We’ve heard it a number of times in the last few days, but the Astros are the first team in MLB history to win at least one playoff series in six consecutive seasons. And they are also the first team to move on to the Championship series in six straight seasons, including 2020, when they had to win two series to progress that far. Beyond that, the team has won 11 (and counting) playoff series in those six seasons. Remember that heading into 2017, this team had won 4 playoff series in their history, one in 2004, two in 2005, and the wild card play-in over the Yanks in 2015. Yes, we are spoiled.
ALDS thoughts:
- Looking back at the very tight, very fortunate series against the upstart Mariners, one thought stuck in my mind. Each of these games was the exact kind of game the Astros would have lost in the old days. Those 1980 and 1986 series where the bullpen yacked up hard-earned leads. The 1999 and 2001 series where big home runs by Brian Jordan and Chipper Jones knocked us off our tracks. Back again to 1986 when a game that never would end ended in 16 innings with our team going home.
- Yordan Alvarez was the huge, in-your-face, ready-for-TV hero of the series. But there were so many other under-the-counter heroes. This was a team effort, and even with some notable slumping going on, most everyone did something either by pitch, with the glove, or at bat to make this series go the Astros way. Alex Bregman in the first two games was clutch if not prolific at the bat, and of course, Jeremy Pena was heroic in setting the plate for Alvarez in the first two games long before his break-through homer in the 18th inning of game three.
- The most unsung heroes of the series had to be the bullpen, who threw 20.1 innings of 11 hit, 1 run ball, the single run on a home run off of Cristian Javier. For shame, Cristian……. And if they had given up just one run in their 12 innings of five-hit ball, they would have had to play at least on Sunday and possibly on Monday and possibly have gone home. Saturday’s marathon was amazing. It is tough enough for the home side pitchers, but from the 9th thru the 17th (a whole nine-inning game) they knew that any false move could end the game in a walk-off, and they rarely faltered. Here’s to Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressly, Rafael Montero, Ryne Stanek, Hunter Brown, Hector Neris, Javier, and huge kudos to Luis Garcia. Garcia, who had not pitched in relief since the beginning of 2021 and who had to wonder when/if he would be used, threw 5 strong, scoreless innings in Game 3. What a performance.
- Framber Valdez and Lance McCullers Jr. both put on strong performances in Games 2 and 3 after Justin Verlander threw one of his worst games of the season in Game 1. Framber got in more trouble than Lance and gave up a couple runs, but still managed to get in 5.2 innings before being rescued by Hector Neris. McCullers had to throw shutout ball and did for 6 innings before leaving the last 12 innings to the bullpen.
- Most impactful at bat by a most anonymous player? The hit-by-pitch at bat by David Hensley in the 9th inning of Game 1. It would have been an eight-pitch walk, if the last ball hadn’t brushed his uniform. This was a rookie in his first postseason at bat. His team was trailing by two runs, and the veteran ahead of him in the lineup, Christian Vazquez had already grounded out to lead off the inning. He battled through a tough at bat, and frankly, if he does not get on base there, this team would have lost that game and possibly the series.
ALCS thoughts:
- Looking at “history” related to the Astros and Yankees, the two teams have a history like Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Or Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in real life.
- 2015 – the Astros emerge from a half-decade of tanking to make a surprise visit to the playoffs. They play the Yankees in a one-game Wild Card play-in, and behind Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel and the bullpen, they eliminated the Yankees in NYC 3-0.
- 2017 – In the poster child for home-field advantage, the 2017 ALCS started off with two 2-1 wins at home for the Astros, the Yanks roared back with three straight wins in New York, and then the Astros clinched their second World Series trip with two more wins at home. Somehow garbage can thumping made the Astros soar with a .182 BA in the ALCS, but they won anyway.
- 2019 – The 2019 ALCS pivoted on two walk-off home runs as Carlos Correa walked off the 2nd game in the 11th inning, which was trumped by Jose Altuve walking off game six and the series with a 2 run homer off Aroldis Chapman.
