Astros 2017: It ain’t over until C.C. Sabathia sings!

It never has seemed fair to always talk about “It ain’t over until the fat lady sings.” Sure there are some hefty lady opera singers, but did you ever see the late Luciano Pavarotti? He could have played a backup catcher in a bad “B” baseball movie.

So, for fairness and in honor of the rather hefty lefty of the Yanks we are stating It Ain’t Over Until C.C. Sabathia Sings. And we want that fat guy singing the blues…..

Speaking of “over” brings us to one of the greatest dumb inspiration speeches from the late great John Belushi as future Senator Blutarsky in Animal House. If he were in the Astros’ clubhouse Friday he would start his speech thusly….

“What? Over? Did you say ‘over’? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!”

Leading up to this rousing conclusion….slightly paraphrased for family consumption….

“What the heck happened to the Astros I used to know? Where’s the spirit? Where’s the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you’re gonna let it be the worst. ‘Ooh, we’re afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble.’ Well just kiss my Astros’ jersey from now on! Not me! I’m not gonna take this.  Aaron Judge, he’s a dead man! Greg Bird, dead! Todd Frazier… dead…..”

Followed by the whole team yelling and following Belushi/Bluto onto the field.

So what do we have to hang our hats on with this team?

  • Twenty-one times during this season the Astros have won 2 or more games in a row.
  • Only five times this season the Astros lost three games in a row. Four of those five times they won the next game.
  • During the regular season they twice won two in a row in the two series they played against the Yanks.
  • In this playoff series they have already beaten the Yanks two in a row.
  • During the regular season, the Yankees have lost two or more in a row fourteen times, including twice to the Astros.
  • In the playoffs they have already lost two in a row twice.
  • The Astros have as good a pitcher as you could pick to turn this train wreck around on Friday – Justin Verlander, who has won every appearance he has made for the Astros, including three times in this postseason.
  • The Astros will be at a home, away from the rude, beer throwing fans and the Russian style electronic surveillance by the KGB..er… Yankees. They have won 13 of their last 16 at home including all four home playoff games so far.
  • The team has won in more impossible situations than any Astros team in history, the prime example being their 11 run rally to wipe out an 8th inning 8-2 deficit to the Twins earlier this season. When they get down, they keep coming back at you.
  • This team is due to start hitting again and that is what drives all the other cylinders on this team.
  • We might actually get to swing at the same strike zone the Yankees swing at in our home stadium. Just hopin’.
  • We are just nicer, more deserving fans than the Yanks have. Good karma is coming.

In the end, after losing three “nice to haves” – the Astros have to win two “have to wins” to get to the World Series. It says here, they will do just that.

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100 responses to “Astros 2017: It ain’t over until C.C. Sabathia sings!”

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  1. We are used to waiting. I’m not giving up. I’m just not going bonkers over my team losing the last three games. I didn’t even see the game last night. I’m not going to put myself through this again. I record the game and watch it if it is uplifting. If not, there are more people here than I can handle anyway, so I have a distraction.
    This was my dream team. I’m not sure they can get better than they are. I guess we’ll find out if the Astros can break out of their slump against the Yankees’ #1 starter.

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      • OP, I understood, and I’m sorry that’s the case. I also find myself able to not get overly emotionally involved at this point in time. Nothing more I’d like to see than an Astro comeback, but a loss will not eat at me like it used to.

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      • Dave, I feel the same way. When I was younger I would get very emotional and irrational following my favorite teams. I will still be very disappointed if they lose, but being a father and husband tends to give me a bit more perspective and less emotional regarding my favorite sports teams. Don’t get me wrong as I was at Game 2 and jumping like a little kid when Altuve scored that winning run, but the losses don’t affect me like they did when I was in my teens and 20s. With that being said, Go Astros!

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    • I’m right there with you OP. Much too painful to watch but my problem is when they are playing I can’t focus on anything else. I keep going to my phone or iPad to check the score.

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    • I would be happy if when we made contact with a baseball it reacted like it was being hit by a piece of solid wood rather than by a bouquet of flowers.

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  3. Dan, thanks for redirecting me to new post. I appreciate your jocularity and your fine writing style, as I have many times in the past. Does it help? Not at all. 😦 lol

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    • Diane – it comes down to this – if they play their “Astro jerseys” off they will win. If they keep playing like lost little kids they won’t. To my way of thinking they’ve won 106 total games this year – so there is reason for feeling decent going in to tomorrow’s game.

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  4. If the Astros can just trend back to the mean….here are some numbers showing how much they are lagging their normal numbers through the first 5 games of this series:
    – 4.4 hits/game – compared to 9.8 h/g during the season
    – 1.8 runs/gm vs. 5.53 r/g during the season
    – 1.4 doubles/gm vs. 2.14 doubles/gm regular season
    – 0.2 HR/gm vs. 1.47 HR/gm

    It’s time to shine gentlemen

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  5. Before you think I’ve totally given up, back when you first introduced “10 more games,” when it was time to change my password, I made it “Astros10.” It still opens up my computer.

