LET'S BREATH SOME LIFE BACK INTO THIS FORUM

[sadoug]

well...hell, if we are gonna go down that road...how about the 1980 team losing that heartbreak to the Phillies...Our luck, have the best pitcher in the game stroke out just when it looked like our luck had changed.

Or, how about 1986....game 6 of the playoffs with the Mets...Mike Scott sitting in the dugout awaiting his game 7 start which even Gary Carter of the Mets said was an automatic W for the Stros......and Dave Smith getting squeezed to a cigarret sized strike zone trying to close out the victory for the good guys.....

We wont say it, but we are in fact Cub fans.....something...SOMETHING...... will ALWAYS happen to screw us out of our WS victory parade.....but we always come back....we are hopelessly infected with AFS

[Ken]

Yep I've lived it all. And here I am. Cub fans got nothing on us!

[changeup]

Berkman is too lazy and non-chalant to be a team leader. I would much rather see Hunter Pence assume that role, along with Oswalt. Berkman and Carlos Lee have to be the two laziest bastards to ever put on an Astros uniform. I say that with apologies to Moises Alou.

This team started going downhill after Drayton's meddling caused Hunsicker to leave. We went to the World Series because of talent that Hunsicker put together. Drayton being too cheap to sign top draft picks killed our farm system, along with trading away top prospects for veterans who either let us down or played here a couple of months and then signed elsewhere. I forget how many top prospects we gave up for Randy Johnson and Carlos Beltran and both left because Drayton was too cheap to give them enough money to keep them. Then, he hired that idiot, Tim Purpura, and he and Drayton decided to let Andy Pettite go back to the Yankees and replace him with Jason Jennings. Now, that was a real smart move!! LOL There are many more moves that have occurred in the last 3-4 years that have caused this team to suck like it does now. Spending money on a washed-up Mike Hampton and Russ Ortiz come to mind. Hanging on to a batting practice pitcher like Woody Williams didn't help. If I recall correctly, old Woody led the NL in home runs allowed.

Personally, I don't think Ed Wade has the brains to put together a winner. He seems to want to bring in too many Phillie retreads to suit me.

[sadoug]

JB I agree that Berkman is not a team leader.....We did lose big in the end on Randy Johnson, but at least I could see the reason, we were going "all in" for a title. It didnt work out and thats life...As far as Petite goes, I wish we never had him in the first place, He sucked here and cost way too much money. He and Jennings were equally productive in my book...both were bad mistakes in my opinion.

I could not agree more that letting Hunsicker go was a huge mistake.

As far as being cheap...I dont know about that, I think he spends money, just stupidly.Petite and Jennings are examples of that. The Cardinals payroll is 88.5 mill.....less than ours but way smarter....I question 15 mill on Lyons, but we will see.

[Ken]

Yes, for whatever reason Pettite was a not a good fit here. In retrospect the Randy Johnson deal left us shorthanded...It hurts to think of how good the Astros would have been and for how many years with pitchers Garcia and Halama in our rotation. But both Johnson and Jeff Kent led the Astros brass to believe that they would be in Houston for longer than they actually stayed. In Johnson's case it was his wife who didn't want to live in Houston, and Kent...who knows...the guy drew this picture himself as a Texan who was finally playing at "home" and here to stay. And remember "The Rat" Vinnie Castilla at third base? The guy hit for power AND average and when Pupura took over we just let him slip through our fingers and ended up with the DUD known as Morgan Ensburg...don't get me started...Ensburg almost single-handedly lost us the World Series, coming up time and time again with men on base and failing to deliver.

[03flht2]

What pissed me off the most about that was all the defenders of Endsburg for months and months of his play, refusing to see that he had lost it and showed nothing of getting it back

[sadoug]

Ensburg had one half of one season where he was productive.He was terrible in the field. He could catch the ball, but he held the damned ball until the runner was on first...sh*tty, sh*tty player....and I totally agree that it was amazing that he hadANY defenders, much less the huge numbers that acted like he was the second comming of Brooks Robinson.

[Ken]

There were a lot of so called top prospects around that time that were SUPPOSED to be the second coming of Christ, who turned out to be crap... but I can't remember their names and I'm too lazy too look them up

There was another third baseman whose name I think started with a "T"

And there was an Infielder who was supposed to be ALL WORLD, but couldn't hit the broadside of a barn....his name began with a "G"...I think


Here we go...I found them after all...the 3Bman's name was Chris Truby (2000) and the infielder's name was Keith Ginter (2004)

Just FYI this site is an EXCELLENT reference for stuff like this...I just typed Astros roster and the year and it popped up...good stuff
www.baseball-almanac.com

[changeup]

Morgan OUTSberg had one good season and then tanked it, same for Jason Lane. Both of them were good the samw year and we went to the WS and OUTSberg killed us. Neither one of them were worth a damn after that.

[Ken]

Jason Lane....hell I had forgotten about him.

[sadoug]

Jason Lane was never "good" in my book....he was ok ne year but never above average.....why we kept playing that bum I will never understand.

[changeup]

Why we traded for Jason Jennings was a move I never understood. I also don't know why we wanted Russ Ortiz. I keep wondering how long people will continue to buy tickets while Drayton feeds them that BS about "making us a champion". The only thing that old bastard cares about is making a buck.

[sadoug]

I didnt realize that we traded for Jennings.....if so, it was a stupid, stupid mistake. I thought we signed Ortiz because he was cheap and therefore worth a chance.

J.B.....I dont understand why you continue to call Mc Lane cheap?...The Astros have continuously been among the highest payrolls in the game.He spends the money, I just think he doesnt do it very wisely.

[sadoug]

J.B....I think you are right...now that I remember.....seems we traded Willie Traveras for Jennings....I am still ticked off that we Let Traveras go. I guess we wouldnt have gotten Bourne if we hadnt, but I still like traveras.

[Ken]

I agree...The grocer has spent the money over the years, but he's not consistent. Why pay...Alou, Beltran, Miggy etc etc etc all that money and not pay to KEEP THEM?