- 2022 – In 2022, the teams met seven times, with the Astros taking 5 of the 7 and, most importantly, sweeping a doubleheader coming off of the All Star break.
- There has been a lot of booing of mainstays like Altuve in the regular season games at New York since the cheating scandal came to light, but it has seemed to only inspire Jose and others to greater heights against the Yanks.
- Starting Pitching – After playing in an ALDS where they had two days off before they played their Game 3, the Astros will have a different challenge facing them in the ALCS as the teams will play 2 games in Houston, have a travel day off on Friday and then potentially could play 5 days in a row with travel sandwiched in after game 5 on Monday. This would seem to favor the Astros and their deeper pitching staff. Game 2 of the series may be the most interesting matchup of the series. Will the Yankees pitch ace Gerrit Cole on three days rest? That may depend on how Game 1 goes for the Yanks. Will the Astros throw Framber Valdez (next in line) or might they have Lance McCullers jump ahead of him, since he pitches better at home (all evidence from Game 3 against Seattle being to the contrary)?
The Astros behind Justin Verlander, Valdez, McCullers, Game 3 hero, Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy (with Hunter Brown in reserve) have the best and deepest pitching rotation left in the playoffs. The Astros starters were 1st in the AL with a 2.95 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and a .213 BA against.
The Yankees were 3rd in the AL with a 3.54 ERA, tied for 1st with a 1.07 WHIP and second with a .222 BA against, which was quite good. Besides Cole (13-8, 3.50 ERA), they have first game starter Jameson Taillon (14-5, 3.91 ERA), 5th game winner over Cleveland, Nestor Cortes (12-4, 2.44 ERA), Luis Severino (7-3, 3.18 ERA) and Domingo German (2-5, 3.61 ERA). If Cole moves up, would they move up Cortes and have him pitch on 3 days rest in Game 3? A lot will depend on how the series starts for the Yankees to see how desperate they may get.
Bottom Line – Advantage Astros
- Position Players – The Yankees announced that a couple of their veteran stars have not recovered from injuries and will not be on the ALCS roster. Both DJ LeMahieu and Andrew Benintendi, who have done damage to the Astros in the past will miss the ALCS. Aaron Hicks was injured in the ALDS and will not be on the roster for this round. Marwin Gonzalez, who has been a ghost of his former self will also miss this series against his old team.
The Yankees scored the most runs in the AL this season along with hitting the most home runs. They were 8th in BA in the AL while clocking in with a 2nd best OBP and OPS. We can be upset with how much press Aaron Judge gets, but good Lord, 62 HRs and 131 RBIs with a slash of .311 BA/.425 OBP/1.111 OPS. He might be as good as Yordan Alvarez, you know. The Yanks behind Judge have a series of players who don’t hit much for average, but show some power. Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres all have over 70 RBIs and over 100 Ks apiece. Josh Donaldson has clocked in with 15 HRs and 62 RBIs, but also 148 K’s. The Yanks tried both Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Oswaldo Cabrera at shortstop during the ALDS, with Cabrera’s collision with Aaron Hicks knocking Hicks out for this series.
The Astros were 3rd in the AL in runs scored, and were 2nd in home runs, while only 5th in BA, 4th in OBP and 3rd in OPS. Unlike the Yankees, the Astros position players are healthy heading into the ALCS. The biggest missing piece is Michael Brantley, but they have had to survive a long time without one of their most consistent hitters. The Astros still depend on Jose Altuve to trigger the offense and hopefully he is ready to hit something/anything after an 0 for 18 ALDS. Jeremy Pena was clutch in the ALDS, Yordan Alvarez was a bit of a legend (who struggled in Game 3), Alex Bregman had big hits as did Yuli Gurriel, while Kyle Tucker also had his moments. With Jake Meyers off the roster will Chas McCormick get more bites of the apple? Will the catchers, Martin Maldonado and Christian Vazquez and DH/1B Trey Mancini do anything at the plate?
Bottomline – The Yanks should be favored at the plate, but they have a fair amount of fire power out for this series. We will call this a push.
