Monday, June 14, 2004
Houston LAstros
Before the season commenced, several sports writers tagged the Astros to win the NL Central. A couple bold ones even predicted they'd be making their first World Series appearance. Who could blame them? I mean, we always had the bats. Offensively, a lineup of Biggio, Bagwell, Berkman (the killer B's), Kent, and Hidalgo appeared as potent as the lineups of even the most dangerous clubs out there (Yup, even those guys in the Bronx). Putting runs on the board would not be an problem right? It sure hasn't been a problem these past few years. What's held us back lately was an inexperienced and erratic pitching staff. That was supposed to be corrected with a couple ingenius offseason manuevers. What better way to develop Oswalt and Miller than to bring in a couple veterans, a couple old school Texans who've won rings no less. Sounds like a flawess master plan right? Honestly, at the start of the season I truly believed the Stros sole weakness was our bullpen. It was the only imperfection in my mind.
Shieeet.
I was way off. Little did I realize that the killer B's would hit like harmless little B(itche)'s. Little did I know that they would lose their nuts whenever runners occupied bases. Little did I know that Adam Everett and Clemens would be the only Astros truly deserving of an All-Star selection.
Something's gotta be done. I just can't put my finger on it yet as it isn't obvious.
Maybe we need to pull the trigger to bring in a consistent hitter who thrives when the pressure's on. Hell, maybe we ought to call someone up from Triple A and bench Bagwell and Kent. Drayton, my man, please do something soon before the potentially best squad in Astros history ends up the worst disappointment in Astros history.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Who's brilliant idea was it to put that damn hill in the center field? Why is it I've never seen anyone else besides Biggio bust their ass on that thing? This guy agrees.