Was listening to Salisbury (790) on my drive into the office talk about Abreu, and I am still in disbelief how he managed to turn around his season and be in the running for ALDS MVP. Just a complete 180, and a huge lift when some of the other big names went cold.

That's a great stat. Might pass Red Socks this year.

So who are we blasting to counter act the "Creed" boys in southern Oklahoma?

Personally I like Slipknot, Disturbed, Metallica. Basically any metal band \m/

HarryRocket said:

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This is how amazing the golden era has been when you consider it took 40+ years to win a post season series

Most playoff games played since the Astros/Colt .45's became a franchise in 1962:

Yankees 276
Dodgers 213
Cardinals 209
Braves 183
Red Sox 161
Astros 151

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this is with near complete roster turnover. go read or reread what JV had to say about the club, and how they keep winning. then, realize who is still on this roster. who they brought in. we've gone from being the most analytically driven club in the league to running a roster full of absolute professionals that know putting in the work will see them through. it is one of the hardest mentalities to instill in a team or organization.

it's what A&M sports still can't get to.

i said it on twitter last night. i haven't been a part or a fan of something like this since I was a Katy Tiger which was longer ago than i care to admit.

Proudag06 said:

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Rangers are hoping Scherzer is able to start against us, possibly game 2. How do we feel about that? I get that he's experienced and has been dominant in the past, but if I were on the other side, I would not want a 39 y/o making his first start in a month (without rehab assignment) on the road in the ALCS.

I won't go so far as to say I hope he starts, but I'm certainly not concerned that he could return. What's the board think?

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That's a huge risk for them and we have a chance to punish them for it. I don't think they can get away doing that against the Astros and our seasoned hitters.

Proudag06 said:

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Rangers are hoping Scherzer is able to start against us, possibly game 2. How do we feel about that? I get that he's experienced and has been dominant in the past, but if I were on the other side, I would not want a 39 y/o making his first start in a month (without rehab assignment) on the road in the ALCS.

I won't go so far as to say I hope he starts, but I'm certainly not concerned that he could return. What's the board think?

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IIRC we did ok last time we faced him. I'm much more worried about Montgomery and (to some extent) Evoldi (even though I think we had success against him, too.).

HarryRocket said:

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This is how amazing the golden era has been when you consider it took 40+ years to win a post season series

Most playoff games played since the Astros/Colt .45's became a franchise in 1962:

Yankees 276
Dodgers 213
Cardinals 209
Braves 183
Red Sox 161
Astros 151

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Look out Boston here we come.

Also, I noticed I accidentally had a brain fart earlier, its the Astros, Mets, and Royals, that are in the top half, not the Blue Jays (although the Blue Jays sit 16th, and therefore are the 4th team that is kicking 4 of the original 16 down into the bottom half.

Farmer1906 said:

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Proudag06 said:

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Rangers are hoping Scherzer is able to start against us, possibly game 2. How do we feel about that? I get that he's experienced and has been dominant in the past, but if I were on the other side, I would not want a 39 y/o making his first start in a month (without rehab assignment) on the road in the ALCS.

I won't go so far as to say I hope he starts, but I'm certainly not concerned that he could return. What's the board think?

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Max hasn't thrown in a game since Sept 12th. A few bullpen sessions between then and now won't get him ready for a postseason start that isn't more than just 1 time thru the lineup. He's been pretty up and down all season. He's had an ERA of 6 or more in 1/3 of his starts and a season worst (21.00) vs us.

Rangers pitching is not built for a 7 game series unless they sweep and stay hot offensively.

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This...and if the Rangers are dumb enough to trot out Sherzer with all this time off and coming off an injury that speaks volumes to how the organization is built. You play for the long haul and not just a one-shot opportunity but then again, the wheels could fall of Texas in a few seasons anyway.

It also could be argued from that chart that Houston is one of the only cities/markets (with Atlanta, which acquired one of the original 16) that has broken into the upper echelons of baseball since the Mets and Royals expanded into markets which already had MLB franchises before the expansion era.