- Bullpen – The Astros and Yanks have the top two ‘pens in the AL, whatever way you want to look at it during the regular season.
For the Yanks, high priced, big marquee relievers Chad Green, Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman have either missed most of the year to injury or succumbed to recent problems but none are on the ALCS roster. Michael King, who was excellent for them, is out for the season. Lucas Luetge, who was good during the regular season, is off the roster. Former A’s starter Frankie Montas is back from injury, but will likely just be available for 1 or 2 innings from the bullpen. His former teammate from Oakland Lou Trivino is one of a stable of relievers backing up closer (we think) Clay Holmes. Miguel Castro, Jonathan Loaisiga, Clarke Schmidt (who struggled in the ALDS) and Wandy Peralta should all see action.
The Astros’ bullpen has been a big part of their success all year and this continued in the ALDS culminating in the 12 innings of scoreless ball in the 3rd game. The ability to pair one inning guys like closer Ryan Pressly, Ryne Stanek, Rafael Montero, and Hector Neris with multi-inning pitchers like Bryan Abreu, Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, Seth Martinez (brought back up for the ALDS), Luis Garcia and Jose Urquidy gives Manager Dusty Baker tremendous flexibility in mixing and matching.
Bottomline – Small advantage for the Astros
Overall – Anything can happen in seven games, but it says here – the Astros in six games.
CHIPALATTA 
To my minimal points from this morning, we simply have to have the real Verlander, at least the 2022 Cy Young version, show up tonight.
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JV not hitting his spots. Been lucky so far. Probably won’t make through 6. How about some runs for the good guys.
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Great win tonight – though we disappointed the announcers
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Ahhh! Did we hurt their little feelings? That’s one down and three to go. Good game tonight but it’s always good when we win. Peña, Yuli, and Chaz pulled us across the finish line. JV the trooper came through big after a shaky start and bull pen was good again except for a hiccup from Montero. Now for the Framber show and a hitting clinic for us tomorrow.
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Don’t forget Maldonado’s RBI! That one got us going.
This game was like so many others this year. The Astros played better than their opponent and won the game.
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oops! Forgot about Maldy. Super hit.
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It’s got to be a good sign when Altuve, Bregman, Alvarez and Tucker all get shut out and we win anyway.
Is Altuve going to drop a bunt down on Donaldson tonight and end the 0-19 streak? It’s much harder for us to win when Jose can’t help.
Verlander’s line looks great, but he sure had to work for it last night.
You were right 1oldpro. Pena belongs in the Big Five.
Bregman and Tucker will have their nights. Great play by Judge early that might have kept the game from getting out of control for the Yankees.
Yuli and Maldy have shown up when it really counts.
I think Chas has finally fought his way into the everyday role, at least for now. Great hustle in the 3rd all the way from center to right backing up Tucker on Stanton’s double forcing Rizzo to stop at third and saving the run.
We only needed 9 outs from the pen last night and Pressly looked like getting 4 of them was his favorite thing. And we’ve still got a whole bunch of guys rested and ready.
Big night for Framber! A split does nothing for us.
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Great game last night – esp. after JV got his Cyborg arm working.
This could shape up to be quite an adventure!
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Game 1 Thoughts –
– One of the things I pointed out above is that the Yanks really do strike out a lot – last night 17-2 vs. the Astros. I enjoyed every one of them.
– For the first three innings it felt like JV was going to repeat Game 1 against the M’s and then he finally started controlling his breaking stuff and went bat guano crazy. During the third inning I thought they might run him out of pitches by the fifth, but he got through six and that was great
– That may have been the most locked in I’ve seen Pressly. He was awesome last night
– If you were going to pick 4 guys from the lineup to have the big hits in this game, the four that got them were not likely in that four. Maybe Pena – but yes, Altuve, Alvarez, Bregman and Tucker would come first. Loved Maldy’s hit – it was huge to break us out a bit, along with Pena, Yuli and Chas’ dingers.
