Still waiting to feel like thanking him for screwing o er Diaz's ROTY season

90 days until opening day!

There were two things for certain in baseball on June 8, 1990, when the Cincinnati Reds came to Houston to start a three-game series. The Reds were very good, 34-16 at the time and already up 6-1/2 games in the NL West. The Astros' run was over. They had finished just six games out of first in 1989, but had staggered out of the gate in 1990 to a 21-34 start and had the worst record in the National League.

A microcosm of the team's struggle was the early-season performance of Mike Scott. Between 1985-1989, he had piled up a record of 86 wins and 49 losses and had just missed a second Cy Young in '89, finishing second despite winning 20 games. But the magic was used up, and Scott lost 6 of his first 8 decisions, only making it past the seventh inning once and never striking out more than 5 batters in a game. His previous outing had been one of his worst, 6 earned runs in 4 innings and just 1 strikeout.

The Reds entered the game with four regulars batting over .300, led by Barry Larkin's .358, and another, Todd Benzinger at .293. But sometimes, a great player past his prime pulls back and delivers something truly special, something that you used to see all the time, and never really appreciated it until it was gone. That was what happened that night in Houston.

The Reds' top three, Chris Sabo, Billy Hatcher, and Barry Larking all struck out swinging. Scott added two more strikeouts in the second and two more in the third. On the other side of the equation, Tom Browning was baffling the Astro batters as well. He gave up a hit and a walk but had 6 strikeouts in the first three innings.
Billy Hatcher singled off Scott and got to second on a balk, but Scott added two more strikeouts in the top of the fourth to get to nine for the game and escape trouble. Benzinger was strikeout #10 in the fifth inning, and Scott struck out the side again all swinging in the top of the 7th to make it 13. The Astros threatened in the last of the seventh, but Browning got out of trouble with an inning-ending double play. He struck out Joe Oliver in the top of the ninth to make it 14, but Craig Biggio was caught stealing to end the Astros' half of the 9th and send it to extra innings.

Art Howe never even hesitated, sending Scott back out for the top of the 10th. With one out, the wheels finally came off the wagon, as Scott allowed a single to Larkin, a stolen base, a walk, and a Benzinger single to make it 1-0 Reds. Scott stayed in the game to strike out Mariano Duncan, his 15th, a career best.

Not wanting to make the same mistake, Reds' manager Lou "I have never smiled in my life" Pinella replaced Browning with Nasty Boy Randy Myers to start the 10th. Browning had thrown 98 pitches, allowed 5 hits, 2 walks and struck out 7. Myers had a 2.17 ERA and 11 saves, on his way to becoming an incredible reliever who would save 31 games that year. He struck out Ken Caminiti to start the frame, but then walked Eric Anthony, with Louie Meadows coming in to pinch run. Meadows scampered to second on a Rafael Ramirez single and oved to third on Alex Trevino's fly out.

With Scott's place in the order coming up, Howe looked down his bench and pointed to Glenn Wilson, struggling with a .226 average. On a 2-0 count, Wilson found his pitch and destroyed a Myers fast ball over the right field fence for a 3-1 Astros' walkoff victory. Win to Scott.

Scotty would never strikeout more than 7 batters in a game again. He got his record to 6-7 at one point, but wound up 9-13. He pitched just twice in 1991 before having t o retire because of injuries.

Scotty threw 116 pitches that night, 90 of them for strikes. He was the first Astro starter to pitch into the 10th inning since Nolan Ryan in 1985.

All the White Sox catchers next season pic.twitter.com/I8wIksXU8e https://t.co/zsKtR2XTb5

— klay❔ (@kIaymemeson) December 27, 2023

lmao

Why are the pitches coming so fast

One of the greatest single game accomplishments in #MLB history pic.twitter.com/gpKTHJ0w16

— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) December 30, 2023

Sale is a a washed up bum. Meh

Farmer1906 said:

---

The Braves are winning this offseason. They already had the best team and now they have improved their bullpen and rotation significantly. They're still the favorites in the NL IMO.

---

Lots of talent going to the NL. Hopefully the Braves and Dodgers beat each other up in the NL playoffs.

What a world we live in where 93.8 is below average for a fastball.

Forrest Whitley vs Eric Sim:

He might learn how to take care of himself and pitch at a high level.

Baseball Is Life said:

---

I used to dislike Trevor, but I have come around on him. Yes, he called out Gerrit Cole on his spin rates. However, he's never said anything overall about the Astros. Trevor was the one who said F It, used his own homemade Spider Tack and really drew attention to pitcher's using substances for spin. I can understand his frustration with MLB turning a blind eye to it and him finally wanting to make a point.

Anyway, MLB has crapped on Trevor, when they should have supported him during the hoax crap from that woman. I know some other players don't like him, but he seems like a good dude to those in his circle.

Edit - I would love for the Astros to sign him, if everything is finally kosher with MLB, which it should be.

---

"Never said anything against the Astros"

Baseball Is Life said:

---

I used to dislike Trevor, but I have come around on him. Yes, he called out Gerrit Cole on his spin rates. However, he's never said anything overall about the Astros. Trevor was the one who said F It, used his own homemade Spider Tack and really drew attention to pitcher's using substances for spin. I can understand his frustration with MLB turning a blind eye to it and him finally wanting to make a point.

Anyway, MLB has crapped on Trevor, when they should have supported him during the hoax crap from that woman. I know some other players don't like him, but he seems like a good dude to those in his circle.

Edit - I would love for the Astros to sign him, if everything is finally kosher with MLB, which it should be.

---

yea…he can go EAD

AgLA06 said:

---

Who cares.

You acquire anyone that can help you win.

---

Except I don't think he'd help us win right now. He'd be a locker room cancer that our guys wouldn't get along with and he I don't think he'd pitch the level he was at in 2020-2021

If you think he would get along with Lance, Bregman and JV … then I've got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you.

AgLA06 said:

---

They all get paid to play for the name on the front of the jersey. It's part of being a professional. Like any other place of employment, not everyone will be friends.

---

So we have an issue with a media person trashing the organization before she got hired, but we are cool with a player doing it?

Pretty much nothing anybody can say besides our players coming out and saying "I forgive Bauer" would get me on board with signing him after all the stuff he said/did in regard to the sign stealing scandal

tjack16 said:

---

Baseball Is Life said:

---

I used to dislike Trevor, but I have come around on him. Yes, he called out Gerrit Cole on his spin rates. However, he's never said anything overall about the Astros. Trevor was the one who said F It, used his own homemade Spider Tack and really drew attention to pitcher's using substances for spin. I can understand his frustration with MLB turning a blind eye to it and him finally wanting to make a point.

Anyway, MLB has crapped on Trevor, when they should have supported him during the hoax crap from that woman. I know some other players don't like him, but he seems like a good dude to those in his circle.

Edit - I would love for the Astros to sign him, if everything is finally kosher with MLB, which it should be.

---

"Never said anything against the Astros"

---

I will admit, I wasn't aware of this. I appreciate the information. It is petty and not something he should done, but I still believe he has mellowed out a lot. With the [new to me] information, I can understand the disdain for him from fellow Astros fans.

I don't have a problem with anyone having an opinion cuz my team won 2 titles.

But I wouldn't want a GM who doesn't sign a guy because he wore a mean T-shirt a couple of times.

That gets you into Bob McNair / Texans "only nice guys play here" territory, and we all know how many titles that won.