JJxvi said:

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Bag said:

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JJxvi said:

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W said:

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kb2001 said:

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Furlock Bones said:

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7 straight ALCSes for the Astros! That makes 11 in their history, good for the 6th most in baseball (up from 20th just 7 years ago). What a team. Go Stros. pic.twitter.com/ULcuIO6qoK

— Cory Lieder (@AustinCory) October 12, 2023

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this is really a fascinating chart

didn't realize how much the expansion franchises have struggled

Marlins and Rockies -- entered in 1993

Rays and D-Backs -- entered in 1998

very few LCS appearances in 25 to 30 seasons

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That chart shows how difficult it was to actually become an established great team in MLB. I realize that by "expansion teams" you really meant the newest ones, but in terms of all expansion teams? The oldest expansion teams have existed for the entirety of the LCS era and for the old teams this is a measure of success only after expansion started. There are only 3 expansion teams in the top half of that chart. The Astros, the Mets, and the Blue Jays.

Conversely, only four of the old era franchises are in the bottom half. The Cubs, Guardians, White Sox, and Twins.

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Chart is somewhat misleading as the LCS wasnt a thing prior to 1969

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How does that make it misleading? If you want to just see which teams have been playing the longest and a much less interesting chart you could just "most pennants" but that would mostly only tell you about which teams won for a period of time where the Houston Astros did not even exist.

24 out of 30 MLB franchises have existed for the entire LCS era, which is what makes the chart interesting to me. It shows how much of an advantage franchises which already existed from 1901 through the start of expansion in 1961 held even for years after expansion.

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it is misleading to not tell the whole story, we dont calc player stats from 1969 on, we do it for the entirety of baseball.

case in point, the Cleveland Indians have 6 AL pennants (1920 1948 1954 1995 1997 2016) by that metric they are every bit as good as the astros

It is however a good metric of success since the astros joined, I do agree w that

I think the Rangers would be stupid for letting him pitch at all this postseason.
If he were to pitch and re-injure himself, that could have lingering effects towards next year. He ain't no spring chicken and he ain't cheap.

cypress-ag said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Proudag06 said:

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Rangers are hoping Scherzer is able to start against us, possibly game 2. How do we feel about that? I get that he's experienced and has been dominant in the past, but if I were on the other side, I would not want a 39 y/o making his first start in a month (without rehab assignment) on the road in the ALCS.

I won't go so far as to say I hope he starts, but I'm certainly not concerned that he could return. What's the board think?

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Max hasn't thrown in a game since Sept 12th. A few bullpen sessions between then and now won't get him ready for a postseason start that isn't more than just 1 time thru the lineup. He's been pretty up and down all season. He's had an ERA of 6 or more in 1/3 of his starts and a season worst (21.00) vs us.

Rangers pitching is not built for a 7 game series unless they sweep and stay hot offensively.

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This...and if the Rangers are dumb enough to trot out Sherzer with all this time off and coming off an injury that speaks volumes to how the organization is built. You play for the long haul and not just a one-shot opportunity but then again, the wheels could fall of Texas in a few seasons anyway.

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They already did that with Eovaldi when they were worried about us winning the series in Arlington. I would expect them to. They don't have any better options.

The Porkchop Express said:

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Edit - Teddy said the same thing right above me.

So, not to sow discord so recently after the series was won, but I'm curious what the legion of Maldonado detractors has to say about the adulation he's receiving from Sports Illustrated (see below)

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I would say they didn't watch our regular season. Our pitchers have struggled for nearly the entire second half of the season. We got our butts kicked by Oakland and KC down the stretch with him mostly behind the plate. We are 62-55 with him catching this season (.529 win %) and we are 28-17 when he didn't catch (.622 win %). I don't mind Maldy catching if our pitchers pitch like they did this series, but I feel like there is an attempt to make an October narrative that didn't play that way at all this year.

Lol Arlington calls us the oxys what a weirdo fan base

aggie813 said:

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I think the Rangers would be stupid for letting him pitch at all this postseason.
If he were to pitch and re-injure himself, that could have lingering effects towards next year. He ain't no spring chicken and he ain't cheap.

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He's flamed out at the start of, or before, the last two post seasons. It would be surprising to me if he ever contributed in the playoffs again.