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2019 Houston Astros Thread


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What a 2019 season for the Astros. They didn't #TakeItBack but got as close as possible. In my best trying-not-to-sound-heartbroken-Bill-Belichick imitation, "We're on to 2020."

I still trust Jeff Luhnow and his team to put together a top-level squad. I am still happy that Reid Ryan and his team work for the Astros. AJ Hinch is a great leader for the players. 

Onward...

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20 minutes ago, Moby Ric said:

Massive choke job.  Disappointed in some of the decisions made during the game.  Frankly I am surprised the Astros made it to game 7 of the world series with the shitty hitting that they had all through the post season and with JV just not being as dominate as expected.  One of the best teams ever put together and this is the result.  Fucking shame.

Gotta tip your cap to a team that played good defense, beat JV twice and Cole once and wasn't intimidated by MMP or panicked losing 3 in a row at home.  They were loose AF, especially in later innings, where we tensed up. 

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wow, the hangover this morning...

Houston hitters left all those runners on base and put the pressure on the pitching which eventually folded.  And the bottom of the lineup did a descent job of getting on base with walks and hits only to have Springer, Altuve, Bregman, etc. leave them on base time after time. 

Well, one of my old coaches always said don't anger the baseball gods and Houston certainly asked for it with their home run stares, carrying the bats to first base, hands to their ears on the HR trot, etc.  The Nats did it right and celebrated in the dugout...they wanted it more and deserved it more.

See you next year.

Edited by Victorious1
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I’m sticking a fork in this thread. I’ll see y’all in the off-season thread when the hot stove starts heating up. I’ve enjoyed interacting with a lot of posters here who provided good insight either through informed opinions or valuable information.  You know who you are. 

I will not miss the posters who didn’t know baseball or the team yet thought they did, were constantly negative,  had perfect 20/20 hindsight. You probably don’t realize who you are. 

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So I stayed off Surly last night. Win or lose I just wanted to experience game 7 without any external stuff. Sad and disappointing for sure. Wasted chances and breaks that went against us. Questionable managerial decisions, unlikely heroes and goats. Inches one way or another helping or hurting. In other words... Baseball.

I have two adult sons who live elsewhere and we only see each other a few times a year. We spent the entire season watching games and group texting as often as we could. We did that last night too. Regardless of the season outcome, I cherish that.

Have been and always will be an Astros fan. Can't wait for pitchers and catchers to report. Let's make some great moves in the off-season. 

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Obviously very disappointed, but it truly was a historic season. We watched our team win 107 games. Saw two no-hitters. Got to watch JV and Cole dominate all season long. Saw Bregman turn into a true MVP-caliber player. Were introduced to Air Yordan, who was as advertised. And got to celebrate after the face of the franchise hit a home run at home to clinch the pennant. On a more personal level, I was able to come home for a week and catch several games this season with my parents, and I took my mom on an Owner’s Experience tour and got to watch the guys take BP on the field. It didn't end the way we wanted, and it's a shame that the story of this season has this unhappy ending. But it was an awesome ride. 

Aside from losing the series, I think the most disappointing part of this world series was watching our team become the heel in the story. I'm not talking about Bregman carrying the bat or Correa holding his hand to his ear. I'm taking about Osuna, Taubman, and the PR response. Luhnow bet the organization's image on Osuna coming in and helping us win a World Series. It hasn't worked out. Luhnow saw a market inefficiency and exploited it. It seems as though he failed to account for the loss of reputation costs. Our front office is cold and calculating. It has resulted in the most talented Astros teams we have ever seen, but the approach has its blind spots. Win at all costs only works out when you win. Our organization should be the envy of the league, and it likely is if we are being honest. But it's tough to defend how they handled Taubman. It's tough to defend how the handled the response. And their failure to handle this situation resulted in what should be one of the most likable teams in the league being viewed as the villain. The players and the fan base deserved better. So did the journalist who reported the story.

I enjoyed discussing this season with you all. I live in Montana and know only one other Astros fan in the entire state. This thread has allowed me to interact with Astros fans in a way I would not be able to do otherwise. I have no doubt that I would have enjoyed this season much less if not for this thread.

