All Astro fans received their biggest Christmas present early this season as the first in a lifetime gift of a World Series championship came home to roost on November 1st. We at Chipalatta, wish all our fine readers a wonderful and blessed Christmas.
Here are some Christmas matchups from the imagination of your servant, Dan P.
- Mr. Scrooge. Jim Crane – remember that while he started off as one of the stingiest men in the world, by the end of the story he was the one who kept Christmas dear in is heart.
- Tiny Tim. Jose Altuve – A big heart in a tiny body
- Ralphie (from Christmas story). A.J. Hinch – if they would only give him his Red Rider BB gun (Justin Verlander) he would be a happy kid on Christmas
- George Bailey (It’s a Wonderful Life). Brad Peacock – Just when it seemed that his career was over and everything was against him – he stuck it out and figured out how wonderful a life it could be.
- The Grinch. Jeff Luhnow – yes he traded away all of our players and gave us the worst team in baseball for three seasons, but as soon as his heart (payroll) grew three sizes – he gave the citizens of Who(uston) Ville their Christmas back and more
- Scrooge’s nephew Fred. George Springer – Carried the joy of Christmas with him even though he was not rich like his uncle Scrooge (Jim Crane) – relatively speaking
- Mr. Potter. Bud Selig – Just because
- The Ghost of Christmas’ Past. Drayton McLane – What could have been but never was
- Young Santa Claus. Dallas Keuchel – The brown beard and the early physique
- Rudolph. Chris Devenski – Both were not appreciated for their “abnormalities” (red nose/changeup-centric pitching) but proved themselves when really needed.
OK – that is as much work as I want to put in today. Any Christmas characters you want to tie to the Houston Astros?
CHIPALATTA 
Excellent and imaginative post. May I get back later on characters? I checked in to say a young friend of mine came by with presents last night, among which was a World Series Championship T-shirt from some team that doesn’t do that kind of thing. And I’m lucky to still have that young friend because a few years back he went to an Astros game and got hit in the forehead with a blasted ball. A few minutes ago when I got up, I heard jingle bells outside my door. Honest. And then when it was still dark, I took the trash out and looking up to the second floor I saw a shiny new bicycle all wrapped in red ribbon waiting for someone for big ole eyes. It reminded me of the Christmas when I got my first bike. Merry Christmas to all the longtime broken hearts who have now witnessed the Miracle at Minute Maid.
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Merry Christmas Diane.
Yes, it was a magical year here in H-town. We won’t soon forget.
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Since I am kind of nontraditional, I consider ‘Sandlot’ the ultimate Christmas movie. So in the 2017 ;Special Astros Edition’ remake:
Benny the Jet = Jose Altuve
Scotty Smalls = Alex Bregman
Bill Smalls = A.J. Hinch
Kenny DeNunez = Brad Peacock [You want the heater?]
“Ham” Porter = Evan Gattis
Bertran Grover Weeks = Marwin Gonzales
Tommy Timmons = Carlos Correa
Timmy ‘Repeat’ Timmons = George Springer
“Yeah, Yeah” = Yuli Gurriel
Squints = Justin Verlander
Wendy Peffercorn = Kate Upton.
Mr. Mertle = Carlos Beltran
Hercules/’The Beast’ = Aaron Judge/Justin Turner
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The young George Bailey who saves his brother from drowning on the frozen pond: Charlie Morton (no Verlander, no Keuchel, just a beautiful save)
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What a performance!!!
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Guys, this is not sports, but I just saw a feature on the Dallas Street Choir, a choir of homeless people from that city. They were put on a bus to New York, and appeared at Carnegie Hall. The lead singer broke down with his hands over his face. If this don’t get you, nothing will. Just saw your notes from yesterday,
Sandy and Becky. Thanks and Merry Christmas!
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Those are the kind of stories that put things in perspective
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Merry Christmas to my Astros family here
..love you guys!
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My new name is Bandit…..because I made out like one today!! I had a WONDERFUL Astros Christmas day! *3* different Astros books, an Astros Yeti, a BEAUTIFUL Bradford Exchange Commissioners Trophy that lights up, and the 90 min documentary on this magical season!! Am I a lucky girl or what!
Merry, Merry Christmas to each and every one of you! And God’s blessings on you and your families!! Becky⚾🎄
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Merry Christmas to all of you. I am ready for spring training.
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Only reason I’m not ready for ST is that I still want to enjoy this. We only have 6 days left to The Year We Won It All, That Championship Season. C’mon, everybody, let’s bask in the task accomplished. This is once in a lifetime stuff, especially for me prolly. 🙂
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I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday!
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Thanks and backatcha!
