If we are talking playoff prime? Schertzer and JV at the top, Kershaw not at the top and DeGrom is an Incomplete. And he will continue to be an I with Arlington.
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Mathguy64 said:
If we are talking playoff prime? Schertzer and JV at the top, Kershaw not at the top and DeGrom is an Incomplete. And he will continue to be an I with Arlington.
Carter played in the wrong era. He would have been an all-star & had a long career in the 70s & 80s.bearkatag15 said:8/19/2014: Chris Carter’s 30th homer of the season for the #Astros might still be in the air. He finished the year with 37 homers and 88 RBI. #LevelUp (via MLB) @CrawfishBoxes @HouseOfHouston pic.twitter.com/UPNTsbxnZn
— MLB Daily Dingers (@MLBDailyDingers) March 5, 2023
Some Chris Carter love tonight
Is he still crushing jonrons in Mexico?
It seems like we have had this steroid conversation 100x and we all have our opinions, but IMO the most solid logic is this:
If we know many guys were juicing and juicing gives you a significant advantage, then all of the stars of the era were on something. There's just no way you're going to be an MVP naturally when Bonds and A-rod are juiced to the gills. Those guys were already MVP-caliber without the stuff.
And GTFOH with the ridiculous "steroids don't help you hit a baseball" line. They may not help you hit a curveball, but they help you hit the balls you do hit harder and longer and in a game where the difference between journeyman and HOFer is success 5% more of the time, that makes a huge difference.
If we know many guys were juicing and juicing gives you a significant advantage, then all of the stars of the era were on something. There's just no way you're going to be an MVP naturally when Bonds and A-rod are juiced to the gills. Those guys were already MVP-caliber without the stuff.
And GTFOH with the ridiculous "steroids don't help you hit a baseball" line. They may not help you hit a curveball, but they help you hit the balls you do hit harder and longer and in a game where the difference between journeyman and HOFer is success 5% more of the time, that makes a huge difference.
Does Bagwell have a crazy jump in yearly HR totals like Bonds, Gonzo, Brady Anderson, etc? I know it's an easy look up but I'm not able to at the moment.
15, 18, 20 his first three seasons…then 39 in only 110 games, which projects to nearly 60 over a full season.redline248 said:
Does Bagwell have a crazy jump in yearly HR totals like Bonds, Gonzo, Brady Anderson, etc? I know it's an easy look up but I'm not able to at the moment.
Then he was pretty consistent the rest of his career. I don't think the power jump necessarily indicates he used steroids. But he did have a big one.
That was the strike season, right? I remember using Bags to anchor my custom all star lineup on some Sega baseball game I had
Exactly. He got really lucky because he broke his hand right before the strike started so he was still able to win MVP… and that's why he wore the glove with the whiteboard eraser on the knuckles after that.
That season was so good he broke the team HR & RBI records in only 110 games!
That season was so good he broke the team HR & RBI records in only 110 games!
Astros prospect Pedro LeĂłn, who underwent sports hernia surgery this offseason, is facing live pitching in minor-league spring training.
— Kenny Van Doren (@thevandalorian) March 7, 2023
Here’s León, Colin Barber, Freddy Guilamo and Zach Daniels facing Brayan De Paula. pic.twitter.com/2LBdYjSLsV
Kid tripped on the netting and is out 4-6 months.Farmer1906 said:Can't go to the batting cages without a BAT 🥹@MikeTrout received a pregame visit from his son, Beckham! pic.twitter.com/IbjB6FZBFj
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) March 6, 2023
Life is better with a beagle
Bagwell, Griffey, and Matt Williams were all headed for the upper 50s in home runs that year before Baggy's injury and the strike. Griffey had 40 home runs in 111 games (58.4 pace) and Williams had 43 in 112 games (a pace of 62).redline248 said:
That was the strike season, right? I remember using Bags to anchor my custom all star lineup on some Sega baseball game I had
The real tragedy of that year was that Tony Gwynn was hitting .394 on the day the strike started. He had ended July at .385 and added 9 points to the average in the first 10 days of August.
What a bitter taste that year left. MY parents had taken us to 10+ games a year a the dome throughout the 70s and 80s. Neither one of them went to another game from the end of 1994 until I took them to Biggio's last game in 2007?
Life is better with a beagle
there were some guys (and a lot of Rangers) using steroids in 1994, but generally speaking I think most people consider that season to still be the "pre-roid" era.