– Judge’s catch was epic – off the bat I thought that was a typical Bregman split the gap double to the wall. That kept the Yankees in this game – I think things could have gotten ugly fast without it
– Dusty, if I see Dubon starting for Chas I am going to get very angry. Chas had great at bats between his single right up the middle, his opposite field homer and his walk
– Great to see Yuli put them ahead with a typical Yuli line drive homer
– The announcers were so hoping for the Yanks to put someone or ones on in the ninth and have a score flip like we did against the M’s. But look we have Ron Darling (no love lost with the Astros from 1986 and Jeff Francour (lost to the Astros in 2005 with Atlanta) – so why should we expect them to be on our side.
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Some ALCS thoughts:
* This Astros team may be as experienced and together as any Astros team I have seen.
* The outcome of this series may determine the futures in NY of Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone.
* The long layoffs may have allowed some rust to form on the Astros, but there is a good chance that it also gave some much needed studying and planning time to them to know how to attack the opposition. You keep hearing stuff about how prepared the Astros are.
* Bob Costas mentioned the cheating scandal twice in the leadup to yesterday’s game, as though it wasn’t six years ago at all. Throw another couple of logs on that fire, Bob.
* Going back pitch by pitch in Yordan’s at bats, he saw 2 pitches the entire game in the strike zone. None over the outer half of the plate. It will be interesting to see what happens with him tonight.
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I’d like to see Altuve and Pena on base at the same time. That would force the Yankees to pitch to Yordan. Regardless, they’ll get stung by Bregman soon.
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There we go, prescient comment on Bregman !
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I’m sure Bob is like Rickey Henderson, he has a green light all the time. That said, I could see it being a topic in pre-game meetings and execs wanting it brought up to try and keep Non-Yankee fans engaged and a reason to root against our favorite 9. Notice how Francour and Darling kinda skirted the conversation, as I expect former players to do.
I am on a few Yankee fan sites. They are generally baseball illiterate buffoons, and I expect Yankee stadium to be about as unforgiving place a team of any sport can play in on Saturday. Luckily crowds can’t cause false starts in baseball.
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The matchup was really good for Chas. This dude really can hit mediocre pitching better than most. Hopefully he just stays in the lineup, with Meyers gone I would expect it.
Pena – Let’s call it a 4 and a half. I still need a season of better than .289 OBP to put him in my big 5. I will say I love his grit and he is a gamer. I also love his consistency against every type of pitcher, I trust him rather the pitcher is throwing 91 or 99. I think he knows that too – there isn’t a pitcher that can stop him from squaring up – just needs to work on strike zone recognition (but so did Altuve at the beginning).
Speaking of mighty mouse – I did like his patience in his last two ABs. I think he started focusing more and this hitless streak is starting to make him mad – but he didn’t press. He worked and got pitches to hit, just didn’t hit them. I look for it to end tonight.
Frenchy and Darling were right – get to them early or you don’t get to them. JV really scuffed through the first 2 frames but his body language walking off the mound after the 3rd was this is mine now. He responded.
Yes Dan – wonderful to win with nothing from the big 4 – I don’t think we can win every game 4-2 but we probably won’t have too because they won’t all be held down.
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Ooooosh that was a tight and tense one. 4am here, I’m going to bed …
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Matt Carpenter looks like Freddie Mercury.
The Astros are 5-0 without playing their best game.
Jose will hit.
Bregman is Bregman again.
Abreu. Wow.
Pressly with 7 stunning outs in two days.
Framber pitched an almost flawless game.
Come February, he should pitch less and field more.
We’ve got the Yankees in a pickle.
Especially if we hit the ball.
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Oh, and Costas is an old lady.
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Another sterling win – I’ll comment more tomorrow
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*You look at the box score the next morning and realize Framber went 7 innings and gave up zero earned runs and Severino went 5.1 innings and gave up 3 earned runs. Yet the game seemed so much harder to watch as a fan of either team.
