Houston Astros Baseball

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Woody Williams Cut !!!

Written by Baqqs on 11:27 AM


It finally happened. After a bad season and after an even worse spring training The Astros decided it would be better for the team to not have 41 year old Woody Williams in the rotation. Consequently this will solidify the rotation with what I believe is the best possible staff out of the guys we have. Although the spring has been rough for those starters, I believe that once these guys get their feet wet again, they will surprise many people and perform pretty well. Well enough for our offense to carry most the load.

It is unfortunate that it had to come to this, Woody is said to be a great guy and positive influence in the clubhouse. However, you may be the nicest man on earth, but if you guarantee your team a loss every fifth day it doesn't make much difference. I wish nothing but the best to Woody, good luck in the future and enjoy retirement.









Astros 2008 Schedule

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What's $6.5 Million Worth ?

Written by Baqqs on 9:46 PM

March 28 VS The Tigers

Today marked the return of injured Wandy Rodriguez. Unfortunately for him, his rehab assignment was against possibly the best lineup in baseball. Wandy didn't stay long versus The Tigers leaving after four innings pitched and five earned runs. What made the day even worse (or better depends on who you ask) was Woody's performance. If management wasn't sure whether or not to cut 6 Mil. today should have made that decision for you. Woody went three innings giving up seven hits and five earned runs. I can't imagine how Coop and Drayton can defend keeping him on. Is $6 Million worth a loss every fifth day?

To be honest I am kind of tired about reporting nothing but negative Astros news so here comes the positive. It's only Spring Training! If there is another to grab a hold of in the form of hope it's that these games mean nothing, statistically. The Spring Training for The Astros may prove to be beneficial if Woody is in fact cut and thus saving the team several starts before and several losses before cutting ties.

Here is hoping the regular season gets these Astros pumped and ready to play for real!



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2008 Predictions

Written by Baqqs on 3:18 PM

MY friends and I have bet on the final standings for the last couple of years and I figured I would throw mine up here and see what you thought.


NL East

1.Mets
2.Braves
3.Phlliies
4.Nats
5.Marlins

NL Central

1.Cubs
2.Brewers
3.Astros (Sadly)
4.Reds
5.Cardinals
6.Pirates

NL West

1.D-Backs
2.Dodgers
3.Rockies
4.Padres
5.Giants

AL East

1.Yankees
2.Red Sox
3.Blue Jays
4.Rays
5.Orioles

AL Central

1.Indians
2.Tigers
3.White Sox
4.Twins
5.Royals

AL West

1.Angels
2.Mariners
3.Rangers
4.A's

World Series
Indians Def. D-Backs

AL Cy Young: C.C. Sabithia (again)
NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb

AL MVP:A-Rod
NL MVP:David Wright

AL ROY: Longoria/ Butler/ Barton/ Adenhart
NL ROY: Cueto/ Pearce/ Towles/ Votto


Astros 2008 Schedule

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Player Profile: Miguel Tejada

Written by Baqqs on 3:17 PM

Miguel Odalis Tejada (born May 25, 1976 in Baní, Dominican Republic) currently holds the fifth longest consecutive games played streak (1,152), behind Cal Ripken, Lou Gehrig, Everett Scott and Steve Garvey. That streak includes time on The Oakland A's and The Baltimore Orioles.

Photobucket

The Oakland A's
Tejada was signed for $2,000 when he was only 17 years old and reached the majors 4 years later in 1997. In 2000 Tejada helped lead The A's for their first division title in eight years. In 2001 Tejada helped lead The A's to a 102-60 record which strangely was only good enough for The Wildcard. For the second year in a row, The A's fell to The Yankees in the first round of The Playoffs.

In 2002 Tejada broke out. He won The AL MVP award and helped lead The A's to the playoffs once again, and again were defeated in the first round. By the end of 2003 Tejada would need to either resign or look elsewhere and The A's chose the latter.

During the 2003 off-season Tejada signed a 6 year $72 Million deal with The Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles
Signing with The Orioles seemed like a fit considering Cal Ripken Jr. was Tejada's favorite player and it only seemed natural that he fill his shoes at the same position on the same team.

In 2004 Tejada was again elected to The All-Star Team and won the Home Run derby in Houston against Houston Fan Favorite Lance Berkman. Tejada totaled a record setting 27 HR's. Another notable stat was that Tejada led all of baseball with 150 RBI's in that same season.

