Yep

bearkatag15 said:

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Yep

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Honestly don't have a problem with this

Baseball is just tone deaf.

The most inconsistent and controversial umpires maybe ever...all eyes on opening game...and you trout out angel hernandez behind the disch.

Unbelievable ineptness

YNWA_AG said:

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Sounds like Soto was a false positive

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So, how many times this year will a guy get a false positive when he's due to play the Yankees or Red Sox?

DJ LaMahieu "almost won the MVP"?!?! Where was I last year? I know ESPN has never been great at announcing, but really? Maybe by "almost" they meant "a distant fourth with zero first place votes"

zgood10 said:

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bearkatag15 said:

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Yep

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Honestly don't have a problem with this

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He figured out the sequence really quickly. I'm assuming they weren't using one sign with a runner at 2nd

Farmer1906 said:

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So the Yankees found a way to only pitch Cole 5 innings and not waste a single bullpen arm get the W.

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*Manfred found a way

Even as bizarre as this season is/will be, it's super exciting to be a day away from the start of another Astros season. I became an Astro buddy in 1977 at age 3 and my Astro of choice in that program was Cesar Cedeno. My maternal grandparents and my parents were all big baseball fans - my grandma grew up in the same tiny South Dakota town as Sparky Anderson - and we went to countless games during my growing up years of the late 70s through the early 90s, benefiting from the marvelous bargain of the pavillion at the Astrodome. During the 1980s, my family of four could go to a game for $11 - $4 each for adult tickets, $1 each for my brother and I, and $1 for parking.

From 1987 (age 13) to 1999 (age 25), I went to every Astros home opener. To celebrate what tomorrow is and because I don't feel like working right now - here's a few highlights from that streak.

1987 - coming off the near miss vs. the Mets in the 1986 NLCS and at the perfect age for loving baseball (13), it was Dodgers @ Astros on true opening day - Mike Scott vs. Orel Hershisher. Good guys win 4-3 on a 7th inning HR by my all-time favorite Astro Jose Cruz. Does life get any better?

1988 - True opening day, Padres in town. Scott gets the start again and allows 3 runs in 8 innings. Not looking good for the hometown 9 down 3-1 after 7-1/2 but in the bottom of the eighth the Astros put up 5 runs on 5 hits, with none other than Lance McCullers Sr. blowing the save and taking the loss in a 6-3 victory.

1989 - Hal Lanier out, Art Howe in. Braves in town, good guys treat them like the doormats they used to be in a 10-3 win as Scott wins again on opening day. Astros score 6 runs in the first 3 innings, Scott, a career .124 hitter, has a 2-run single off Zane Smith in the 2nd inning.

1990 - An Opening Day loss to the eventual World Champion Reds by a bizarre 8-4 count in 11 innings. Barry Larkin hits a bases-loaded triple off Charley Kerfeld in the top of the 11th. In a sign of things to come, Norm Charlton, Randy Myers, and Rob Dibble combine to throw 6 innings of scoreless relief with 10 strikeouts. Rafael Ramirez has 4 hits, temporarily putting him on pace to hit .800 for the year with 648 hits, but he is unable to keep it up.

1991 - The rebuilding begins as the team bottoms out to 65-97. They start with 3 on the road, then come home for the Giants and Mark Portugal outduels fat-ass Rick Reuschel 3-2 with 7 brilliant innings. Houston has new faces at almost every position, including Steve Finley, Luis Gonzalez, and a kid named Jeff Bagwell.

1992 - Gutsy Pete Harnisch gives it his all but loses 2-0 to Tom Glavine and the Braves. Glavine goes the distance with a 2-hit shutout. Deion Sanders goes 2-for-4 for the Braves.

1993 - Drayton McLane takes over and signs Texas legends Doug Drabek and Greg Swindell. A sellout crowd shows up to watch Drabek .. get outdueled by Terry Mulholland? Phillies 3, Astros 1. Mullholland throws a complete game 4 hitter allowing 1 unearned run. Phillies go on to win the NL.

1994 - Had to skip a couple of classes at A&M for this one, but went with three friends, one of whom I'm still playing fantasy baseball with 26 years later. It's the best Opening Day I've ever been to, a 6-5 win over the Expos that takes 12 innings and 4 hours. Game is tied 3-3 through 4 innings and remains that way until the top of the 12th when the Expos go up 5-3 when newly acquired Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams gets the first 2 outs of the inning, then allows 2 singles followed by a passed ball. He walks the bases loaded,then WALKS IN TWO RUNS before getting yanked. The Astros put up 3 in the bottom of the 12th with a walk-off, 2-run, 2-out double by Ken Caminiti to win it. Wild Thing is one of the most spectacular disasters in Astros history, going 1-4 with a 7.65 ERA before being cut on May 31 of that year. Nobody else picks him up. He pitches 20 games for the Angels in 1995 and 7 for the Royals in 1997.

1995 - The damage done by the strike is palpable. Only 30,000 people are there for the home opener coming off Bagwell's MVP season. Rockies 2, Astros 1.The late Darryl Kile is the opening day starter. Pre-steroids Luis Gonzalez hits a solo homer.

1996 - My last year of college is a great one, albeit a loss, 4-3 to the Dodgers behind Ramon Martinez. Shane Reynolds takes the loss, Bagwell goes yard.

1997 - The new playoff format lets the Astros return to the post-season for the first time in 11 years with their "amazing" 84-78 NL Central title. Larry DIerker's first game as manager is one to remember, a 2-1 victory over the Braves. Shane Reynolds gives up 1 run in 8 innings to defeat John Smoltz. Bob Abreu starts in RF for the Astros. They'll leave him unprotected in the November expansion draft and lose him to the Devil Rays, who go on to trade him to the Phillies that same day for Kevin Stocker. History will decide if that was a good idea or not for Tampa.

1998 - The best Astros team since 1986 and until 2017 gears up for a 102-win season by getting its ass kicked by the Giants 9-4 in 13 innings. Future Astro and Glenn Davis look-alike Jeff Kent goes 5-for-7 with 4 RBI. Giants bat around and put up 5 in the top of the 13th.

1999 - The last year of the Astrodome begins with a 4-2 win over the Cubs. Richard Hidalgo and Carl Everett both go yard in support of Shane Reynolds.