* Being up 2-0 in the series makes you appreciate the Astros bullpen even more when you consider Altuve’s plight. We shake our collective heads and recall Altuve’s other ofers over the years and it is no big deal to us because we know when the dam breaks, there will be a flood.
* Don’t look at the regular season to predict the playoffs, they say:
Pena- .333 BA 1.068 OPS
Maldonado- .273 BA .743 OPS
McCormick- .308 BA .938 OPS
Gurriel- .409 BA 1.091 OPS
Bregman- .318 BA 1.011 OPS
The Big Five?
* The roof was open and the Astros still won the game! I wonder if the league would try and make us play game 6 in Milwaukee?
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Did you catch during the broadcast where they spoke about the wind conditions and mentioned Correa said before the game that he had only played there with the roof open a miniscule number of times? I imagine after that flyout to Tucker on the track by Judge Manfred immediately picked up his phone and called someone to demand the roof stay closed for any future games involving the Yankees.
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Is it me or did it seem to be the Aaron Boone show last night. Every time I looked up, his face was on the screen. I actually turned the sound off and turned 790 on just to keep from listening to the announcers gushing over the Yankees.
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I’m not using all my material here in the comments because I am writing another post on the side, but I will say this….
– Simon – thanks for being a loyal fan on the other side of the pond. I know folks like daveb in the Carribean are staying up for these games, but you are ruining your next day staying up (which takes me back to the 2017 WS when we were up so late.
– OP – I think the roof being open saved us. When Judge connected I thought that ball was gone like Chas’ the night before, but I think the wind took the steam out of it. Take that MLB front office.
– Sarge – I’m sick of the pro-Yankee tinge to every broadcast.
– Daveb – I laughed out loud on your Matt Carpenter – Freddie Mercury take.
– Steven – yeah we don’t have to win them all 4-2….some we can win 3-2. And yes I think “mighty mouse” Altuve is mighty close to breaking out.
– Z and Mr. Bill – heard from you after game 1, but not yet after Game 2 – how are your pulses now?
– Other folks – AC45, Larry leach, Devin, Astro Nut, Becky, Sandy, Diane, anyone else I’m missing – how are you feeling 2 up?
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My chest was hurting but actually it might have been the burrito and taco that I had around 2:00. I’ve been watching most of the commentaries from ESPN, Fox, etc, etc. It’s all about 75% of how the Yankees need to do this and that to win and about 25% of how well the Astro pitching, defense, and timely hits are propelling the team to victory. I didn’t hear the sound since the bar I was in had live music so I had to be content to just watch until I headed home around the 7th inning. I guess we’ll continue to hear about the Yankees, Dodgers, or whomever for the next 20 years or so as opposed to how good a team the Astros are. Still a little nervous with only a 1 run lead but the bull pen and Pressly have been just super.
I’d love for us to win this in 4 but I’ll take a series win regardless of how many it takes.
I would hope that Altuve, Tucker, and Yordan can begin to mash the ball for hits like they can but how about somebody hitting in Diaz’s spot. Maybe time to give Mancini a shot but my preference is Hensley
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As for me, let me just say that the chief cynic role DaveB assigned to me is really hard to play when the team is 2 up on the Yankees in the ALCS. As my GPS used to say: “recalculating’. As Chicago (the band, not the baseball team) used to sing: ‘Feelin’ Stronger Every day!”
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Mr. Bill, if the Chief Cynic role is overly conflicting at this point and has become a burden, we do have an opening for Entertainment Director.
We might need programming from you on Sunday and Monday when the weather in the Bronx is forecasted to be rather soggy.
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Old Blue eyes loaned me this song to kick off the weekend’s entertainment:
Start spreadin’ the tarps! Rain’s comin’, they say!
Let Costas fuss and fume til we … uncork that cork!
Big Stetsons and boots … are-headin’ your way,
is that a bat or a broom you see … New York, New York?
We’re gonna wake up sittin’ pretty midst thugs and creeps …
and prove we’re king of the hill … Masters of Sweeps!
These oranges and blues; they’re comin’ to play;
get ready to soil your pinstriped pants …. New York, New York!
