vivalaultra

Even though I'm the resident Astros' homer, I'm picking them to finish no less than third in the division w/o Clemens, more likely second w/o Clemens, and to win the division in a cakewalk w/ Clemens. I don't see how the pitching will be much worse this year. Roy O is still Roy O. Jennings had better numbers last season than Pettitte and there's good reason to think that he'll be better than Pettitte this season (entering his contract season, pitching in his home state, pitching for a competitive team for the first time, approaching the thousand inning mark, etc.). Woody Williams isn't going to put up "blow-away" numbers, but he's always been solid and has shown that he can pitch effectively at Minute Maid Park (He's #1 in wins for an opposing pitcher at MMP with 9. And his career ERA there is just a little north of 3). Among the candidates for the 4th and 5th rotation spots are Fernando Nieve, who put up very solid numbers last season in both starting and relieving, Chris Sampson, who put up excellent numbers last season, albeit in 39 innings...still, projected out over a full season, those numbers translate very well, Matt Albers, who's kinda a wildcard-he has excellent stuff, but only pitched 15 innings; still as a #5, he'd be nothing less than league average, and...Wandy Rodriguez (God help us all). As far as the 'pen, whomever doesn't get the 4 and 5 spots is going in the pen. In addition to them are Dave Borkowski, who did a nice job as the longman, Trever Miller, who was shitty for a couple months, but came back to be nothing less than spectacular, posting a 3.02 ERA and a 56/13 K/BB rate in 50 innings, probably the rule 5 pick from the Cubs', Lincoln Holdzkom, who has stellar Minor League numbers and, by all accounts, excellent stuff, and the trio of Qualls (who has never been anything less than extremely solid), Dan Wheeler (who has, over the course of the last two and half seasons, been one of the top 5 setup men in the league) and Brad Lidge, who HAS to be better this season, as anything other than improvement would make him Troy Percival. So, I don't see how the pitching will be THAT much worse w/o Clemens, if worse at all. I think calling the offense marginally better is an understantment. Putting Carlos Lee in the #4 spot instantly makes the lineup 1-5 instantly better. Chris Burke will offensively outshine Willy Taveras tenfold, Biggio will get off to his usual hot start, get his 3000 hit sometime around the ASB and, hopefully, take a bench position. Lance Berkman's an All-Star and MVP candidate. Carlos Lee is an All-Star and slight MVP candidate and, as a right-handed pull hitter with power, should go absolutely bananas with the short porch in left. The bottom of the lineup with Everett, Ausmus, and the pitcher remain unchanged and should be, as per usual, not very good offensively. The two question marks that will determine whether the Astros' offense will just be above average or very, very good are Luke Scott and Morgan Ensberg. If Luke Scott hits like he did after his call-up last season, .336/.426/.621 in 214 ABs and Ensberg contributes more than a Barry Bonds-esque OBP (somewhere around 30 HRs and 85-90 RBI would work), the offense will be in the top five in the league easily. Also, the Astros have a very, very strong bench. The usual core of Mike Lamb and Orlando Palmiero have been among the best PHs in baseball the last two seasons and with the addition of Mark Loretta (who will hopefully take over at 2B after Biggio gets 3000) and probably Richard Hidalgo (who if he hits even anywhere as near as well as he did in the late 90s/early 2000s will be a vast improvement over Jason Lane and his .199 average last season. Even if Hidalgo hits like he did with the Rangers, he'll be an improvement.), the Astros bench has to be one of the top benches in baseball. Certainly, the Astros have question marks entering the season, but every team in the NL Central have as many, if not more, question marks. Will Rich Hill perform well? Will Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis give up more HRs at Wrigley than Soriano and Derrek Lee will hit? Will Isringhausen's hip fall out on the mound? Who's in the rotation for the Cards? Are Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen going to get hurt...again? Will Ben Sheets get healthy? Will Rickie Weeks stay healthy? Will the Brewers' rookies be able to live up to the hype? Are Dave Weathers and Mike Stanton really going to close for the Reds? Who's going to pitch in spots 3-5 for Cincy? Will the Pirates go with an all left-handed starting rotation? Will they lose 100 games or just 95 games? The NLC's the weakest division in baseball, hands down. It's easy to look at some of the signings of the Cubs and pick them to win the division, but I just don't see that happening. The Cardinals haven't gotten better since last season; they've gotten worse. The Brewers have potential, but that's all they have until they prove something. The Reds have too many holes to be competitive and the Pirates are atrocious. The last three seasons, the Astros have been picked to finish 4th in the division or to completely fall apart or to bomb terribly or whatever else, but they haven't, and I certainly don't see that happening this season. As far as bold predictions.... Without Clemens: 84-78 at the worst With Clemens: 92-70 at the worst It's been far too long since I've posted at this magnitude.

