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  • 1 month later...
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5916632.html

Astros get reliever Hawkins in deal with Yankees

I'm happy for Hawkins. He's an individual who wants a job. He got one, good for him. But on a business side, there's a reason no team wanted him.

What is Ed Wade doing? Seriously, he's turning our rep into a complete joke. I'd like to hear him explain this one away.

I was questioning this when it happened too, holy crap look at Hawkins now, and Randy Wolf!!!!!!!!!!

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  • 3 months later...

Mike Hampton...right. You can count on what, 3 games out of him? The Astros typical MO has been to get way into the cellar by the end of May, and then try to pull some amazing comeback Aug-Sep. It worked a couple times. This year they will only dive further into the cellar.

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Mike Hampton...right. You can count on what, 3 games out of him? The Astros typical MO has been to get way into the cellar by the end of May, and then try to pull some amazing comeback Aug-Sep. It worked a couple times. This year they will only dive further into the cellar.

agreed, same story every year.

call them dead and in the grave before the all-star game and see them try and roar back to come close to contending it he second half

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  • 4 weeks later...

This could be an ugly year alright. However, we know that going in so that helps with the season not being a heart breaker. It's baseball and I'll be at tons of games and watching the rest on TV. It's the only sport I care about. It would be cool if they were an upper tier team, but they're not. That's not the kind of owner we have. Drayton puts profits first, championships second - always. At least I'll get to see other teams and players.

As much as I'd like to rant about all of it, it could be worse. I could be living in a city with no team. I'll take bad over none, any day.

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This could be an ugly year alright. However, we know that going in so that helps with the season not being a heart breaker. It's baseball and I'll be at tons of games and watching the rest on TV. It's the only sport I care about. It would be cool if they were an upper tier team, but they're not. That's not the kind of owner we have. Drayton puts profits first, championships second - always. At least I'll get to see other teams and players.

As much as I'd like to rant about all of it, it could be worse. I could be living in a city with no team. I'll take bad over none, any day.

I would agree that we could be much worse off. I think there are things to criticize Drayton for, however I also think he's been our best owner ever. He has made big moves to get us to the World Series. We may not be in contention every year, but we've been in contention more often than not the last 10 years. Thank your lucky stars you're not from N. Texas and stuck with the Rangers. They don't even have a roof in the summer. I still don't know how they sell tickets.

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  • 1 month later...

This makes good sense. He's 10 times the hitter Ausmus ever was, even at his current age and on the decline. Toby Hall and Towles weren't the answer either. Rodriguez should also give the many hispanics in the area even more reason to support the 'stros.

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Ausmus (avg, RBI, run, HR, CS%)

2006 .230, 39, 37, 2, .221

2007 .235, 25, 38, 3, .266

2008 .218, 24, 15, 3, .208 (only 81 games)

Pudge

2006 .300, 69, 74, 13, .510

2007 .281, 63, 50, 11, .309

2008 .276, 35, 44, 7, .325 (115 games)

I'd say better all around, and I think he's a better kind of leader than Ausmus.

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I'm very happy with this move. I've never felt Q or Towles were our catching future, or at least I'd hoped they weren't.

Pudge is a veteran addition to the team and - with the exception of Oswalt - we need all the help we can get with the pitching staff we have. Also, while his numbers aren't what they used to be, defensively he's still considerably better than what we were about to go into the season with. It's his experience that we'll most benefit from.

Even if he's only with us a year or two, it buys us a little time to further develop Jason Castro or some other prospect.

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  • 3 weeks later...

In the spirit of the 2009 Astros season, I thought I'd offer up my story. Baseball is the only sport I follow. It's a passion.

Non-nerds, you've been warned. wink.gif

Part 1

For many years I followed the Yankees very closely. As a former New York City resident, I was able to follow them on XM Radio & the Extra Innings cable package after I left NYC. I live in Houston now for the second time in my life. I saw probably 120 Yankees games a year (cable), listened to the ones that were blacked-out (XM), and attended a few on visits back to NYC every year.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the office.

This past off-season I found myself feeling disconnected emotionally from them. It started with the way they treated Pettitte. He's been a huge part of them making it to 6 World Series during his time there, but they very nearly discarded him. Then came the Sabathia deal. I just couldn't get behind the vulgar spending for C.C. Then, after Burnett & Texiera were added, I felt like an outsider. The spending was obscene, particularly considering the economy. They also doubled ticket prices at a time when half the country can barely make ends meet. I felt removed from their values.

The Yankees have always had that "best team money can buy" label, but they also built from their farm system. Outsiders or casual fans seldom saw the team closely enough to realize the pennant-winning teams had been their home-built teams - Jeter, Pettitte, Williams, etc. The free agents got the headlines and the haters let them become the focus.

But this past off-season, I felt they had become a team that openly sent the message that they'll just purchase championships now and moved away completely from building teams. I not only didn't agree with it, I felt myself bothered by it.

Part 2

I grew up in Houston (60s & 70s), so my first exposure to the game as a child was the Astros. I fell in love with the game through the Astros. I spent many a night in the Dome and followed the team closely through the years. Cedeno, Morgan, The Toy Cannon, Dierker, Cruuuuz, Niekro, J.R, Nolan - I was there for it all. I always followed them through the box scores in the newspaper after I moved away (pre-cable & internet).

Part 3

Since I've been back, I've certainly gone to plenty of Astros games and followed them somewhat. However, after I disconnected from the Yankees I found myself drawn back to the team that first moved me all those years ago. It wasn't a conscious decision at all - it just happened over the course of a few months. Truth is, it had been happening for years.

I listened to every Astros Spring Training game this year and I've already been to Minute Maid twice this year. I put away my Yankees shirts & caps and I canceled the Extra Innings package. I bought a few new Astros shirts and two new Caps. On my desk at work, the Yankees cap that has always been displayed has now been replaced with an Astros cap. Next to it is a Milo bobble-head.

I went to Fan Fest last weekend at Minute Maid and test-sat in several sections of the stadium to see where I want to buy season tickets. For the most part,I had the empty stadium to myself - Fan Fest was taking place in the concourses. I tried out about ten different sections - field, mezzanine, upper deck, etc, I was all over the place for about an hour. As I looked out at the empty stadium and the resting field, I took several minutes each time and pictured the game taking place.

I've returned to the team of my childhood - and I feel clean because of it. It's good to be home.

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I've returned to the team of my childhood - and I feel clean because of it. It's good to be home.

SecondTour, thank you for ditching those damn Yanquis, and welcome home. (From a fellow long-suffering Astros fan since childhood in the 70s...)

It's going to be a bumpy season for us, I think.

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