Two times we’ll hit that field; that’s when your fate will be sealed,
soon you’ll see your bubble burst … in the Bronx down on 161st,
no bubbly for you, New York, New York!
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You’re hired.
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I have to be careful with my political? comment. But being retired, we had to make financial decisions this year. So giving up watching the Astros went by the wayside.
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I’m feeling really good about it right now. I was concerned with how we used Pressly, but he really came through. I would really like to see the Astros pound a few more runs across in game 3 so as to give him the night off. What I’m having a hard time remembering is that this is only the ALCS. These games are incredibly stressful for the fans so you can only imagine how the players feel.
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On mlbtraderumors.com they are saying that the inside scoop is that Dusty will be invited back for 2023 – so I presume that Espada will be pressing to take a job elsewhere
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Gosh, I really hope that MLB trade rumors is wrong on this.
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In response to 1OP, no the league would not make us play in Milwaukee, but maybe at Fenway in Boston where the fences are closer and there would be more TV viewers in the eastern time zone.
Game 3 is pretty much a must-win for the Yanks. We’ll see if Cole is worth his millions.
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Lance got a cut on his elbow from bumping a bottle during the ALDS celebration- so Javier has Game 3 and he’s moved back to Game 4
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Wasted away in bubbly-bottle-Ville;
waitin’ for his … champagne boo-boo to mend;
some people say that the booze is to blame;
but I hope … there’ll be more come this week-end!
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Keep rollin’, rollin’, rollin’.
Sorry, Bill. I have been watching Rawhide reruns and loving it.
But, you are keepin’ those songs rollin’ and this New York, New York one is as good as they get.
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Can the Astro bats to come alive in unison? No better situation for it. If Javier is still pitching like he did in September, it’s a great match up with Cole.
Yankee fans are about ready to execute Boone. We can help. Time to put the knife in.
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Boone blamed roof being open for Judge’s flyout.
Here is what I know. Judge and Stanton are RH batters and the Crawford Boxes are right there with the wind blowing out.
The crowd noise with the roof open is about half of what it is with it closed. I would guess the Houston Astros would prefer the roof closed. If the wind hurt the Yankees, they need look no further than their biggest fans to blame: MLB.
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Chas McCormick again proves this post’s readers to be brilliant as he hits a line drive just off the top of the right field fence near the pole. I think Boone should complain about the air flow helping this home run make it over as all the Yankee fans in the RF stands suck.
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Outstanding comment!
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Home plate umpire is terrible.
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I never say this, but tonight there are two different strike zones.
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Another great pitching performance and timely hitting from guys that you don’t expect to get the job done. Let’s gel that one tomorrow and move on. LET’S GO ASTROS!
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Well that was an easier game to stay up and watch …. Fairly tension free compared to the previous ones. Shame we didn’t finish off the one hitter mind. Can’t help think McCormick would’ve caught that one to centre. But still, a fine victory and amusing to see Cole looking foul and grumpy in the dugout after giving up five runs. Shame we have to listen to these awful commentators though.
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The wife and I believe the same about that hit to center.
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Well, the knife is in. It’s time to twist it.
Javier had a tough assignment. 22 days off between starts, with 4 outs on October 11 his only live work. Verlander could not do that. Reptile was rusty, but in spite of throwing just 45 strikes in 84 pitches, he was never on the cusp of losing it. And he got no help from an umpire that took obvious strikes away from him regularly.
So good to see RBI’s from the deadline guys. We need that going forward.
Chas keeps producing at the bottom. A .421 OBP? Between him and Pena, it’s helped us survive Altuve. And with both Yordan and Tucker hitting .200 it’s so good to have Bregman and Yuli alive. But if we are moving on, everyone has to wake up. It’s time now.
By the way, why did Chas get replaced by Frenchy with Yordan left out in left last night?
Boy, Dusty giving the ball to New Kid the starting the 8th turned out to be a bit unsettling, but invaluable experience. We’ll need him at some point soon.
