April was a physical and emotional roller coaster for the Astros as they swung from a 6-1 start to the season, down to a 1-9 middle of the month, over to a 7-2 finish. The Astros were hit hard with COVID related losses (Pedro Baez, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Martin Maldonado and Robel Garcia) and injury losses (Framber Valdez, Jake Odorizzi, Baez, Andre Scrubb, Blake Taylor, Enoli Paredes). The plus .500 record was good, all things considered.
The blog will give out some April Chipalatta Awards in our next post, but today we will look ahead to the month of May and those things that “may” come for the Houston Nine.
The Astros have been an interesting study in inconsistency to date. They started off 6-1, then lost nine of the next ten to bottom out at 7-10 and now have been on a mini-run by winning 5 of their last six to get back over .500 at 12-11. Today we will just highlight some thoughts that have occurred to us on this Hump Day in April.
It has been a long time since the blog has revisited the classic WTSWTM, more easily understood as What They Said – What They Meant. Simply stated, several Astros related quotes are pulled from mlb.com and reprinted here. Then we untangle the coach or player speak and tell you what the person really meant…
Apologies to Stevie Wonder. But not everyone believes in Superstition, though there is probably some of that sentiment in his song. And on a side note, did Stevie who has been famous since his early teens ever consider changing over to Steve or Steven? “Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for Steven Wonder!!” Doesn’t work, kind of like when Dwight Shrute on The Office references William Joel. But I digress. A lot.
Most fans, managers, media observers would say it is critical for team success in sports for all the players to be pulling in the same direction. It’s just like a rowing team is most successful when they are rowing in sync.
It has been a tough time for the team’s fans as they have been on a roll (as in rolling back down the standings’ hill) in losing 7 of their last 8 games, heading into a mini-series with the Colorado Rockies. It is easy to get into a COVID lockdown funk about everything after a year plus of eating water sandwiches in life. But here you go….ten reasons to be happy about the Astros.
On another ugly rain-dotted day, Dan P is searching for a good subject to cover for the blog.
Today it will be an interview with myself…
