Thursday, July 15, 2004
It's the start of the second season
The Astros begin tomorrow night ... At least they begin the Phil Garner era ...
Let's take an inventory as they begin again:
11 games out of first place.
St. Louis running away with the NL Central. Nobody thought of that in March.
Cubs get Wood and Prior (maybe) healthy. Maddux is a factor, but not everytime he hits the mound - maybe 2 of every 3 times. He's getting a little less effective in his old age.
Cincinnati and Milwaukee will crater or at least come back to Earth.
So, now the Astros can make a run and there is no better place to start than the post-break stretch of 11 home games in their next 14.
They can reset the rotation with Andy, Roy, and Roger before the minor leaguers take the mound.
Beltran, Berkman, and Kent can hit.
Bagwell can take a seat and let clubhouse leadership matriculate to someone else.
Biggio can keep up the hardwork.
Ausmus can go away. He's supposed to be a great catcher for the pitchers - what about Redding? Miller?
It's probably a pipe dream that they'll win the wild card.
Real predictions: Beltran is gone by July 31. So is Kent as the Astros are gone from the race by the 27th.
Roger returns for another year because it's too much fun to play at home and be an ambassador for the game in your hometown.
On the Garner issue, I liked him when he was in Milwaukee. That's when I lived there and he had nothing to work with. He came to the park everyday and tried to make something happen. With the old Brewers organization, that was a challenge because the talent was limited. Detroit was a joke of an organization when he was there. The owner cared more about the Red Wings at that point. So, it'll be interesting to see what Garner can do with this talent.
Other sports thoughts for the week:
Lance won't win the Tour de France. He's been hanging around S. Crow too much.
Tiger won't win the British. Again, it's a woman's fault.
NASCAR is taking the weekend off so Tony Stewart can decide who to rear end.
Kobe should have gone to the Clippers - what a great story that would have been.
MLS, NHL, and Arena Football? Anybody heard from them lately?
Did the All-Star game seem like it ended on Thursday? Wow - that was slow. AND, I love Ali, except - why have the guy throw the first pitch when it's obvious he can't throw? Isn't there a better way to honor him? And the Houston connection is a big stretch.
Lastly - what's the anti-doping committee and how do you become a member?
That's all for now.
Let's take an inventory as they begin again:
11 games out of first place.
St. Louis running away with the NL Central. Nobody thought of that in March.
Cubs get Wood and Prior (maybe) healthy. Maddux is a factor, but not everytime he hits the mound - maybe 2 of every 3 times. He's getting a little less effective in his old age.
Cincinnati and Milwaukee will crater or at least come back to Earth.
So, now the Astros can make a run and there is no better place to start than the post-break stretch of 11 home games in their next 14.
They can reset the rotation with Andy, Roy, and Roger before the minor leaguers take the mound.
Beltran, Berkman, and Kent can hit.
Bagwell can take a seat and let clubhouse leadership matriculate to someone else.
Biggio can keep up the hardwork.
Ausmus can go away. He's supposed to be a great catcher for the pitchers - what about Redding? Miller?
It's probably a pipe dream that they'll win the wild card.
Real predictions: Beltran is gone by July 31. So is Kent as the Astros are gone from the race by the 27th.
Roger returns for another year because it's too much fun to play at home and be an ambassador for the game in your hometown.
On the Garner issue, I liked him when he was in Milwaukee. That's when I lived there and he had nothing to work with. He came to the park everyday and tried to make something happen. With the old Brewers organization, that was a challenge because the talent was limited. Detroit was a joke of an organization when he was there. The owner cared more about the Red Wings at that point. So, it'll be interesting to see what Garner can do with this talent.
Other sports thoughts for the week:
Lance won't win the Tour de France. He's been hanging around S. Crow too much.
Tiger won't win the British. Again, it's a woman's fault.
NASCAR is taking the weekend off so Tony Stewart can decide who to rear end.
Kobe should have gone to the Clippers - what a great story that would have been.
MLS, NHL, and Arena Football? Anybody heard from them lately?
Did the All-Star game seem like it ended on Thursday? Wow - that was slow. AND, I love Ali, except - why have the guy throw the first pitch when it's obvious he can't throw? Isn't there a better way to honor him? And the Houston connection is a big stretch.
Lastly - what's the anti-doping committee and how do you become a member?
That's all for now.
