We are quickly drawing near to the beginning of the “next” season after the shortest off-season in Houston Astro history. It is a good time to step back and check the pulse of the ordinary Houston Astro fan. Or as ordinary as any of the wild variety of folks who are part of this particular blog can be.
- Does it seem real? As far as the championship goes are there any of you who are having flashbacks to the 1980’s and the famous Dallas / Bobby Ewing plot cheat? Back then they killed off Ewing at the end of one season, because he was leaving the show. They then had a whole season of the show without Bobby and then brought him back at the beginning of the next season. The explanation was that the whole middle season was a dream. Are any of you afraid of waking up and being told that 2017 has not yet occurred?
- DH – good or bad? The Astros have completed their fifth season following the American League rules and having the pitchers bat in only a handful of games against NL teams in their stadiums including four games in the World Series. Are you used to it? Good with it? Miss the old days? Want the NL to convert?
- New divisional rivalries – good or bad? It has been the same five seasons since the Astros last played in the NL Central against the Cubs, Pirates, Brewers and Cards. Do you miss it? Are you used to the new rivals? Is having the South Denton Rangers in the new division give it an edge? Are you glad we are not having to face the 2016 WS Champs Cubs 19 times a season? (Never thought I would write that).
- Is Jim Crane no longer branded with 666? Crane was blamed with selling out the fans who wanted no part of the American League in order to buy the team. He was blamed for lowering the payroll so far he could pay off the debt from his tip money. He was blamed for a TV deal that blew up and kept a majority of fans from seeing a really bad team for a number of years (and a minority of fans for a longer time). He was accused of being a sexist/racist in his other company dealings. He was accused of never planning on spending money to make the team competitive. Ancient history? Does anything stick in your craw?
- Is Jeff Luhnow great or lucky? A number of their prime players are from the Ed Wade era including Jose Altuve, George Springer, Dallas Keuchel, and Chris Devenski. A number of the prime players are due to tanking and getting the top pick including Carlos Correa, Lance McCullers Jr., and Alex Bregman. A number of prime players were picked up due to tanking and having first choice off the waiver wire including Collin McHugh, Will Harris and early Tony Sipp. He made questionable trades for Carlos Gomez and Hank Conger among others and as we understand came within a couple minutes of not bringing in Justin Verlander. Was he lucky or was his overall plan great?
- Dallas or Dynasty? This survey started off with the night time soap opera Dallas and ends with the night time soap opera Dynasty. Do the Astros have the opportunity for an actual sustainable dynasty? Or do they have a single window do get it done and then fade away?
Where do you stand on the great questions of the day?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
107 responses to “Chipalatta: Survey of Astros’ fans”
There goes 1OP tweaking again. If we got the Daniel Murphy that hits for the Washington club and not the guy that hit for the Mets, I’d be intrigued. But I stilll think Gattis is going to hit. And I like the cohesiveness of our guys. It’s March 18 and I’m prepared to go to battle with todays group.
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Wasn’t Devenski acquired by Luhnow? I think the Brett Myers trade was in August 2012.
I’m in Florida right now, I went to the game yesterday and will be at the game today and tomorrow. My boys couldn’t make it this trip, but since the game is televised I’m going to try and get down behind home plate and wave at my boys back home. I’ll be wearing a maroon T-shirt that says “Dragon Baseball” on it. If you’re watching the game keep an eye out for me.
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Yep this was a Luhnow trade sending Brett Meyers (Myers? I never get this right) in July 2012. Devo was the player to be named later which happened in August. The two players named at the time Walters and Heidenreich ended up elsewhere and last pitched in 2016.
Meyers pitched well in 1/2 season for the White Sox – was a disaster with the Indians in 2013 and is long gone.
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Sandy, I saw a couple of likes from you but you sure been quiet lately, woman! Are you just leanin’ in to Openin’ Day?
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Did you see the article on Sipp’s prognosis for this year? It’s a good possibility he may not make the team. I would hope that if that’s the case the ‘Stros can trade him to someone else so we don’t have to eat all of his 6MM salary.
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We probably would have to eat it – maybe we could get a low prospect if we pay the whole amount but teams probably would wait until he is released
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The Astros sent Tucker, Martes, Mayfield, Kemmer and Stubbs to minor league camp this morning.
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They also named their rotation:
Verlander
Keuchel
LMJ
Cole
Morton
Hinch wanted Morton to be able to make the start of the home opener, to show him how much they appreciated his performance in the playoffs.
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Super impressed with our rotation working on fastball command this Spring! Especially Keuchel and McCullers.
Gerrit Cole is the real deal. I’m telling ya – this could be the best rotation in a long, long time.
They’re all talking about sequencing, which means they are so far ahead of hitters, the opponent can’t even understand how it will be used against them later.
And also, did anyone see us shift to an extreme 1B in the 1st inning, AFTER Cole got up 0-2 count? That is unbelievable. The next pitch starts inside and tilts into the swinging batter, impossible to hit, much less opposite field. Had he somehow hit the ball, there were 5! defenders on half the field to cover. They are redefining how to play defense based on the count.
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In the matter of two straight plays Tyler White has fumbled the runner on, then wasn’t quick enough to catch Cole’s pickoff. The ball was thrown right on the bag perfectly. Not a heads up player today this far. And now that runner has scored ruining a sharp outing.
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There was a mistake made in reporting yesterday that Anibal, and not Miguelangel hit the slam. However:
Yesterday, Miguelangel Sierra had the opportunity to get in the ballgame for the Astros, and made the most of it. He hit a game-tying grand slam in ninth! https://t.co/sh1fnGeFPG
— Tri-City ValleyCats (@ValleyCats) March 18, 2018
In the documentary on Altuve, he is seen greeting Miguelangel and saying after he was drafted by the Astros, “we’ll be a double play combo in a few years.” May be prophetic.
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Diane – we were off to see the Mouse in Orlando. Had a great time but need a leg transplant or a time machine back to when I was 30.
Noticed a solid showing of Astro gear during our stay – I would say more than any other team – Yanks were probably #2.
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Sipp chokes again.
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Tim is waving and A.J Reed rips one to RF!
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That was me. I was waving to my boys watching back home. I’m glad you saw me.
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The Astros will have a real good chance to repeat if they stop their errors and silly walks that start the opposing team’s rallies.
Cole’s stuff on the TV looked better than it did on Gameday. The Braves looked very patient, but still had trouble barreling up Cole’s stuff. Suzuki’s double into the LF corner was laced but the other hits were bloops. Hinch gave away a run by bringing his infield in unnecessarily. Sipp and McHugh gave away runs by walking guys who steal bases and then gave up hits that brought the guys home who had walked.
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The Astros have scheduled a press conference for 9:00am CT tomorrow where they have said Jeff Luhnow will make a major announcement. When I said it was going to be about altuve, my wife said that we already know about that.
I informed her that the team has said nary a word about the extension so far and that they want to make a big deal about it for Altuve. Mrs 1OP replied that maybe the announcement could be about more than one player getting an extension. Maybe she’s right.
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That would be major Mrs Op1
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