I also hope the Astros are grooming one of their minor league pitching coaches to follow Strom’s philosophy and lead the group once he does retire.
Impotent, despite the preponderance of boner pills.
1 Like
I’m watching my recording of the game and they really did mute the crowd. It was quiet in the 9th but we weren’t that bad.
Two key plays in the first - Altuve robbing Hernandez and then Hernandez failing to hold Alvarez’ drive after getting his glove on it. Might have been a way different game if those plays had gone the other way.
2 Likes
I found the crowd to be plenty loud.
1 Like
I told my wife that Verdugo was running on the 3-2 pitch, because, well, that was the right call. I also told her that was the perfect throw that only a handful of catchers could make. And that 3-1 pitch saved the game. Just wow.
1 Like
There are numerous plays that you can look back on and say “if that goes the other way, it may have changed everything”. The Astros made them all, and the Sox did not.
2 Likes
The paragraphs on the “stain” read like pre-written obligatory verbiage that were cut and pasted into the article.
I can’t believe good baseball writers, and even non-superficial baseball fans, or sports fans in general, really see stealing signs as anything other than expected in baseball. Heck, the sport officially rewards stealing of a base. NFL sanctions gathering of intelligence on teams by distributing tape. NBA players are said to be smart when they recognize the other teams’ plays and call it out.
I get that the Astros broke the rules in that MLB had made a distinction between good old fashioned sign stealing and real time electronic surveillance, but as everyone should know, and Bassit has confirmed yet again, they were far from the only ones.
(seemingly) Templated verbiage like Verducci used really lends further support to the idea that this is just MLB being pissed at the Astros. The Tank Commander ranting on about Astros’ character recently makes me think that Joe Torre (his former boss in the league discipline office) feeling disrepected by the upstarts that made his Yankees look silly has got to have a lot to do with it.
Crane and the Astros players must know this. I hope it is motivation enough for Crane to keep the band together to spite the lot of them.
2 Likes
That play, the strike em out throw em out, was for me every bit as thrilling as the double play against the Thirds that sent the Astros to their first World Series. Maybe more thrilling because of how great a play it was, and because although it was only the 7th inning and the Astros were up only two runs, it was pretty clearly the final nail in the coffin for the Red Sox.
After the play Shaw was just glued to a spot on the ground, gazing out towards second base in utter disbelief.
6 Likes
The tv broadcast didn’t show Maldonado’s throw particularly well, and took it’s time showing it from an angle that showed how perfect the throw was. I kept waiting for a challenge, but it wasn’t close.
2 Likes
It was not close. My astonishment at the strikeout was short lived, because once the throw was halfway there I knew that they were going to throw that fucker out, you could just tell. And sure enough, the throw didn’t beat him there by all that much, but it was so perfectly placed that he had no hope.
Just a stunning turn of events.
1 Like
Reminds me of Brantley’s sliding catch/throw to double off Judge in 2019.
Huge body for the good guys.
Swift kick to the crotch for the inferior team.
This collection of Chron photos of that play are great (and show it wasn’t close).
1 Like
I love defensive excellence even more than I love great offense.
1 Like
Counselor, we’re going to need Kaiser to testify as to all these things you allegedly told him.
Echoed here - WP Article has THE unavoidable conclusion:
…But they made it to another World Series in 2019, where they lost to the Washington Nationals — who made some veiled (and not-so-veiled) accusations…, none of it proven — and are back there again this month, for the third time in five years.
By this point, MLB’s leaguewide crackdown on electronic espionage in the game in the wake of the Astros scandal can only lead to the conclusion the Astros have done it clean this time.
It has a great quote for Alvarez…
You’re going to think I’m crazy but I thought the throw to second had a little tail on it and I wondered what kind of grip Maldy was able to get on the ball. I now can see that it was a two seam grip, and maybe my eyes did not deceive me after all.
2 Likes
As Tucker settled in the 8th, w/ 2-out & 2 on, a RS radio announcer observed (3:18) :
…This is where the depth of their lineup is just CRAZY!
After Correa, you have a guy w/ 30 HR - AFTER Alvarez and BEFORE the AL Batting Champ!!!..
Then, Tucker hits a HR!!!
If Dusty comes back the team loses Espada.
I don’t see him NOT getting an offer THIS off-season. He’s ready and the league knows it.
Tough choice. It will be tough to not offer Dusty another year after ALCS and World Series in his 2 years
If Dusty wants to come back, he’s back.
1 Like