Really want to get this thing done tonight. Let it rain on New York once we’ve finished with them.
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* I have been looking forward to seeing LMJ pitch in this series.
* As an Astros fan, I wasn’t crazy about the Rangers hiring Bochy as their manager. Things haven’t quite worked out this way, but we were close to having Maddon, Baker, Melvin, Bochy and Servais all in the AL West. That would have been some accumulation of managers and baseball knowledge.
* In past Astros playoffs, I have felt like a fan or a cheerleader. This year I have felt more like an owner, proudly looking at what we built and amazed at how they are performing. All of us here have invested so much. I am proud of all of our Chipalatta family who have stayed for so long. I am very grateful to Dan for keeping us together and interested.
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Well put.
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Thank you, OP – I’m happy if I can give folks a safe place to opine on the Astros.
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The pitching has been phenomenal indeed. But the tale of the Astros’ offense vs the Yankees so far is quite interesting. Follow the runs scored and the RBIs, and who would have figured who our heroes would be?
The team leaders in runs scored in this series are Chaz McCormick [3], Yuli Gurriel [2] and Alex Bregman [2].
The leaders in RBIS are in this series are Chaz McCormick [4], Alex Bregman [3], and Christian Vazquez [2].
Chaz, we knew we liked you, but we never figured you would be this kind of force – and outshine guys like Altuve, Alvarez, and Tucker in the playoffs. Chomp chomp.
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Meanwhile, Bregs and Yuli … and Jose, Yordan, Kyle, Jeremy, and the rest of the “Lost in Space” crew … are you really going to keep letting Chaz have all the fun?
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I’m still a nervous.
Last night was a bit less scary.
Just love watching the NY fans suffer.
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Just got home from Church – prayed for the Yankees fans to have the serenity to realize that 27 World Championships is plenty and to quit trying to fire their manager every 5 minutes. We love Aaron Boone – we are pretty successful against him.
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Sit Astronices dominari Yankeestros.
Omnes dicunt: Amen
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Sus Domesticus Translation:
Ay-may e-they Astros-ay ominate-day e-they Ankees-Yay.
And-ay all-ay ay-say, A-men-ay.
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Had a look on Stub Hub a bit ago. Seats available from 19.00! Seems the Yankee faithful might be staying home tonight.
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Noticed how quickly they vacated the stadium after the 8th. I thought the Yankees were a great come from behind team in the late innings.
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They should have moved the Astro game to this afternoon. MLB knew weather was coming. I can think of a couple of reasons why the forecast was ignored.
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Pretty darn impressive.
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Start spreading the rings
I’m leaving today
I want to beat them up again
New York, New York
These Astronaut shoes
Are longing to kick
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York
I wanna give nightmares to a city
That doesn’t sleep
And find I’m king of the AL
Top of the heap
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Nicely done AstroNut!
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When Billy Joel came to the Juice Box a few weeks ago, he inspired this little ditty:
Some folks like to flap their gums;
talk lots trash like Bowery bums.
take selfies all over Manhattan,
and beat their chests like bongo drums.
Us? We’re boardin’ in a charter, leavin’ Jomboy stunned and cryin’;
we stuck a fork in his state of mind.
We took on Judge and Gerrit Cole;
and played Whack-a-Mole on the best they had;
withstood Stanton and Rizzo; even survived that Bader lad;
Carpenter and Donaldson? Their bats drooped like a lily pad!
We stuck a fork in their state of mind.
It was so easy winning day-by-day;
our pitching staff gave those bums the blues;
Now we’re headed back down Houston way;
to see real fans; do interviews.
A little dose of reality makes it plain to see
who has the better nine;
I don’t care if its Javier or LMJ that steps up and toes the line;
didn’t need Correa, Springer, or that Charlie guy …
We stuck a fork in their state of mind!
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Mr. Bill – like ol’ Blue Eyes and Mr. William Joel (as he was called by Dwight on the Office) you are a national treasure.
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Does that mean Nicholas Cage is coming after me?
