Have The Houston Astros Redeemed Themselves? pic.twitter.com/SOB2Pxc0rs

— Chris Castellani (@Castellani2014) March 19, 2023

Gary Pettis manning the hot corner pic.twitter.com/PwT0o1Eg1X

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) March 19, 2023

meme fuel

I hope Bard gets abducted by aliens

Great take by Chris. Glad to see he seems to be doing better

redline248 said:

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I hope Bard gets abducted by aliens

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I'm just as pissed at DeRosa for leaving him out there when you could tell Bard had no idea where the ball was going.

Rockies GM: "Get word to Bard. Tell him to hit Altuve and break his thumb. Then we will immediately sign Profar so they can't and then we will trade Profar to Houston for Tucker. I mean he doesn't want to be there anyway."

My take on the Altuve injury: Yeah, it sucks, but it could have happened in Spring Training or even any time in the season. I'm glad it's happened with about 2 weeks before the season and not after the All Star Break. Injuries happen. Framber broke his finger last year. We lost Brantley for a good portion of the year. How many times did the Astros lose Springer or Correa for an extended time? Look what the Phillies did with Harper out for a good chunk of last year.

We will be fine, and Jose shouldn't be with down by playoff time. This will also get Hensley more playing time at the MLB level.

Just because he's out for awhile doesn't mean the sky is falling.

No, it doesn't mean the sky is falling of course, but it's frustrating when the guy didn't just make a single mistake. He was dangerous and had no idea where that baseball was going. Shouldn't have been pitching.

Yes it could happen anytime, but it happened in a game that means nothing to the Astros as a team.

We have weathered plenty of injuries before, but that doesn't mean we will again. Hopefully Hensley gets an extended look and succeeds. My thoughts actually immediately went to Altuve trying to get to 3,000 hits in his career. Losing another 50 games for a WBC injury due to a dip**** journeyman from Colorado makes that even tougher after also losing 100 games to the COVID season. A full year can be tough.

11 days until opening day brings us to #11 on the jersey countdown.
Here's a bit of trivia for you to win some bar bets. For a 22-year stretch, only two men wore #11 - from 1987 to 2008 - only two men wore #11: Ken Caminiti or Brad Ausmus.

HOFer Eddie Mathews wore it in 1967. He was at the end of a career that had seen him hit more than 30 home runs 10 times, including 9 times in a row from 1953-1961. He was born in Texarkana and was traded to the Astros in 1967 for Bob Bruce and another pitcher. Sandy Alomar (father of Sandy Jr and Roberto) was later sent to the Astros to complete the trade. He hit 10 homers in 101 games for Houston, but one of those was #500, coming on July 16 in San Francisco off Juan Marichal. At the time, he was just the 7th member of the 500-homer club, getting there two months after Mickey Mantle and a full year before Hank Aaron. Now there are 26 guys with 500 homers.



The first Astro of note to wear it for a few years was Denis Menke, who sported #11 from 1968-1971. Menke played all over the infield and was a two-time all-star with the Astros. He had an amazing 1970 season, batting .304 with 13 homers and 92 RBi, with a .392 OBP and a .442 slugging %. Unfortunately he was part of the massive deal with the Reds that saw Joe Morgan leave town. He was traded back in 1974 but struggled to hit and retired an Astro. He returned to Houston as a coach from 1983-1988.

Menke was part of Astro history on what July 30, 1969. The Astros visited Shea Stadium for a doubleheader with the Mets. Ahead 5-3 in the top of the ninth, here is what the play by play reads.

Fred Gladding struck out looking.
Norm MIller walked.
Joe Morgan doubled to right, Miller to third
Jim Wynn intentionally walked
Denis Menke grand slam, Miller, Morgan, and Wynn scored.
Doug Rader singled to center
Ron Taylor replaces Cal Koonce pitching
Curt Blefary singled to right, Rader to third
Gargy Geifer fielder's choice to first, Rader out at home, Blefary to second.
Johnny Edwards walked, Blefary to third Geiger to second.
Fred Gladding singled, Blefary scored, Geiger to third, Edwards to second
Norm Miller singled, Geiger scored, Edwards scored, Gladding to second.
Passed ball, Gladding to third, Miller to second.
Joe Morgan walked.
JImmy Wynn grand slam, Gladding, Miller, and Morgan scored.
Menke grounded out to shortstop.