In 2005, Tejada was once again at The All-Star game but did not complete in The Home Run Derby. Instead he simply won The All Star MVP award. Although Tejada seemed to be thriving The Orioles were terrible, and had been terrible for several years. Towards the end of the 2005 season it was reported that Tejada asked to be traded to a contending team or that The Orioles would re-staff with players that could put the team in contention. Neither of those requests were met.

In 2006, trade rumors continued until Tejada finally said "I will remain an Oriole the rest of my career."

2007 was a typical year for Tejada, who was o the verge of eight straight 20+ HR seasons was hurt. Tejada was hit by pitch on the wrist by Doug Brocail (now teammates) and had to be placed on the DL. This injury cost Tejada twenty nine games, his streak of 20+ HR seasons and more importantly his consecutive games played streak.

During the 2007 off-season Tejada was traded for the last two remaining contract years to The Houston Astros for five players.

Steroids
During his career Tejada has been linked to steroids from several sources. The most detrimental of those sources being Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, and The Mitchell Report. Currently, Tejada is still under investigation for an interview with a house committee member.

Miguel Tejada Stats (BR)

Miguel Tejada Stats (THT)


Astros 2008 Schedule
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Improvement, Maybe ??

Written by Baqqs on 1:42 PM

Wednesday March 25 vs Indians

Today The Astros faced a tough opponent in The Cleveland Indians. Even more than that, we faced AL Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia. However, we presented with our own ace today, in Roy Oswalt. Roy however had a somewhat difficult outing throwing close to ninety pitches in under four innings. This was a result of poor defensive fielding by Astro regulars. It may be irony or coincidence but in either case it isn't funny that on this same day Coop had the team work on fundamentals instead of traditional batting practice. I can't imagine his reaction was all that pleasant today after The Astros combined for 3 errors on the day yielding 4 unearned runs.

Some bright spots on the day were Jose Cruz JR. sealing the deal to make this team by getting a pinch hit double scoring two. Cruz is currently batting .350. Also, our seemingly dismal pitching staff did much better than the score books would show. Wesley Wright rebounded quite nicely from his previous poor start with one and a third hitless and scoreless innings. Two major question marks so far have been Brocail and Geary and both responded with scoreless frames. Geary's inning was especially nice with no hits, walks, and two strikeouts. Brocail's improvement is evident with back to back appearances giving up no runs.

To sum up, it seems like whenever The Astros improved in one area, they seem to falter in another. Today the defense was awful and I can imagine Coop will have a few words for these "professionals," asking why they can't make plays college kids can make.



Astros 2008 Schedule

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Another Day, Same Story

Written by Baqqs on 7:55 PM




Another day, another spring training game, another spring training disappointment. Over the past couple of weeks it's been made quite clear what will work for The Astros and what won't. Unfortunately, I am a strong advocate for pitching, speed and defense. This Astros team wold appear to lack in most of that. I am not the type to write about doom and gloom situations and when it was said early this spring that we would see alot of 8-7, 8-9 games I was slightly skeptical. To my dismay this is what seems to be happening. Out offense is incredible, we to hit off almost all pitching(Including today with Verlander) and have a dynamic mix of speed and power which we haven't had in recent years. We have scored more runs than any team in spring training but also have just about the worst pitching staff or at least they have performed that way.

Vs The Tigers (March 24)

Chris Sampson got the start today against possibly the toughest lineup in all of baseball. All of Detroit's regulars played (minus Granderson who is on the DL)and that alone would leave an opposing pitcher to hope just to limit the damage. But Sampson looked very good early on. He got through the first very quickly with two strikeouts and no damage. Just as the first, he looked sharp in the 2nd innings yielding no runs and notching another strike out. The only negative so far was that his contact outs were by air and not by ground ball, which is concerning for a ground ball pitcher. In the 3rd, he has hit by a "comebacker" off the bat of Miguel Cabrera. Soon after Sampson got into some trouble. He gave up a solo HR to Pudge but was able to escape any further damage that inning. In the 4th he really struggled, giving up three more runs. So after he was replaced by R. Hernandez.

Later Sampson mentioned that initially after being hit by the ball he felt ok and that the adrenaline had taken away most the pain. He then explained after the half inning of rest while The Astros were hitting he tightened up and felt the effects of the line drive and that may have been a cause of his sudden poor performance.