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Christmas is over, that’s quite enough of that.
Time to put down the drumstick, and pick up the bat.
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Some thoughts about the Astros as the kids head to other gatherings for more holiday festivities:
– This is an important year for the Astros in the MILB catching dept. Can any catcher step up and be a major league catcher and keep the Astros from having to spend catching bucks that they need to spend on extensions for their All-Stars.
– Spent quite a bit of time looking at the Yankees’ situation. They are not set at 3B or 2B but have the cash to get two more players and still be under the cap. The Yankees are in tremendous position to go on a five year run as the favorite team to win the World Series. They will be willing to wait out the Orioles for Machado and the Bucs for Cole. They have until the end of March to get what they want.
-The best teams in baseball right now are holding up the market for the best free agent players, because so many teams are rebuilding. The teams with the leverage are going to wait out the market and get better deals, in trades and free agency. Some of this is because of the Astros’ success with their rebuild. Many teams rebuilding means more players in play on the market. More supply means lower prices. That is Economics 101.
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Good catchers areas scarce as hens teeth, and just as hard to develope. It’s past time for our own guys down on the farm to step up BIG time. Who besides Stassi and Centeno?? I don’t have a name.
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Garrett Stubbs needs to step it up!
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Dashing toward ST. Got my spikes and bat.
Gonna work on PFP; and burn off this Christmas fat.
Got a new Mizuno glove. Got to break it in just right.
What fun it is to run and throw on frigid winter nights!
– Oh, Spring will tell, Spring will tell, who’s really come to play.
Will Carlos, George, Alex, and Josh all be there for Jose’?
Spring will tell, Spring will tell, if Justin’s lost his ‘mo’;
Is DK done? Can Marwin run? Will our DH still S.O.?
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No other blog has this type of genius. None. Nada.
#feelingblessed #forgetAmerica’sgottalent
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Amen – Mr Bill is the maestro
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Some more Christmas / Astro connections:
Harry or Marv from Home Alone – Colin Moran after fouling the ball off his face looked like one of the Wet Bandits at the end of the movie
Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation – Josh Reddick – let’s face it – anyone who hands out wrestling belt buckles and stands around in his skivvies during a celebration is very Eddie-like
Buddy from Elf – George Springer (again) – hey no matter the mood of everyone else Buddy/George keep everyone’s moods uplifted.
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my Chipalatta buddies. i tell you what, i go to the astros official site, espn astros site, the chron (spit) site, and house of houston most everyday before i come to chipalatta. Who has the best most entertaining site? Who has some CHANGE to the site daily? Who has the best thought out comments? Who has a mad scientist song writer? And the winner is for the umpteenth year in a row, drum roll please. CHIPALATTA!! by a wide margin. Thanks Dan & Chip!!
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This Washington Post article announcing Jose Altuve as the Male Athlete of the Year, beating out Tom Brady and Lebron James, tells us why we might not have to worry about the Astros getting complacent.
Altuve gives us some insight into his mindset, and Correa tells us what Altuve’s mindset does for him. Hopefully, all the other players listen to Altuve, too.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/astros-star-jose-altuve-named-ap-male-athlete-of-the-year/2017/12/27/c6f196f0-eb18-11e7-956e-baea358f9725_story.html?utm_term=.f17c452a4cdf
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Impossible not to love that guy. Every time we hear from him, we can see how he lifted up his teammates and carried them to the title. What a great attitude!! Thanks for the link op
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I’m putting this link here to show why I am so pumped about our bullpen this coming season. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=musgrjo01&year=2017&t=p
Go down to the two columns called Pitching Role and look at Musgrove’ stats as a starter and a reliever.
Remember Game 5 of the World Series, the one that so many say was one of the greatest games in baseball history? After the Astros pitching staff had given up 12 runs in nine innings, a 24 year old Joe Musgrove came in and faced the 2-3-4-5 hitters in the tenth inning and gave up no runs. The Astros scored their 13th run in the bottom of the 10th, making Musgrove the winning pitcher of the most amazing win in Astros history.
With relievers now getting $8-15 million routinely the Astros now have Musgrove for 2 more years before he even gets to arbitration. I think Musgrove can be great.
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Musgrove was just nails after they put him in the bullpen and as you pointed out he was one of the few pitchers to come out unscathed in that huge game 5 win. I would love to see that kind of pitching towards the back of the bullpen – perhaps if Giles has any kind of WS hangover, Mr. Musgrove might morph into a closer???
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That is a HUGE difference.
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Yes – that is why we awarded him the Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde award….
https://chipalatta.com/2017/11/07/2017-astros-the-season-chipalattawards/
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