Yes, that was 2 Grand Slams in the same inning, and 11 runs on 7 hits in 16-3 win. And in the "you can't make this up "category. The second game of the doubleheader saw the Astros score 10 runs in the third against hte Mets, including a two-run homer by Larry Dierker off Nolan Ryan.

A few notables from the 70s and 80s include Frank Dipino and Alan Knicely, along with two months of Davey Lopes.



But in 1987, a series of injuries saw the Astros shift Denny Walling to left field and call up their Double A rocket launcher arm 3B prospect Ken Caminiti. His first game was right after the All-Star break against the Phillies and he blew the crowd's minds with his athleticism at third base, had a triple and hit his first career homer in the 7th inning off Kevin Gross to make it 1-1, and scored the game-winning, walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth. It is crazy how skinny he is in this clip.



He played the rest of the year at third but clearly Hal Lanier didn't like him or something because Denny Walling moved back to third to start 1988 and Caminiti was sent to Tucson. When Walling got hurt,the Astros traded for Buddy Bell. Lanier got canned in 1988 and Art Howe took over, declaring Caminiti the starter before the season. He was the starter fro the next six years in a row, hitting .294 in 1992 and being good for 15 homers and 75 RBI per year. His glove work was worth the price of admission.
We all know what happens next. He was traded to the Padres and his offensive numbers went off the charts. In 1996 he was NL MVP with 40 HR, 130 RBI and a .326 batting average. He returned to the Astros in 1999 and 2000 as a part-time starter, hitting .303 in 2000. Regardless, he hit more homers in 4 years with San DIego (121) than in 10 years with Houston (103).
The end is bitter. He had lots of trouble with drugs and alcohol starting in high school, and admitted to using steroids in a Sports Illustrated article. Cammy died on October 10, 2004, collapsing after taking a speedball of cocaine and heroin and going into cardiac arrest. He was cremated and interred at the ranch he co-owned with Craig Biggio.



When Caminiti wasn't wearing #11, Brad Ausmus was, from 1997-1998 and again from 2001-2008. He was a good defensive catcher and according to various women I dated in that era, really good looking. He was a good hitter at one point, .266 and .269 in 97 and 98 for the Astros, and then decided to not be a good hitter, although still hitting 40-70 points higher per season than Machete. He won 3 Gold Gloves, and was surprisingly decent in the playoffs, including a stunning game-tying home run in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS in the 18-inning game.. He finished his career 64th in Defensive WAR at 18.7 and in 1997 led the NL in Caught Stealing % at 49.5%. He was traded to the Astros in 1996, back tot he Tigers in 1999, and yes, back to the Astros in 2000. He is thankfully NOT the Astros' GM.





Evan Gattis put on the jersey from 2015-2018, inspiring all overweight co-rec softball players in the world that you too could win a World Series ring. Listed at 6'4, 270 pounds, he played 4 years in the H, hitting 20 HR, 11 triples, and 27 HR in the wildcard year of 2015, knocking 32 home runs in 2016, and playing C/DH in the 2017 title year, hitting .263 with 12 HR and 55 RBI. He hit .400 against Boston in the 2017 ALDS and .300 in the World Series. He also hit a Game 7 home off CC Sabathia in Game 7 of the ALCS.

Jose Altuve: "I’m pretty good. I’m just going to go home, focus on whatever we need to do, stay with the team in the season and root for them.”

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) March 19, 2023

I'm a subscriber to YouTube TV. They raised the price for less of a product. They still haven't put MLBN back on

Justin Dirden clubbed his second double of the Grapefruit League in the fifth inning today against the Marlins. The lefty is now 7-for-20 with two home runs, four walks and seven strikeouts this spring.

— Kenny Van Doren (@thevandalorian) March 19, 2023

Odds are good he makes the opening day roster