After Sampson the pitching staff did little to hold on to the lead that was given to them. Important pieces to our bullpen Villarreal and Valverde combined for 5 runs (4 eraned) in the eventual loss.

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Astros 2008 Schedule

Written by Baqqs on 7:43 PM

All Times EDT

March 31 at San Diego, 10:05 p.m.

April 1 at San Diego, 10:05 p.m.

April 2 at San Diego, 10:05 p.m.

April 3 at San Diego, 3:35 p.m.

April 4 at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 p.m.

April 5 at Chicago Cubs, 1:05 p.m.

April 6 at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 p.m.

April 7 St. Louis, 7:05 p.m.

April 8 St. Louis, 8:05 p.m.

April 9 St. Louis, 8:05 p.m.

April 11 Florida, 8:05 p.m.

April 12 Florida, 7:05 p.m.

April 13 Florida, 2:05 p.m.

April 15 at Philadelphia, 7:05 p.m.

April 16 at Philadelphia, 7:05 p.m.

April 17 at Philadelphia, 1:05 p.m.

April 18 Colorado, 8:05 p.m.

April 19 Colorado, 7:05 p.m.

April 20 Colorado, 2:05 p.m.

April 21 San Diego, 8:05 p.m.

April 22 San Diego, 8:05 p.m.

April 23 at Cincinnati, 7:10 p.m.

April 24 at Cincinnati, 12:35 p.m.

April 25 at St. Louis, 8:15 p.m.

April 26 at St. Louis, 1:10 p.m.

April 27 at St. Louis, 2:15 p.m.

April 28 at Arizona, 9:40 p.m.

April 29 at Arizona, 9:40 p.m.

April 30 at Arizona, 3:40 p.m.

May 2 Milwaukee, 8:05 p.m.

May 3 Milwaukee, 7:05 p.m.

May 4 Milwaukee, 2:05 p.m.

May 6 Washington, 8:05 p.m.

May 7 Washington, 8:05 p.m.

May 8 Washington, 8:05 p.m.

May 9 at L.A. Dodgers, 10:40 p.m.

May 10 at L.A. Dodgers, 10:10 p.m.

May 11 at L.A. Dodgers, 4:10 p.m.

May 12 at San Francisco, 10:15 p.m.

May 13 at San Francisco, 10:15 p.m.

May 14 at San Francisco, 10:15 p.m.

May 15 at San Francisco, 3:45 p.m.

May 16 at Texas, 8:05 p.m.

May 17 at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

May 18 at Texas, 3:05 p.m.

May 19 Chicago Cubs, 7:05 p.m.

May 20 Chicago Cubs, 8:05 p.m.

May 21 Chicago Cubs, 8:05 p.m.

May 22 Philadelphia, 8:05 p.m.

May 23 Philadelphia, 8:05 p.m.

May 24 Philadelphia, 7:05 p.m.

May 25 Philadelphia, 2:05 p.m.

May 27 at St. Louis, 8:15 p.m.

May 28 at St. Louis, 8:15 p.m.

May 29 at St. Louis, 8:15 p.m.

May 30 at Milwaukee, 8:05 p.m.

May 31 at Milwaukee, 7:05 p.m.

June 1 at Milwaukee, 2:05 p.m.

June 3 at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.

June 4 at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.

June 5 at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.

June 6 St. Louis, 8:05 p.m.

June 7 St. Louis, 7:05 p.m.

June 8 St. Louis, 2:05 p.m.

June 10 Milwaukee, 8:05 p.m.

June 11 Milwaukee, 8:05 p.m.

June 12 Milwaukee, 2:05 p.m.

June 13 N.Y. Yankees, 8:05 p.m.

June 14 N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.

June 15 N.Y. Yankees, 2:05 p.m.

June 17 at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m.

June 18 at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m.

June 19 at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m.

June 20 at Tampa Bay, 7:10 p.m.

June 21 at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.

June 22 at Tampa Bay, 1:40 p.m.

June 24 Texas, 8:05 p.m.

June 25 Texas, 8:05 p.m.

June 26 Texas, 8:05 p.m.

June 27 Boston, 7:05 p.m.

June 28 Boston, 7:05 p.m.

June 29 Boston, 2:05 p.m.

June 30 L.A. Dodgers, 8:05 p.m.

July 1 L.A. Dodgers, 8:05 p.m.

July 2 L.A. Dodgers, 8:05 p.m.

July 3 L.A. Dodgers, 2:05 p.m.