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  6. My hope is these guys get it all together tomorrow and Saturday. They’ve come so far this year not to play every single out, and feed off THEIR OWN fans just like the yankees, did. You will notice I never capitalize the other teams name, because I won’t give them ANY respect, especially after what their fans did to the Hinch family at their park😠. I’m having a family crisis right now, and I’m going to called out of town to Baltimore this weekend. My only brother is near death, and my hope is that I get to him in time. Good luck to you Astros, and I’ll pray they play their best baseball. Love to all…Becky⚾

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  7. As to the importance of baseball. I grew up in East Texas. There was the Texas League and the Big State league. Pro basketball was played way up north someplace. Pro football was blasphemy because they got “paid.” Kern Tipps made SWC football come alive with sayings like “he clicked his heels together.” But baseball, oh baseball. It was and still is part of me. I love my baseball team. I hope they win two games but win or lose, the sun will come up tomorrow. No team that wins 100+ games in a season will ever let me down. Go Astros.

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  8. If there is any consolation I am not sure any team can slow down the Dodgers train in the World Series. They are just clicking right now and everything is working for them. While I definitely want to see the Astros rally and win today and tomorrow I wouldn’t like their chances in the World Series. However, as they say, you never know.

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    • A couple thoughts on Kike Hernandez:
      – I can’t believe he is only 26 y.o. Shows how really young he was when he played for us.
      – He told his mom back in storm ravaged Puerto Rico he would hit a homer and ended up hitting 3. I’m sure both Beltran and Correa have family back there….just saying.

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  10. In the back of my mind, I too have thought an Astros triumph would be some salve for a devastated Houston and South Texas. However, if you’ve lost your home, all your possessions, your children are being bussed to another school because theirs is uninhabitable, your pocketbook and checking account are empty, or as in some cases, your loved ones died in the floodwaters, even a World Series championship looks sad and irrelevant.

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  12. I didn’t get there in time. Van Buren Browning passed away at 12:15 this afternoon.
    I hope the guys win this game tonight…..I need something to be happy about.

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  13. The Christmas card came from Justin Verlander’s parents a few years back. It wasn’t like anything you could buy in a store. It wouldn’t have been fit for anyone but Verlander, anyway.

    But for him, it was perfect. The best Christmas card ever.

    And it was also a challenge.

    One side of the card listed Verlander’s career numbers. The other had the career numbers of Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Fame pitcher Verlander idolized as a kid growing up in Virginia.

    “My parents got [Ryan] to sign it,” Verlander said this week. “I always loved that card, because I looked at it like, ‘Hey kid, you’ve got a long way to go.’”

    Nolan will be staring at Justin, most likely from behind home plate, tonight. All Justin has to do is look up, as he has always done to his idol.

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  14. JV gives up a leadoff single to Gardner, but Correa starts a nifty DP on a hot grounder and JV gets a pop up to move to the bottom of the 1st. The Yanks are taking some first pitch swings.

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  15. Springer and Altuve hit the 1000th pulled weak ground balls of the series. Reddick who batted between them got in the hole on two balls called strikes and then flied out to left.

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  16. Leading off the second Sanchez hits the same kind of wimpy groundball we hit but because Bregman is playing in East San Antonio it is a hit. He then gets a K, fly ball, and K.
    JV had two beautiful curve balls called balls, but just ignored it and got three outs.

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  17. Correa hits a jam shot flyout tl right, Gurriel walks in a great at bat. Bregman gets down quick, battles but strikes out on a great slider. Marwin hits a weak flyball on the first pitch. On to the 3rd.

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  18. Back to their old ways……swinging for the fences. This pitcher for the yankees, CAN get beat, they just need to make him WORK!! Quit trying to win the game with one BAD swing.

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    • I’m with you all the way on your assessment Becky, this flailing away outside the zone is driving me absolutely nuts. Our guys have to know this is do or die and the gm thus far will hinge on pitcher mistakes they have to capitalize on. Yulie is showing them how to give quality at bats & they should emulate the plate discipline he is displaying. A base hit or xbh is just as good in a tightly pitched gm, not swinging for the fences every at bat. A nail biter thus far

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  19. Totally agree Becky – hit the ball the other way

    JV gives up another hit but Ks Judge again.
    Only 35 pitches thru 3 innings

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  21. JV goes 1-2-3 in the 4th and is at 47 pitches.
    They said this was the first time in his career he went thru the first 3 innings without a 2 ball count.

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  22. Better swings in the 4th by the Astros (except Altuve who Ks). Reddick hits a hard grounder up the middle into the shift.Correa gets our first hit – Gurriel hits one on the nose to the CF.

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  24. What I love is when JV does not get the calls he gts tougher.
    He is even tougher thru 5 innings – he made Frazier look like a pitcer on his K.
    JV with 61 pitches thru 5

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  26. Yaaayy!!!! Crooked numbers!! Two walks by Bregman and Gattis – a double by the vet McCann and a huge 2 out 2 run single by Altuve. Pitching change

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    • Dan, I’m getting antsy sitting here watching this gm, as we all are, looking good though, just keep hitting and JV will do his thing.

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  30. Oldschool I hope you are the happiest exhausted person around.
    Diane – hope y’all are jumping up and down in about an hour

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  32. Heart attack top of 7th – walk and a hit by pitch – followed by a K – followed by Springer carching one near the top of the wall. Still 3-0 but may have seen the last of JV

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  33. Verlander is a magician!! Trust your defence Justin! You’re working with the very BEST infield and nearly the best outfield in MLB! Oh man…..y’all tell me again we didn’t need to trade for this guy! I needed this game almost as much as these guys did.

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  36. I forgot to tell you what those idiot yankee fans yelled at our guys in new york…….
    “Hurricane Harvey” over and over😠
    Somebody help me pray……here comes Peacock!

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