Today will suck. I am the “Astros guy” here. I’ve already had to discuss last night with several people at the gym this morning. My colleagues in the office will be coming by my office today to offer condolences. They all mean well, but I’d be happier if they all just fucked off today.

As for the offseason, if you were still holding out hope that the Astros were going to sign Cole, it may be time to put those hopes to bed. Maybe I'm reading too much into post-games comments following a frustrating and devastating loss. but it certainly sounds like Cole has pitched his last game for the Astros. We will need to target at least one SP, as I don't believe we can count on Whitley being ready to assume the 5th spot on Opening Day. We also need to address the bullpen. Pressly and Osuna will be back, but Harris is gone, and i don't really trust anyone else currently on the roster. If we can, we need to get something of value from Reddick and let Tucker take over RF duties full time. I am not in the camp that thinks we should trade Correa. But all of these discussions can be saved for the offseason thread. I hope to see you all there.

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9 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Obviously very disappointed, but it truly was a historic season. We watched our team win 107 games. Saw two no-hitters. Got to watch JV and Cole dominate all season long. Saw Bregman turn into a true MVP-caliber player. Were introduced to Air Yordan, who was as advertised. And got to celebrate after the face of the franchise hit a home run at home to clinch the pennant. On a more personal level, I was able to come home for a week and catch several games this season with my parents, and I took my mom on an Owner’s Experience tour and got to watch the guys take BP on the field. It didn't end the way we wanted, and it's a shame that the story of this season has this unhappy ending. But it was an awesome ride. 

Aside from losing the series, I think the most disappointing part of this world series was watching our team become the heel in the story. I'm not talking about Bregman carrying the bat or Correa holding his hand to his ear. I'm taking about Osuna, Taubman, and the PR response. Luhnow bet the organization's image on Osuna coming in and helping us win a World Series. It hasn't worked out. Luhnow saw a market inefficiency and exploited it. It seems as though he failed to account for the loss of reputation costs. Our front office is cold and calculating. It has resulted in the most talented Astros teams we have ever seen, but the approach has its blind spots. Win at all costs only works out when you win. Our organization should be the envy of the league, and it likely is if we are being honest. But it's tough to defend how they handled Taubman. It's tough to defend how the handled the response. And their failure to handle this situation resulted in what should be one of the most likable teams in the league being viewed as the villain. The players and the fan base deserved better. So did the journalist who reported the story.

I enjoyed discussing this season with you all. I live in Montana and know only one other Astros fan in the entire state. This thread has allowed me to interact with Astros fans in a way I would not be able to do otherwise. I have no doubt that I would have enjoyed this season much less if not for this thread.

Today will suck. I am the “Astros guy” here. I’ve already had to discuss last night with several people at the gym this morning. My colleagues in the office will be coming by my office today to offer condolences. They all mean well, but I’d be happier if they all just fucked off today.

As for the offseason, if you were still holding out hope that the Astros were going to sign Cole, it may be time to put those hopes to bed. Maybe I'm reading too much into post-games comments following a frustrating and devastating loss. but it certainly sounds like Cole has pitched his last game for the Astros. We will need to target at least one SP, as I don't believe we can count on Whitley being ready to assume the 5th spot on Opening Day. We also need to address the bullpen. Pressly and Osuna will be back, but Harris is gone, and i don't really trust anyone else currently on the roster. If we can, we need to get something of value from Reddick and let Tucker take over RF duties full time. I am not in the camp that thinks we should trade Correa. But all of these discussions can be saved for the offseason thread. I hope to see you all there.

I wish they would let Roberto Osuna go. 

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Last night sucked ass. This morning I tip my cap to the Nats. Fought back adversity at every phase along the way and dropped their nuts. Most of the team seems like a good group of guys outside of Soto. Incredible year for the Astros with some incredible achievements but come up short with 8 outs to go. 

 

This is/was probably the best Astros team we will ever see BTW. 

Edited by Texasborn91
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Hinch’s call was definitely questionable, but he didn’t gives this series away. I didn’t want Harris in yet, but he had been a buzz for outside mvp candidate (for some reason).

You can’t win 3 straight then come home and put up only TWO runs in game 6 with your ace on the hill...and then TWO runs in game 7.