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So much for the Big Apple. Not only took a bite out of it but we took the whole bushel. We left the Yankees like a dried up fritter and the topping was a-la-mode.
Got to admit that Dusty managed the series to perfection and guys who you thought would be the juggernauts weren’t but never mind as others arose to take their place. The pitching was near perfect and our scattering of fans in the stadium were treated to a wonderful time. Now it’s time to celebrate and then ready ourselves for the WS. Congratulation guys, you earned it.
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Truly a team effort. Contributions all around. Did Houston proud.
MVP? JP3 yes – but also every single guy that wore the uniform.
Obstacles were calmly overcome. Detractors were silenced – on the field, where it really matters. True class was displayed.
Well done, gentlemen. Take a day to celebrate each other, and what you have accomplished; call Carlos, George, and Charlie to rub it in a little, in a good-natured way. Then strap on the cletes, put on the practice unis, and resume the majestic quest.
The M’s and the Yanks may be done; but we’ve got one more prize to win.
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Well, now that all that’s out of the way we can get down to the real contest: who will sign Judge and Correa? What? There are still baseball games to be played? Don’t tell anyone at league offices in NY that.
My only complaint was that Altuve had another one of our signature TOOTBLAN episodes last night. I doubt Boone would have walked Alvarez in that situation, but knowing we had to face Bader and Judge in the ninth it would have been really nice to try to get an insurane run.
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The first comment out of Costas in the postgame show was about the Astros asterisk win of the 2017 World Series.
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Yeah – I guess this was as much of a compliment as you can get from him – he basically had to remind everyone about the scandal – but at least he said – maybe it’s time to recognize what a great team the Astros are. Of course, he could have reminded everyone about Yankee Apple watch and other sign stealing scandals. It was cheating even if they got off with a warning.
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Mr. Costas:
It has come to our attention that, much like Dustin Hoffman’s on-screen version of Captain Hook, you need a mommy very badly.
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Yeah, I was awake for that too. It sent me to bed. I thought Costas was pretty good about 40 years ago. But at this point in time, he can’t speak for himself. He was finally able to proclaim the Astros as the superior team though. It took him a four game sweep to admit it though.
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Then, throughout the remainder of the show, Rollins referred to the Phillies as “We/Us” and Granderson referred to the Yankees as “We/Us”.
Since their broadcast of the playoffs was coming to an end, all pretense of non-bias was dropped.
Only Pedro insisted on talking about the team who had just dominated the TBS-broadcasted ALCS.
Now we move on to the Fox MLB WS. Fox and MLB are headquartered in NY, of course.
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Well at least Joe Buck will give us a fair shot. Oh, my head still hurts from that concussion I got from pounding my head against the wall the last time Buck broadcast our games.
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Tune up the fiddle, Dan, and get ready to scoot a boot!
We’ve been good since long time ago,
who’s gonna break it to Cotton-Mouth Joe;
Where is he comin’ from? Where should he go?
What is he talkin’ bout, Cotton-Mount Joe?
Now what did you say? Bull PEN!
You said what? Bull PEN!
A little bit louder! Bull PEN!
Oh, the Heck you say!
Now what you say? Bull PEN!
You say what? Bull PEN!
Let Joe hear ya! Bull PEN!
Now do-se-do!
[It’s a Texas thing, y’all].
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Joe Davis replaces Joe Buck as the play-by-play announcer for the WS and John Smoltz remains as the other half in the booth.
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So, who is Joe Davis? The guy in the Philly Phanatic costume?
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Joe Davis will be announcing the WS games instead of Joe Buck.
– Davis replaced Vin Scully as Dodgers announcer in 2017, so no way would he have anything against the cheating, can banging Astros….
– He grew up in Pottersville, Mi – I guess that is what they renamed Bedford Falls after Jimmy Stewart committed suicide in It’s a Wonderful Life
– They say while he did not pick up on Scully’s style and catch phrases he did want to continue Vin’s tradition of story telling. I’m guessing every story will start off with a cheating scandal reference.
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