Communal Astros KTE - May 13-15

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Covered SS on the first page.

I don't say that to brag, but merely to make sure that the fact that Clint Barmes was once felled by deer meat gets its proper re-airing.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Confession: I like Tal's Hill. I wasn't allowed to walk on it during the tour, but I could stay on the gravel in front.



The train in kinda hokey, but I like it, too. And they did a decent job of incorporating Union Station.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Bulletin-board material here. We are way too respectful of the enemy.

Hey Houston, uh, you suck!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

How about this:

Houston isn't hard to talk smack about... frankly, they're beneath it. They're a fat, flat, polluted commuter town that obliterates or ignores what little history it has... they're Washington without the government, football achievements, and civic charm. Everything that's half-decent about Houston-- zoo, space museum, Vietnamese-American culture, etc.-- can be found in bigger, better, or far-more-contextually-interesting iterations elsewhere.

Houston's not a city... it's an atherosclerotic mall.

[TransMonk]

Centerfielder Michael Bourn is good at running...and not much else. .261/.340/.348/.688

Bourne is 13 for 13 in stolen base attempts and leads the league in steals (but Reyes is just 1 behind, and don't think he doesn't know it).

[seawolf17]

Closer Mark Melancon is a Yankee reject who was traded for Lance Berkman; as a Berkman fan, I've deleted all memory of his pinstriped career from my mind.

Melancon is also Batman, so he's got that going for him if this baseball thing doesn't work out.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Really? He's Batman?! I didn't know that!

[seawolf17]

That's why we do the KTE.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Hunter Pence is having something like a career year, leading the league in doubles, and posting a .376 wOBA.

He still has a look about him like the Astros sent away for a Ryan Braun kit, assembled it the best the could, then found extra pieces in the box when they were done.

[ashie62]

How about this: Houston isn't hard to talk smack about... frankly, they're beneath it. They're a fat, flat, polluted commuter town that obliterates or ignores what little history it has... they're Washington without the government, football achievements, and civic charm. Everything that's half-decent about Houston-- zoo, space museum, Vietnamese-American culture, etc.-- can be found in bigger, better, or far-more-contextually-interesting iterations elsewhere. Houston's not a city... it's an atherosclerotic mall.

I kinda liked it (:

[Ceetar]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Hunter Pence is having something like a career year, leading the league in doubles, and posting a .376 wOBA. He still has a look about him like the Astros sent away for a Ryan Braun kit, assembled it the best the could, then found extra pieces in the box when they were done.

Pence is leading the league in doubles? If so, only because Carlos was conceded the league by hitting all his fly balls OVER the wall yesterday. and Reyes only chimed in with the RBI single, no doubles.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

How about this: Houston isn't hard to talk smack about... frankly, they're beneath it. They're a fat, flat, polluted commuter town that obliterates or ignores what little history it has... they're Washington without the government, football achievements, and civic charm. Everything that's half-decent about Houston-- zoo, space museum, Vietnamese-American culture, etc.-- can be found in bigger, better, or far-more-contextually-interesting iterations elsewhere. Houston's not a city... it's an atherosclerotic mall. I kinda liked it (:

I'm trying to go scorched-earth here, mang.

[Edgy MD]

Reyes is leading the league in doubles plus the sort of hits that would be mere doubles for a lesser man.

[TransMonk]

Actually, Pence, Reyes, Beltran and Larry Jones are all tied for the lead league.

[Frayed Knot]

Mark Melancon was one of those Yanqui pitchers destined to win about 15 Cy Youngs acc to various unbiased (cough ... Suzyn Waldman) sources. He was "the future" before Joba was and before Ian Kennedy was and before Phil Hughes was.
And, while on the subject of Astros traded for Melancon, how about the start Berkman is off to in Saint Louie! He not only looked D-O-N-E with the Yanx but in his previous season or two with Houston too. I don't mean totally done, but I was surprised to see him even offered a full-time job by a decent team and assumed he'd have played his way out of one already. Instead he's .357/.444/.705 with 10 HRs and nearly half (19 of 40) his hits going for extra-bases.



Hunter Pence has some talent but he's given to dopey mistakes at times and both looks and plays like some un-tamed colt. The way he swings, the way he runs, the way he throws, everything, has that 'I'm not quite in control of all my limbs' sense to it. The guy doing a preview in the Astros site suggests that a Hunter bobblehead give-away should have not only the head bobbling but its arms and legs too.

[Ceetar]

Mets are 106-172 @Houston.

2-2 there last year.

This says Dillon Gee is 0-0 0ERA against the Astros, but 02 2.37 at Minute Maid, which must be a typo.

[Gwreck]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Starring on my roto team, that's how bad he is. I'm not sure that's something you want to talk about in polite company, man.

Maybe he's in an 18-team NL-only league or something.

[seawolf17]

Ceetar wrote: Mets are 106-172 @Houston. 2-2 there last year. This says Dillon Gee is 0-0 0ERA against the Astros, but 02 2.37 at Minute Maid, which must be a typo.

He played them on JCL's fantasy team.

[Edgy MD]

Don't have a lot of Houston music. But I have the Drells.

[youtube:jkofzm1o]Wro3bqi4Eb8[/youtube:jkofzm1o]

[G-Fafif]

Carlos Beltran: King of the Hill
Composed in the wee hours of July 8, 2007

A man built a park
A man built a field
A man said "quirky!"
Is what I'll yield

I'll make one wall close
Make one wall far
I'll make another wall stand
Behind something bizarre

Gonna have a hill
Gonna put it where?
Puttin' it in center
Way the hell out there

Nobody digs it
Everyone complains
But at least there's a roof
In the event it rains

Two teams played a game
Two teams played forever
What time would they finish?
The teams said �whenever�

Cut to the chase
Get to the point
Arrive in the fourteenth
A victor to anoint

Lamb on first
Burke on third
Joe Smith on the mound
Now isn't this absurd?

Houston had Scott
I've heard that before
They once had a Scott
From the hardware store

Not that Scott
It wasn't Mike
But with first and third
What was there to like?

One out was needed
To keep things tied
When Luke Scott connected
We nearly died

His ball is long
His ball is deep
His ball might end it
That Houston creep

Wait just a minute!
Wait just a sec!
His ball is headed
To that pain in the neck

It's heading for the hill
It's heading there now
It's gonna take a miracle
Scott can take a bow

The hill IS quirky
The hill IS high
I suspect the same
Of the architect guy

It's a Crosley tribute?
Unique incline?
The rest of us think
It's just asinine

Nobody could catch up
Nobody could hope
Unless CAR LOS BEL TRAN!
Was workin' his lope

Carlos ran long
Carlos ran deep
Carlos kept climbing
Carlos went steep

He lunged and he grabbed
He secured it and soon
He fell and held on
Like he was Al Toon

The Astros were stopped
At the one-foot line
Wanna play some more?
The Mets said �fine�

Minute Maid Park
Is truly the pits
I mean can you believe
Where that silly hill sits?

But hitting it to Beltran
Is your mistake
Boo him all you want
Go jump in the lake

He drove in the winner
The 'pen did the rest
Tal's Hill is the worst
That catch was the best!

[Fman99]

This is the "We are the World" of KTE's. Heady, impressive stuff.

[Edgy MD]

I'll come in late like Ray Charles did then and mention that a good way to get these guys is to get into their bullpen as early as possible.