It should have never come down to a risky bullpen decision in game 7.

And average 10 LOB at home. What a bizarre fukin series.


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7 minutes ago, utxmike05 said:

NSIAP. Fuckin Cole. Glad you improved some pitching skills here and now just being a dick for the $$$$.


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Cole is a competitive guy.. Everyone handles losses in their own way.. Some poorly, some with class. 

I think we can forgive him here..

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Cole is a competitive guy.. Everyone handles losses in their own way.. Some poorly, some with class. 
I think we can forgive him here..


I agree. Just hours after game putting on your agent’s hat is cold as ice. We all know you are a FA, Cole. I dont want to see him in LA or NY


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Yeah, that's pretty shitty.  All he really needed to say was that he was disappointed with the loss and there will be plenty of time to think about the future in the coming weeks.  It's not that difficult, but I guess that pretty much sums up whether or not he will be back in Houston.  On a side note, there may not be anyone I hate in sports more than Kawhi leornard, anyone who plays for ou, and Scott Boras.  They can all rot in hell.

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Hinch’s call was definitely questionable, but he didn’t gives this series away. I didn’t want Harris in yet, but he had been a buzz for outside mvp candidate (for some reason).

You can’t win 3 straight then come home and put up only TWO runs in game 6 with your ace on the hill...and then TWO runs in game 7.

It should have never come down to a risky bullpen decision in game 7.

And average 10 LOB at home. What a bizarre fukin series.


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Yep. Left way too many on base and didn't run up the score early. Greinke was awesome and we wasted it. I was afraid they had seen Harris too much.
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Yeah, I think Cole burned some bridges with the fans last night. We almost certainly weren't going to get him back next year but now I think a lot of fans - myself included - are saying "good riddance" this morning after that postgame bullshit. The question is, was he that unhappy during his whole tenure or was he just being a little salty after the loss? The easy dickishness of it tells me it's probably the former and now he just doesn't have to hide it. Fuck that guy and his hot wife for not even pretending for one more night. 

All that being said, pitching wasn't the problem this postseason. Greinke was straight balls last night and Hinch owes him an apology for wasting it. 

Our offense sucked balls when it mattered most. Springer and Bregman were both 0-fer last night and Altuve and Brantley had just 1 hit apiece. The bottom of the order kept setting the table and the top kept dropping their silverware and spilling their drinks in their laps when it mattered. 

I was at MMP last night and it was amazing how quickly the mood changed. With 8 outs people were getting jiggy and 10 minutes later Kendrick hit the foul pole and it was quiet and people started walking out. It happened crazy fast. 

Edited by crimsonlonghorn
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11 minutes ago, Sleepygrad said:

What if everyone that doesn’t get their refunds from Gallery Furniture brought a class action lawsuit against Hinch for his game 7 management? They may have a case

it wasn't hinch's fault that we scored 11 runs in 4 home games and scored 2 in the biggest game of the season.

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so here's what i'll say, and then i'll leave this thread and move on.

24 hours ago, i was thinking about game 7, and about my general superstition, at least in how it affects everything related to the astros or craps sessions.  and i knew i had posted before the game 7 in 2017, and wanted to replicate that best i could.  so i put on my haz-mat suit, and went back to shaggy, just to check.

it took me a while to find it, but i did.  and i posted yesterday, and got myself (and others) fired up, which was the entire point.  but here's what i didn't say...

when i went back to shaggy, it took me a while to pinpoint my post.  and in searching, i found myself reading through a bunch of posts from the 2017 postseason.  and guess what?  they were so oddly familiar.  spot relief sucked.  too much waiting for the big homer.  why can't we hit with risp?  why do our bats fall asleep for innings at a time?  why can't we work counts against certain pitchers?  over and over and over again.

the bottom line is that it's all different, yet exactly the same.  and it's not an astros thing.  it's playoff baseball.  until 2017, we were just used to our stars hitting .180 in the playoffs with no clutch hits, no power, no carryover from the regular season stat-lines.  then something changed.  altuve, springer, correa, bregman.  hinch.  luhnow.  we changed with them.  and in 2017, we all remember the great times.  altuve vs sale x3.  reddick's clutch hit, and jv's inability to perform as a reliever.  correa in g2.  lockdown shit from jv, morty, and lmj in g6/g7.  marwin in g2.  errrrbody in g5.  back to morty in g7.