1996 was the year when home runs skyrocketed. Brady Anderson hit 50. McGwire surpassed 50 for the first time. Todd Hundley hit 41 out of the blue. Caminiti hit 40.
would consider 1996 to be year 1 of the steroid era -- wide spread use among all teams
1996 was the year when home runs skyrocketed. Brady Anderson hit 50. McGwire surpassed 50 for the first time. Todd Hundley hit 41 out of the blue. Caminiti hit 40.
would consider 1996 to be year 1 of the steroid era -- wide spread use among all teams
I'm not so sure about that. Mac & Canseco were doing it in the late 80s.
HR totals topped 4.4k in '87. It was never close to 4k before that. It wasn't like the late 90s/early 00s, but I think it was certainly starting to spread.
HR totals topped 4.4k in '87. It was never close to 4k before that. It wasn't like the late 90s/early 00s, but I think it was certainly starting to spread.
which is exactly what mlb wants you to believe.Quote:
would consider 1996 to be year 1 of the steroid era -- wide spread use among all teams
it started long before that. the science just got better in the mid-90s.
I'm beginning to wonder if the competition for the fifth starter spot between Blanco and Brown could become much more interesting than expected
If you were an MLB team with 6 pitchers no worse than league average starters, does it make more sense to have a 6 man rotation? What factors would you consider before making the decision?
I have to think some non-baseball reasons could come into play. Contract incentives, more opportunities for fans to see a star, etc..
I have to think some non-baseball reasons could come into play. Contract incentives, more opportunities for fans to see a star, etc..
Dudes just wanted to be naturally jacked like Bo and Glenn Braggs:Farmer1906 said:
I'm not so sure about that. Mac & Canseco were doing it in the late 80s.
HR totals topped 4.4k in '87. It was never close to 4k before that. It wasn't like the late 90s/early 00s, but I think it was certainly starting to spread.
I'd be much more inclined to stick with the highly-rated prospect.loma_vista78 said:
I'm beginning to wonder if the competition for the fifth starter spot between Blanco and Brown could become much more interesting than expected
Look at the resumes:
Brown
-23 Extended Outings in AAA with a 2.55 ERA, 1.085 WHIP, & 11.4 SO/9
-7 games in the show (10 if you count postseason, 2 starts) with a 0.89 ERA, 1.082 WHIP, & 9.7 SO/9
Blanco
-44 games in AAA (none more than 2 IP) with a 3.63 ERA, 1.209 WHIP, & 11.7 SO/9
-7 games in the show with a 7.11 ERA, 1.895 WHIP, & 9.9 SO/9
We can't throw this out because Brown is working on this control in his first two appearances while Blanco looked sharp dealing with guys like Niko Goodrum, Juniel Querecuto, & Tim Locastro.
Farmer1906 said:
I'm not so sure about that. Mac & Canseco were doing it in the late 80s.
HR totals topped 4.4k in '87. It was never close to 4k before that. It wasn't like the late 90s/early 00s, but I think it was certainly starting to spread.
I was lucky enough to be at game 2 of the 1988 WS when Hershiser dominated the A's and had box seats (sitting next to Tom Selleck!). I remember seeing Canseco, McGwire and Parker semi-up close. I forget which one broke a bat over his thigh after striking out.. I guess no one was talking about steroids for mlb players then but I had a pretty strong feeling that what I was seeing wasn't natural.
Agreed. It's not an unfair question to ask but I can't imagine Hunter not starting the year in the five man rotation.Farmer1906 said:I'd be much more inclined to stick with the highly-rated prospect.loma_vista78 said:
I'm beginning to wonder if the competition for the fifth starter spot between Blanco and Brown could become much more interesting than expected
The better question is probably what the plan is if Brown does struggle and needs to go feast on some AAA hitters for a few weeks to get his mojo back. As of right now, it seems like Blanco has a good shot to be first man up.
All that said, I think we're going need both this year.
(And before anyone freaks out, this is just hypothetical talking. I think Brown is gonna be fine and we won't have to worry about it.)
Baseball Savant is releasing new stats. One of them being, Catcher Blocking Leaders.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/catcher-blocking?players=668939-2022-110&selected_idx=0
Our boy, Maldy, rates pretty middle of the pack.
51st out of 122 in blocks above avg per game from 2020-22. 39th if you filter from qualified to min 1000 block opportunities. If you just look at 2022 he's at 30 out of 66.
However, Maldy is the league leader in total blocks above avg from 2020-22 in the postseason with 5. He's also first in opportunities by a good margin.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/catcher-blocking?players=668939-2022-110&selected_idx=0
Quote:
What is this? A Statcast metric designed to express the demonstrated skill of catchers at preventing wild pitches (WP) or passed balls (PB).
How this works: Every pitch is assigned a probability of being a passed ball or wild pitch based upon several inputs, most notably: pitch location, pitch speed, pitch movement, catcher location, and batter/pitcher handedness. Based on that knowledge, each pitch a catcher receives (or fails to) is credited or debited with the appropriate amount of difficulty. For example, if a catcher blocks a pitch that is a PB + WP 10% of the time, he will receive +0.10. If he blocks a pitch that is a PB + WP 90% of the time, he will receive +0.90.
How to read it: Blocks Above Average is the difference between actual PB + WP and estimated PB + WP based on opportunities seen. Blocks Above Average / game is a rate stat based on an average catcher receiving 40 blocking chances per game. Catcher Blocking Runs is a translation of Blocks Above Average to a run value.
Our boy, Maldy, rates pretty middle of the pack.
51st out of 122 in blocks above avg per game from 2020-22. 39th if you filter from qualified to min 1000 block opportunities. If you just look at 2022 he's at 30 out of 66.
However, Maldy is the league leader in total blocks above avg from 2020-22 in the postseason with 5. He's also first in opportunities by a good margin.
Excuse me sir, his name is Forest, put some respect on his name!
redline248 said:
If you were an MLB team with 6 pitchers no worse than league average starters, does it make more sense to have a 6 man rotation? What factors would you consider before making the decision?
I have to think some non-baseball reasons could come into play. Contract incentives, more opportunities for fans to see a star, etc..
The same non-baseball reasons apply to load management for position players, and teams are largely all giving those players regularly scheduled rest days even though they're healthy.
Sucks for the counting stats for the players, but if it helps team goals then teams will do it.
I'd love to see it!Lonestar_Ag09 said:
Excuse me sir, his name is Forest, put some respect on his name!
Yikes I've fallen behind all over the place!
Yesterday was 25 days until opening day and the hallmark of my all-time favorite Astro,
Jose CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ
The Astros didn't have to trade for Cheo, they just bought his contract from the Cardinals right after the end of the 1974 season. He was pretty meh in his first year with the team, then found his niche as an everyday starter in 1976 and became the team's best and most reliable weapon until Bagwell and Biggio arrived in the early 1990s.
From 1976-1980, he hit .303, .299, .315, .289, and .302. After a couple of so-so years in 81 and 82, he was better than ever in his mid-30s, hitting .318 in 1983 at age 36, .312 in 1984, and .300 at age 37 in 1985.
Cruz led the league in hits in 1983 with 189 and finished in the top 10 of the MVP voting 3 times, peaking at third in 1980 when he hit .302 with 185 hits, 11 homers, 91 RBI and 36 steals, striking out just 66 times. he drove in between 80-95 runs 5 times, stole 30+ bases 5 times, including a high of 44 in 1977, and played 13 years in all for the Astros, hitting .292 with 1,937 hits, 942 RBI, and 288 stolen bases. In 3 trips to the post-season, he hit .279, including a monstrous series against the Phillies in 1980 where he hit .400 with a .609 OBP an a 1.209 OPS. I went to his last game, whenLord Satan John McMullen had already let everyone know that he wasn't resigning Jose for the 1988 season.
His final game as an Astro was October 4, 1987 vs. the Reds at the Dome. Down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Cruz came up and PA Announcer J Fred Duckett unleashed the longest CRUUUUUZ of his life to a standing ovation that eventually made John Franco step off the mound so the crowd could acknowlege him. Jose ripped a a ball into the hole at shortstop that looked like a sure base hit, but a 23-year-old kid named Barry Larkin dove for it, and threw him out by half a step at first. Such is baseball.
Jose signed with the Yankees at age 40 but only played 38 games. However, his second to last one was a nationally televised Game of the Week vs the White Sox. In the bottom of the seventh, Cheo hit a pinch-hit grand slam off confirmed alien Melido Perez for his final major-league hit.
I went to HS with Cruz Jr., the dumbest person to ever get into Rice University. Jose Sr. would come to our school's baseball practice every single day to hit BP and shag fly balls with the team. He was the coolest.
Yesterday was 25 days until opening day and the hallmark of my all-time favorite Astro,
Jose CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ
The Astros didn't have to trade for Cheo, they just bought his contract from the Cardinals right after the end of the 1974 season. He was pretty meh in his first year with the team, then found his niche as an everyday starter in 1976 and became the team's best and most reliable weapon until Bagwell and Biggio arrived in the early 1990s.
From 1976-1980, he hit .303, .299, .315, .289, and .302. After a couple of so-so years in 81 and 82, he was better than ever in his mid-30s, hitting .318 in 1983 at age 36, .312 in 1984, and .300 at age 37 in 1985.
Cruz led the league in hits in 1983 with 189 and finished in the top 10 of the MVP voting 3 times, peaking at third in 1980 when he hit .302 with 185 hits, 11 homers, 91 RBI and 36 steals, striking out just 66 times. he drove in between 80-95 runs 5 times, stole 30+ bases 5 times, including a high of 44 in 1977, and played 13 years in all for the Astros, hitting .292 with 1,937 hits, 942 RBI, and 288 stolen bases. In 3 trips to the post-season, he hit .279, including a monstrous series against the Phillies in 1980 where he hit .400 with a .609 OBP an a 1.209 OPS. I went to his last game, when
His final game as an Astro was October 4, 1987 vs. the Reds at the Dome. Down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Cruz came up and PA Announcer J Fred Duckett unleashed the longest CRUUUUUZ of his life to a standing ovation that eventually made John Franco step off the mound so the crowd could acknowlege him. Jose ripped a a ball into the hole at shortstop that looked like a sure base hit, but a 23-year-old kid named Barry Larkin dove for it, and threw him out by half a step at first. Such is baseball.
Jose signed with the Yankees at age 40 but only played 38 games. However, his second to last one was a nationally televised Game of the Week vs the White Sox. In the bottom of the seventh, Cheo hit a pinch-hit grand slam off confirmed alien Melido Perez for his final major-league hit.
I went to HS with Cruz Jr., the dumbest person to ever get into Rice University. Jose Sr. would come to our school's baseball practice every single day to hit BP and shag fly balls with the team. He was the coolest.
Life is better with a beagle
And now it's just 24 days until opening day, and it's sort of weird that #24 didn't get retired until 2005 since Jimmy Wynn wore it from 1964 to 1973. JW passed away in March 2020. Much like Jose Altuve, he did a lot with a small frame. he was just 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 160 pounds, giving him the name the Toy Cannon. He was drafted away from the Reds by the Colt 45s in the 1962 expansion draft.
Although he wound up in the OF, he debuted in 1963 at shortstop and was 1 for 4 with a steal. His first full year was 1965, the first year of the Astros and the dome and he played 157 games, scored 90 runs, hit 22 homers, stole 43 bases - a career high by leaps and bounds, and drove in 73.
In 1967, he set a team record that stood for 27 year by blasting 37 homers, drove in 107 runs. Two years later, he had 33 homers and led the league with 148 walks, enjoying a career best .943 OPS (.436 OBP / .507 slug). The walks record would stand for 30 years until Bagwell broke it by 1 in 1999.
Wynn was the first man to hit a home run into the upper deck of the Astrodome, doing so against Phil Niekro in 1970. This is a really cool photo of artist Oscar Torres painting the seat.
That wasn't the most memorable part of his year, unfortunately. While Cesar Cedeno was a couple of years away from probably killing his mistress, Wynn almost got killed by his own wife, who decided to stab him during an argument one 1970 December morning, as people sometimes do. According to an old news article, she got him on the left side of his abdomen with a 4-inch steak night and he was hospitalized for a week. The article also has this fantastic paragraph:
Patrolman J. A. Fortenberry said the stabbing was a result of a family quarrel and that Wynn brandished an unloaded shotgun. "She stabbed him in the left side about halfway be tween the navel and the side. He refused to file charges, say ing it was his fault," Forten berry said.
In 1973, the Astros decided to be as stupid as possible and trade him to the Dodgers for Claude Osteen (only slightly better than Joel Osteen) and David Culpepper. Osteen went 9-9 and then got traded to the Cardinals. Culpepper was a fire-ball releiver in the minors for the Dodgers, but he never made it past Triple A for the Astros.
Wynn went to the Dodgers in 1974 and had 32 HR, 108 RBI, and a huge season got to the World Series where the Dodgers lost to the A's. He was later traded to the Braves for you guessed it, Dusty Baker.
A bunch of not great players went on to wear #24, including Ty Gainey, Omar "Yes, I do like drugs" Moreno, Franklin Stubbs, and Orlando Miller, who I constantly have to remind myself, was not the same person as Ricky Guiterrez. Finally Jason Lane came along and sold his soul for that really great 2005 season in which he
hit 26 HR, drove in 78 and hit .267 in 145 games for a World Series team, then saw his average drop 66 points the next year. Does anyone find it really odd that the '05 team had these two huge power sources in Lane and Morgan Ensberg (36 HR, 101 RBI) who basically had vanished off the face of the Earth 1-2 years later?
Although he wound up in the OF, he debuted in 1963 at shortstop and was 1 for 4 with a steal. His first full year was 1965, the first year of the Astros and the dome and he played 157 games, scored 90 runs, hit 22 homers, stole 43 bases - a career high by leaps and bounds, and drove in 73.
In 1967, he set a team record that stood for 27 year by blasting 37 homers, drove in 107 runs. Two years later, he had 33 homers and led the league with 148 walks, enjoying a career best .943 OPS (.436 OBP / .507 slug). The walks record would stand for 30 years until Bagwell broke it by 1 in 1999.
Wynn was the first man to hit a home run into the upper deck of the Astrodome, doing so against Phil Niekro in 1970. This is a really cool photo of artist Oscar Torres painting the seat.
That wasn't the most memorable part of his year, unfortunately. While Cesar Cedeno was a couple of years away from probably killing his mistress, Wynn almost got killed by his own wife, who decided to stab him during an argument one 1970 December morning, as people sometimes do. According to an old news article, she got him on the left side of his abdomen with a 4-inch steak night and he was hospitalized for a week. The article also has this fantastic paragraph:
Patrolman J. A. Fortenberry said the stabbing was a result of a family quarrel and that Wynn brandished an unloaded shotgun. "She stabbed him in the left side about halfway be tween the navel and the side. He refused to file charges, say ing it was his fault," Forten berry said.
In 1973, the Astros decided to be as stupid as possible and trade him to the Dodgers for Claude Osteen (only slightly better than Joel Osteen) and David Culpepper. Osteen went 9-9 and then got traded to the Cardinals. Culpepper was a fire-ball releiver in the minors for the Dodgers, but he never made it past Triple A for the Astros.
Wynn went to the Dodgers in 1974 and had 32 HR, 108 RBI, and a huge season got to the World Series where the Dodgers lost to the A's. He was later traded to the Braves for you guessed it, Dusty Baker.
A bunch of not great players went on to wear #24, including Ty Gainey, Omar "Yes, I do like drugs" Moreno, Franklin Stubbs, and Orlando Miller, who I constantly have to remind myself, was not the same person as Ricky Guiterrez. Finally Jason Lane came along and sold his soul for that really great 2005 season in which he
hit 26 HR, drove in 78 and hit .267 in 145 games for a World Series team, then saw his average drop 66 points the next year. Does anyone find it really odd that the '05 team had these two huge power sources in Lane and Morgan Ensberg (36 HR, 101 RBI) who basically had vanished off the face of the Earth 1-2 years later?
Life is better with a beagle
Perfect timing! I just got this brand new off of eBay and it came in yesterday!
Astros lineup with Framber Valdez on the mound pic.twitter.com/h8XvyIELih
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) March 7, 2023
Marlins continuing to talk to free-agent first baseman Yuli Gurriel, sources tell @TheAthletic. Likely would be minor-league deal, if completed.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 7, 2023
I wish someone would make a list of all the Astros/Dusty Baker connections. It would be quite a project.Quote:
Wynn went to the Dodgers in 1974 and had 32 HR, 108 RBI, and a huge season got to the World Series where the Dodgers lost to the A's. He was later traded to the Braves for you guessed it, Dusty Baker.
Something I've wondered about for a while now. Several years ago they sold the Astrodome seats. My son bought a couple of cheap ones from the pavilion. The one shown being painted there, and the one a couple of seats down from it that I'm sure we'll talk about in about 12 days, does anyone know what they sold for? Those two seats really bring back memories of the dome to me.
Does anyone else wish the Astros would break those out for a throwback game? I don't think they ever have, have they?spadilly said:
Perfect timing! I just got this brand new off of eBay and it came in yesterday!
Glenn better be careful when he takes a wizz
Beautiful! I got a rainbow Cruz #25 for Father's Day in 2022. I'm mucho excited to wear it when we go to Atlanta in April.spadilly said:
Perfect timing! I just got this brand new off of eBay and it came in yesterday!
Life is better with a beagle
It's not quite what you're looking for, but this part of BR can connect any two players.McInnis said:I wish someone would make a list of all the Astros/Dusty Baker connections. It would be quite a project.Quote:
Wynn went to the Dodgers in 1974 and had 32 HR, 108 RBI, and a huge season got to the World Series where the Dodgers lost to the A's. He was later traded to the Braves for you guessed it, Dusty Baker.
Something I've wondered about for a while now. Several years ago they sold the Astrodome seats. My son bought a couple of cheap ones from the pavilion. The one shown being painted there, and the one a couple of seats down from it that I'm sure we'll talk about in about 12 days, does anyone know what they sold for? Those two seats really bring back memories of the dome to me.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/oracle/
Dusty to Babe Ruth in 4 moves!
Life is better with a beagle
Bellaire HSThe Porkchop Express said:
I went to HS with Cruz Jr.
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