July 4 at Atlanta, 7:35 p.m.

July 5 at Atlanta, 7:10 p.m.

July 6 at Atlanta, 1:35 p.m.

July 7 at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.

July 8 at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.

July 9 at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.

July 11 at Washington, 7:35 p.m.

July 12 at Washington, 7:10 p.m.

July 13 at Washington, 1:35 p.m.

July 18 Chicago Cubs, 8:05 p.m.

July 19 Chicago Cubs, 7:05 p.m.

July 20 Chicago Cubs, 2:05 p.m.

July 21 Pittsburgh, 8:05 p.m.

July 22 Pittsburgh, 8:05 p.m.

July 23 Pittsburgh, 2:05 p.m.

July 25 at Milwaukee, 8:05 p.m.

July 26 at Milwaukee, 7:05 p.m.

July 27 at Milwaukee, 2:05 p.m.

July 28 Cincinnati, 8:05 p.m.

July 29 Cincinnati, 8:05 p.m.

July 30 Cincinnati, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 1 N.Y. Mets, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 2 N.Y. Mets, 7:05 p.m.

Aug. 3 N.Y. Mets, 2:05 p.m.

Aug. 4 at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 5 at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 p.m.

Aug. 6 at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 p.m.

Aug. 7 at Cincinnati, 7:10 p.m.

Aug. 8 at Cincinnati, 7:10 p.m.

Aug. 9 at Cincinnati, 7:10 p.m.

Aug. 10 at Cincinnati, 1:15 p.m.

Aug. 11 San Francisco, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 12 San Francisco, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 13 San Francisco, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 14 San Francisco, 2:05 p.m.

Aug. 15 Arizona, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 16 Arizona, 7:05 p.m.

Aug. 17 Arizona, 2:05 p.m.

Aug. 18 at Milwaukee, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 19 at Milwaukee, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 20 at Milwaukee, 2:05 p.m.

Aug. 22 at N.Y. Mets, 7:10 p.m.

Aug. 23 at N.Y. Mets, 7:10 p.m.

Aug. 24 at N.Y. Mets, 1:10 p.m.

Aug. 25 at N.Y. Mets, 7:10 p.m.

Aug. 26 Cincinnati, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 27 Cincinnati, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 28 Cincinnati, 2:05 p.m.

Aug. 29 St. Louis, 8:05 p.m.

Aug. 30 St. Louis, 7:05 p.m.

Aug. 31 St. Louis, 2:05 p.m.

Sept. 1 at Chicago Cubs, 4:05 p.m.

Sept. 2 at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 3 at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 5 at Colorado, 9:05 p.m.

Sept. 6 at Colorado, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 7 at Colorado, 3:05 p.m.

Sept. 8 Pittsburgh, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 9 Pittsburgh, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 10 Pittsburgh, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 11 Pittsburgh, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 12 Chicago Cubs, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 13 Chicago Cubs, 7:05 p.m.

Sept. 14 Chicago Cubs, 2:05 p.m.

Sept. 16 at Florida, 7:10 p.m.

Sept. 17 at Florida, 7:10 p.m.

Sept. 18 at Florida, 7:10 p.m.

Sept. 19 at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.

Sept. 20 at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.

Sept. 21 at Pittsburgh, 1:35 p.m.

Sept. 23 Cincinnati, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 24 Cincinnati, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 25 Cincinnati, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 26 Atlanta, 8:05 p.m.

Sept. 27 Atlanta, 7:05 p.m.

Sept. 28 Atlanta, 2:05 p.m.

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Let's Go Sampson !!!

Written by Baqqs on 11:55 AM


Today, in about 3 hours Chris Sampson will make his most important start of the spring. Unfortunately for him he will face a potent Tigers lineup. However, that's ok! He doesn't need to strike them out just induce a few ground balls and he should be fine. It is weird that I am a little bit nervous for him. They may be drawn from my love for the team and knowledge that Sampson would win more games this year as a starter than Woody would. This game is pretty much Chris' lat shot at winning that spot.



The season officially began today with the Red Sox squeaking out a 10th inning win against The Oakland A's. Nerves may have gotten the best of Dice-K as he gave up a few early runs. Both Blanton and Dice-K couldn't make it into the 6th and The A's took the lead in the 9th as Street gave up a run in the 9th and two in the 10th to get the Blown Save and Loss. In the end it was Manny R. who was named player of the game and was given a giant Million Yen check.

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