the series (and postseasons) were actually pretty similar.  at times we couldn't hit.  we couldn't hold a tie or small deficit.  we couldn't find dependable relievers.  we couldn't hit with risp.  this isn't the 1980's.  scouting is different, analytics, specialized relievers, short-series playoff baseball.  this is how it'll be moving forward.  which reliever gets hot and is untouchable.  which pitcher throws an inspired game.  which hitter catches fire.  which team plays defense, gets aggressive, forces mistakes, gets clutch hits - hits the ball hard and not actually right at somebody.

yeah, possibly with different decisions, we win that game 2-1 and win the world series.  but did anyone think we played well last night?  or this whole series?  or this whole postseason?  we had moments, sure.  just like in 2017.  but they didn't come at the right time.  chirinos, springer, correa, bregman each had more than one homer in the series.  yuli, yordan, maldonado had one each.  brantley had a lot of hits.  altuve hit pretty well, but only had 1 rbi in the series, and left a bunch of guys on base.    verlander (5ip, 3er) and greinke (6.1ip, 2er) pitched well.  pitched well enough to think we could win a game at home.  but we couldn't.  they got the small breaks and won in a close series.

blame everybody, or blame nobody.  harris and osuna are there to get big outs late in games.  to go another way is the same as pinch-hitting for altuve or springer.  you bring in cole and he gives up a run or two, and people point to him never coming in in relief, or his slow 1st inning starts.  often times, the good guys just can't get it done, and the bad guys win.  it be like that sometimes.

eventually we will feel better.  but it's ok to feel shitty now.  we got a nice, little squad returning next year.  we'll be just fine.

go stros.

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12 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

  they got the small breaks and won in a close series.

In any close series, who wins and who loses turns on probably less than 10 pitches, and a foot or two one way or the other... sometimes inches.  When you think about all the pitches thrown, and all the outs and runs recorded, it comes down to just a handful going one way or the other. Crazy. Baseball. 

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2 hours ago, texashorne said:

Cole is a competitive guy.. Everyone handles losses in their own way.. Some poorly, some with class. 

I think we can forgive him here..

The more I think about it.  You can't and it isn't about the loss.   The only way you can wear a Boras hat after the game is if you have a Boras hat in your locker before the game.  He was gonna pull that bullshit win or lose.

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1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

it wasn't hinch's fault that we scored 11 runs in 4 home games and scored 2 in the biggest game of the season.

That's fair.

I do think Hinch mis-managed the pitchers last night (and not for the first time, or the fiftieth).  Greinke could have gotten out of the 7th.  Hell, the walk included a horrible call that set up 3-1 instead of 2-2.  And he'd been dealing.  I can't get over the thought that if Zack got out of the 7th, Cole could've thrown two innings and we could've won that game 2-1.

But then again, it should've been at least 5-1 at that point.  Our RISP batting was ridiculous the whole playoff run.  Both teams had 9 hits last night and we lost by 4.  Christ.

 

Edited by TexArcher
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4 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

That's fair.

I do think Hinch mis-managed the pitchers last night (and not for the first time, or the fiftieth).  Greinke could have gotten out of the 7th.  Hell, the walk included a horrible call that set up 3-1 instead of 2-2.  And he'd been dealing.  I can't get over the thought that if Zack got out of the 7th, Cole could've thrown two innings and we could've won that game 2-1.

But then again, it should've been at least 5-1 at that point.  Our RISP batting was ridiculous the whole playoff run.  Both teams had 9 hits last night and we lost by 4.  Christ.

 

Yes to the 2nd point

And to the first point, I totally had 10000% faith in ZG getting a ground ball double play to get out of the inning than Harris to do the same.  

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1 hour ago, TexArcher said:

That's fair.

I do think Hinch mis-managed the pitchers last night (and not for the first time, or the fiftieth).  Greinke could have gotten out of the 7th.  Hell, the walk included a horrible call that set up 3-1 instead of 2-2.  And he'd been dealing.  I can't get over the thought that if Zack got out of the 7th, Cole could've thrown two innings and we could've won that game 2-1.

