HR ball. 

[Dnaguy 12045]

12 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Yeah, we are seeing the effects of the response to the Taubman incident and JV banning the Detroit reporter from the club house. 

 

This.

When you act all Patriots-y without a closet full of championship hardware, the world roots for your demise.

All you can do is win and shut’em up

[Gut Wagon 8087]

I hope they pipe MMP full of that baby shark song tonight, so our guys will think it's a road game. Then we'll roll. 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

I mean the lane is where it is for a reason. It makes it safe for the 1st baseman to have a foot on the base. It's not a straight line from the batters box depending on which side you bat from, but that's known since beginning of time- see advantage LH vs RH. If you just ran straight it would be across the infield and that's basically what he did, he was running in teh infield. It wouldn't have mattered had he simply beat the tag, but he knocked the glove off. It's accurately called and basic as hell. The outrage is for no reason at all.

It also protects the base runner against being called out on interference if there is interference on the play. If the base runner stays in the running lane, then he is safe, even if he interferes with the first baseman. Because that running lane is his. If he chooses to run outside of that lane, then he's taking a gamble.  he rule is simple. If you want to avoid interference, run inside the lane. One foot outside makes you eligible for interference. Turner was completely inside the infield line. He was kicking up grass from the infield. It was not a borderline call at all. It was egregious. It was really bad base running that never got called for him because it’s not often you rip off a guys glove.  The funny thing is that if he had run in the lane, and then cut to the base at the last second and this happened, it would have been 2nd and 3rd. But he was intentionally running outside the lane in an attempt to make the throw harder. They do this all the time.

The rule is to give the catcher or pitcher fielding the ball in front of the plate a clear line to throw to first and for safety at first. You want the runner toward the outside of the bag. Here he was towards the inside which is dangerous.

People calling for this rule to be changed really don't understand what they're demanding.

 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

I am going to take an Uber from my office in Galleria area from game.  Leaving at 5.  What are my chances of making it by gametime?

[clapclapclap 9000]

^^^ Depends on today's monsoon forecast.

Edited October 30, 2019 by clapclapclap

[UTexasFight 9523]

Eastbound and down (from Austin)

Let’s win another ‘ship today, boys.

[tx 3 putt 77335]

13 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

I am going to take an Uber from my office in Galleria area from game.  Leaving at 5.  What are my chances of making it by gametime?

You should be good. Post game will be a huge mess. Walk as far away from the stadium as possible. 

[DaysOff 7969]

^^^ Depends on today's monsoon forecast.

1. Open roof
2. Get rainout
3. Start Cole tomorrow
4. Profit

[Johnny Sack 8397]

1 minute ago, tx 3 putt said:

You should be good. Post game will be a huge mess. Walk as far away from the stadium as possible. 

I assumed that would be a shitshow.

[tx 3 putt 77335]

Just now, Johnny Sack said:

I assumed that would be a shitshow.

Distance is your friend. I laugh at the people that walk two blocks and trying to get a ride. For a normal game, I walk 4 to 5 blocks 

[Js1 85527]

1 minute ago, tx 3 putt said:

Distance is your friend. I laugh at the people that walk two blocks and trying to get a ride. For a normal game, I walk 4 to 5 blocks 

Shoot, go grab a postgame beer on Main Street and try to catch one there. 

[kevwun 15856]

Ticket prices are falling like a rock.  The friend I went with last night just got club seats for $500 a piece.  Standing Room tickets kind of suck for big games I found out. The people in the seats in front of us stood for most of the game and we couldn't see shit.

Edited October 30, 2019 by kevwun

[UTexasFight 9523]

Ticket prices are falling like a rock.  The friend I went with last night just got club seats for $500 a piece.  Standing Room tickets kind of suck for big games I found out. The people in the seats in front of us stood for most of the game and we couldn't see shit.

Yep got bit hard buying an SRO last week
Almost to the point where I could have gotten a pair waiting until today for the price I paid for the single.
Instead, dumped the SRO and just grabbed a real seat on astros.com (seats are leaking throughout the day...primarily singles though)

[Gourmand 7774]

2 hours ago, Guadaloopy said:

Harold Reynolds had a really good on field demo with Dero on MLBN showing how it was the right call based on the rule.  Dero cried about the rule, but conceded that it was the right call.  

https://www.mlb.com/video/reynolds-dero-on-turner-call?t=mlb-network

Holy shit finally someone on TV who has it right and explains it right. 

[henrygandorf 29194]

i wasn't on the thread while it was happening live, but was in a group text with someone at the game.  they were in the diamond club and were just up the row (10-15 feet) from torre and some other guy he was with.  he said they were actively involved in the process, to the point where someone brought them a hardline phone for him to talk on, as well as a cell phone and ipad to watch and discuss with...whomever.  and he said at one point it looked like they were even scrolling through the rulebook.

moments later, buck said it was really about whether this call was reviewable, or whether it was a judgment call - and whether that would mean it could or could not be protested, so it all kinda made sense.  whatever.

onward.

[Rockethorn1978 6102]

Game hasn't even started yet and I've threw up twice, got excited with the feeling we will win, out of nowhere I cried and threw my files at a colleague thinking if the bats go cold and Grienke chokes. FUCK. how did we get through 2017? I don't remember being this anxiety filled.

[Updawg 2286]

I like you enthusiasm

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

3 minutes ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

Game hasn't even started yet and I've threw up twice, got excited with the feeling we will win, out of nowhere I cried and threw my files at a colleague thinking if the bats go cold and Grienke chokes. FUCK. how did we get through 2017? I don't remember being this anxiety filled.

So you're pretty drunk, huh?

[WBT 20653]

29 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

Holy shit finally someone on TV who has it right and explains it right. 

Harold Reynolds as the voice of reason...I've seen it all.

[UTexasFight 9523]

Jim Wolf behind the plate

 

Known to have a pitcher’s strike zone.

Hopefully that disproportionately helps Zack

 

He’s also one of those guys that likes to call check swing strikes on his own

 

 

Oh by the way, note the HP ump for this game some of you may remember: