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But he's most famous, and absolutely beloved in my heart, because he got thrown at by Rob Dibble during an Astros-Reds game and threw his batting helmet at him, despite Dibble probably outweighing him by 80 pounds; resulting in a brawl that had Astro coach Ed Ott get Dibble in a chokehold and give the most legendary quote in Astros' history "I watched him turn red. I watched him turn purple. I watched him turn blue. Then I let him up. Maybe now he'll value life . . . I could have given him another 45 seconds and watched him turn black, but I let him go."

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That was awesome. I don't know if Dibble valued life after that, hopefully he did, he could have killed someone throwing at their heads like he did. I remember reading during the fight Dibble left his glove on the field and one of the Astros picked it up and kept it. On the flight home the team had fun ripping it to shreds.

agproducer said:

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If Dirden makes the team, seriously, who does get DFA'd to get him on the 40-man?

I'd cut bait with Madris.

Also, what do the Astros see in Bielak? He's like a AAAA guy -- decent at Triple-A with no results in the bigs.

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If Dirden does make the opening day roster, I agree that Madris is probably the odd man out. I don't really see where he fits into the plan at this point.

It's not entirely fair to him. From what I understand, we brought him in thinking we could fix something in his swing. He's done alright this spring. Not good but not stinky enough to warrant being DFA'd based solely on performance. It's just that OF is getting a little crowded in our org.

In terms of position players, it's either him or Bannon. IMO Bannon will be a nice AAA infield stash as insurance for a couple INF positions we're thin at. He's also hit pretty well this spring.

Agree with the poster that said keep Bielak. At least for another year. The two guys on the current pitching staff that I think are probably most expendable are Paredes and Mushinski. But I think either would be tradable as opposed to just DFA.

Also, do we have any candidates for a 60 man IL stint? Maybe Blake Taylor?

I wasn't suggesting to DFA Bielak. I just am curious as to why the organization holds on to him. He has a 5.15 ERA in the majors. Maybe he is just organizational depth.

I think that 40-man spot boils down to Madris and Bannon.

Ideally, Brown would pull off a trade to further restore lower organizational depth.

Bielak is a innings eater.

No he's not a stud who we expect to compete for CY votes but he's serviceable as a spot starter if an injury pops up or a long reliever if a starter gets in trouble.

agproducer said:

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I wasn't suggesting to DFA Bielak. I just am curious as to why the organization holds on to him. He has a 5.15 ERA in the majors. Maybe he is just organizational depth.

I think that 40-man spot boils down to Madris and Bannon.

Ideally, Brown would pull off a trade to further restore lower organizational depth.

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Agreed. Wasn't trying to "disagree" with you. I think organizational depth with big league experience is a good way to classify him.

Right now, it seems like Blanco and Whitley will be first guys up to start games with the big club in the event starts come open. It'd be nice to get both of them a few starts this year and see what we've got.

If Blanco and Whitley both look like they can hold their own in the show and we still have our six main starters heading into next year, Bielak falls to 9th in the pecking order and should be traded. IMO he could be a cheap back-of-rotation option for a low tier team and we could get an ok prospect for him.

Pretty great article which I got the exact quote from about Ed Ott as the equivalent of a hockey enforcer during his playing days as well.

https://throughthefencebaseball.com/baseballs-enforcer-california-angels-ed-ott/

Ed Ott = legend.

Ott was also an expert at snagging foul balls with the gate in front of the dugout. The same gate Bill Doran would abuse when he was in a slump.

Ordering a custom last name jersey and need some suggestions… What y'all got? TOFTA? INCHPECKER with the number 8 is what the guys at the office voted for. I'm leading towards Wematanye (little King of the Hill reference)

What's TOFTA?

Prosperdick said:

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Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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What's TOFTA?

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Technically it's TOFA (*its out for Astros) as well as the companion (and my personal favorite) AOFA. Here's a sample:

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Well aware of TOFA but being a wise azz about whatever TOFTA is

Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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Prosperdick said:

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Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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What's TOFTA?

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Technically it's TOFA (*its out for Astros) as well as the companion (and my personal favorite) AOFA. Here's a sample:

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Well aware of TOFA but being a wise azz about whatever TOFTA is

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OK sorry, I just figured it was a bandwagon fan who is just now following the Astros...I guess I should know better, we are so universally hated nobody jumps in at this point. Oh yeah, and I LOVE it!!!!

They make more money off cable because they get money from users who don't even watch baseball.

If you buy the single team package from MLB.tv, it's $130 for a year. Less than a dollar a game. Some of that goes to the league but let's say half goes to the teams. If that's the going rate from cable and you get that even for the people who don't watch, why wouldn't the teams want to keep that?

Frok said:

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They make more money off cable because they get money from users who don't even watch baseball.

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Not a winning proposition for a new market entrant though. That well is drying up rather quickly, so much so that even the one super big giant (ESPN) is badly hemorrhaging.

Maybe so. I think the steaming services will just repackage the same thing in an app instead of a channel. A "regional sports app".

Think of how much the Rockets benefit being packaged with the Astros right now.

Edwin Diaz down and about to carted off the field with a celebration injury.

Ks the side to win the game then has the be helped off with a right knee injury.

Wow...Players crying and hunched over. Doesn't look good.

Looked like his right ankle was really messed up. What a gut punch.

I think it was a knee. He did not want it bent at all.

I went to journalism school so I could provide you with this exclusive exposé: The Yankees charge their players for internet on the team plane.

“It’s your fault,” they tell one another. “Your contract is too big, so they can’t pay for the Wi-Fi.”https://t.co/m0Gkio541d

— Stephanie Apstein (@stephapstein) March 15, 2023

OKCAg2002 said:

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That's literally the worst thing that could happen to this tournament. I love the WBC and all of the energy, but you can't have $100mm players getting hurt like that. Ugh. I feel terrible for Diaz, PR, and the Mets.

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Yep...The ramifications of what just happens will be far reaching.

And to think it happened jumping up and down celebrating.

I tried to find it but no luck. Did Peña get any playing time in the WBC?. Or just have a mini vacation?

MAROON said:

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I tried to find it but no luck. Did Peña get any playing time in the WBC?. Or just have a mini vacation?

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He & Adames split time.

I see that another Mike Trout led team is about to go down the toilet.