But then again, it should've been at least 5-1 at that point.  Our RISP batting was ridiculous the whole playoff run.  Both teams had 9 hits last night and we lost by 4.  Christ.

 

He only mismanaged it in hindsight.

If they don't score, he made the right call.

I have no problem at all with his decision to pull Greinke.

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14 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

 

People don't like to acknowledge it, but luck and randomness are big factors in baseball. (And that is not taking anything away from Kendrick...it's just means that a guy who gets a hit (single) on that pitch 10% of the time hit it out of the park, which wasn't and shouldn't be expected when you make that pitch.)

Sometimes you hit the shit out of the ball and it's an out. Sometimes you make shitty contact and it's a hit. Luck and randomness. 

Edited by Hank Chinaski
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3 minutes ago, Iconoclast Texan said:

Did anyone else's significant other make things worse during the meltdown by acting like a gigantic bitch getting upset all of a sudden and having to worry about their shit or was that something only I got to enjoy in addition to what happened on the field

Mrs. MO is probably a bigger baseball fan than I am. She was right there with me and just as sad. I chose wisely. 

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Obviously very disappointed, but it truly was a historic season. We watched our team win 107 games. Saw two no-hitters. Got to watch JV and Cole dominate all season long. Saw Bregman turn into a true MVP-caliber player. Were introduced to Air Yordan, who was as advertised. And got to celebrate after the face of the franchise hit a home run at home to clinch the pennant. On a more personal level, I was able to come home for a week and catch several games this season with my parents, and I took my mom on an Owner’s Experience tour and got to watch the guys take BP on the field. It didn't end the way we wanted, and it's a shame that the story of this season has this unhappy ending. But it was an awesome ride. 
Aside from losing the series, I think the most disappointing part of this world series was watching our team become the heel in the story. I'm not talking about Bregman carrying the bat or Correa holding his hand to his ear. I'm taking about Osuna, Taubman, and the PR response. Luhnow bet the organization's image on Osuna coming in and helping us win a World Series. It hasn't worked out. Luhnow saw a market inefficiency and exploited it. It seems as though he failed to account for the loss of reputation costs. Our front office is cold and calculating. It has resulted in the most talented Astros teams we have ever seen, but the approach has its blind spots. Win at all costs only works out when you win. Our organization should be the envy of the league, and it likely is if we are being honest. But it's tough to defend how they handled Taubman. It's tough to defend how the handled the response. And their failure to handle this situation resulted in what should be one of the most likable teams in the league being viewed as the villain. The players and the fan base deserved better. So did the journalist who reported the story.
I enjoyed discussing this season with you all. I live in Montana and know only one other Astros fan in the entire state. This thread has allowed me to interact with Astros fans in a way I would not be able to do otherwise. I have no doubt that I would have enjoyed this season much less if not for this thread.
Today will suck. I am the “Astros guy” here. I’ve already had to discuss last night with several people at the gym this morning. My colleagues in the office will be coming by my office today to offer condolences. They all mean well, but I’d be happier if they all just fucked off today.
As for the offseason, if you were still holding out hope that the Astros were going to sign Cole, it may be time to put those hopes to bed. Maybe I'm reading too much into post-games comments following a frustrating and devastating loss. but it certainly sounds like Cole has pitched his last game for the Astros. We will need to target at least one SP, as I don't believe we can count on Whitley being ready to assume the 5th spot on Opening Day. We also need to address the bullpen. Pressly and Osuna will be back, but Harris is gone, and i don't really trust anyone else currently on the roster. If we can, we need to get something of value from Reddick and let Tucker take over RF duties full time. I am not in the camp that thinks we should trade Correa. But all of these discussions can be saved for the offseason thread. I hope to see you all there.

Sat next to an older gentleman last night wearing a Montana State Bobcat jacket and Astros hat. I think he played football for them back in the 70s (I’d guess). He’s been staying with a friend in town since October 11 and going to all of the games. He showed us a picture of his house and it was covered in snow. He was lamenting the fact that it was time to go home. Unless this is the guy you know, there are at least two fans in Montana.
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