cruz jr

[hembo36]

i think thats cool he made the team..he deserved it..the stros have some of the best bench players in the league..all vets capable of hitting and defense..

On a side note...you talk about an outfield arm..watch jose JR...homeboy has an absolute cannon..you have to put him right up there with the Ichiro and vlad type arms

[crashtest]

It's about time we finally got him on the team. Jeesh it took a long time for such a natural fit. Better late than never. I'd love to see him start in CF. Bourn just won't have the OBP and Jr still has 5 tools. Why waste it on the bench because Bourn might steal a few bases? Any caugyt stealings will be magnified with this 50's style line-up. A tweaked hammy might be what Coop needs to see the like.

[Coach]

I'm happy to see Cheito on the team too. I think he's got a little left in the tank and it makes for a good story considering his dad's long history with the team.

Regarding Bourne, that's was a damn good play on that running catch he made last night.

[crashtest]

quote author=admin board=2008regularseason thread=1034 post=11844 time=1207073470]I'm happy to see Cheito on the team too. I think he's got a little left in the tank and it makes for a good story considering his dad's long history with the team.

Regarding Bourne, that's was a damn good play on that running catch he made last night.[/quote]

Superb catch - although I'd say 50% of MLB CFers would have made it - just not guys like Biggio, Berkboy, Lane, etc. that we have run out there in the recent past. That is the kind of drive that would have glanced off Willie T's glove when he was with us. It's nice to see a real CF glove out there again. He'll likely steal 70 bases - but Pence will have to screw his head on better in the 2-hole and take a few lessons from Moberg or go to the 6-hole if he wants to first-pitch hit and hit nothing but fly-balls. D. Bell was probably the best 2-hole hitter we ever had, all nestled in that cozy scrotal sac between the bronze B&B boys. So they dropped him to 6 where he flopped. I think the reverse psychology works here and they best fix it soon.

[jamesa46]

"Cheo" was kind of a late bloomer too. He didn't blossom until his 7th season in the Major Leagues.
I've had the privilege of meeting "Cheo" and his family. They are truly down-to-earth and enjoy talking baseball.
I talked at length to "Cheo" about that 1980 team a few years ago and as he mentioned "We got on base any way we could and then we started running the bases to try to score any way we could".

The 1980 team was very exciting to watch and between Puhl, Cruz and Cedeno, they stoled a lot of bases that season.

Jose had to work at his defense because he was not known for his defense early in his career but because of his determination to change that mindset he really worked on it. Because of his speed and improved defense he became a very good leftfielder and covered a lot of ground in left field cutting down a lot of potential extra base hits down the left field line and turning many of those potential hits into outfield outs.

[crashtest]

Great point, James about Cheo being a leftie. Hence his glove hand was a step closer to the left field line. I remember him hustling over and often holding a sure double to a single. He was one of about a half-dozen "Cruz's" when we got him from St Louis. I think that was the root cause of his most "under-rated" tag. Nobody could figure out which Cruz he was. But after he settled in, he was the prototypical Astrodome player. His tools/skills fit the Dome probably better than any other player in our history. His home/road HR splits were the largest differential in baseball at the time. He'd have had very decent power numbers in a neutral park. But he took what the Dome gave him, didn't b*tch about it like the Padres did when Petco opened, and we loved him for what he gave us in return. Bigs and Bags have their fans to be sure, but no player has been as beloved as Jose "Cheo" Cruuuuuuuuuuz. I'm glad he could share this experience with his son. He deserved it.

[jbarron]

Cruz was my favorite Astros player. He never made excuses and we always knew that "somebody gonna pay" if Jose was in a slump.

[vega51]

Can Cruz pitch? If he can't then he will not help this team, the starting rotation is AWFUL.

[hembo36]

Jose sr is a class act