I wonder if A-Rod will get his own ESPN reality show this season similar to Barry Bonds last season. They could call it "Rod on Rod".

Arizona Diamondbacks 77.5 OVER Atlanta Braves 81.5 OVER Baltimore Orioles 73.5 UNDER Boston Red Sox 90.5 UNDER Chicago Cubs 85.5 UNDER Chicago White Sox 86.5 OVER Cincinnati Reds 76.5 UNDER Cleveland Indians 84.5 OVER Colorado Rockies 74.5 OVER Detroit Tigers 87.5 OVER Florida Marlins 78.5 UNDER Houston Astros 78.5 WAAAAAAAAAY OVER Kansas City Royals 67.5 67 wins seems about right. Los Angeles Angels 89.5 UNDER Los Angeles Dodgers 88.5 OVER Milwaukee Brewers 81.5 OVER Minnesota Twins 83.5 OVER New York Mets 88.0 UNDER New York Yankees 97.0 UNDER Oakland Athletics 84.5 OVER Philadelphia Phillies 88.5 UNDER Pittsburgh Pirates 71.5 UNDER San Diego Padres 84.0 OVER San Francisco Giants 81.5 UNDER Seattle Mariners 75.5 OVER St Louis Cardinals 84.5 UNDER Tampa Bay Devil Rays 67.0 OVER Texas Rangers 81.5 OVER Toronto Blue Jays 86.5 UNDER Washington Nationals 66.5 UNDER

I no longer have the plague so I can think clearly and, thus, contribute something hereupon. DVDs Season One of The Cosby Show Season Two of The Cosby Show Y Tu Mama Tambien Be Here To Love Me: The Townes Van Zandt Story Stand By Me Forrest Gump Field of Dreams Tombstone Uncle Buck Taxi Driver CDs Townes Van Zandt "Live at the Old Quarter" The Beatles "Rubber Soul" TV on the Radio "Young Liars EP" Will Oldham "I See a Darkness" Bruce Springsteen "Nebraska" Sufjan Stevens "Illinois" The Drive-By Truckers "The Dirty South" Hank Williams, Sr. "20 Greatest Hits" Talking Heads "'77" Leonard Cohen "Songs of Love and Hate" Video Games Final Fantasy 1, 2/4, 3/6, 7 Chrono Trigger Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt Maniac Mansion Tetris Spy vs. Spy Paperboy (but not Papergirl) Books All 7 books in Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series One Hundred Years of Solitude, Garcia Marquez Love in the Time of Cholera, Garcia Marquez The Bible

The best part of it was they had this frat guy in the front row that was just...shitfaced drunk and through the whole set he kept screaming out "Play "Dreamer in My Dreams"!!!!! Play "Dreamer in My Dreams!!!!!"". In the middle of their last song "Reservations", during the quiet part, he was just screaming for "Dreamer in My Dreams", and Jeff Tweedy just like...stopped the whole band and got right up in dude's face and said, "I heard you the first time! "Dreamer in My Dreams!" "Duely fuckin' noted!" "Now shut the fuck up before I fuckin' kick your ass." or something like that. Then they picked "Reservations" back up like they hadn't missed a note. That concert was like...a month after Jeff had gone into rehab for his painkiller addiction (and had to cancel their show in Austin I was gonna go to), so I imagine he was in a surly mood. His surliness was nothing compared to Stephen Merritt's surliness. Stephen Merritt was just a total dick at the Magnetic Fields' show. He has a Napoleon Complex or something.

I've been to two Wilco concerts, one in Houston and one at Austin City Limits. At the one in Houston, Jeff Tweedy had just quit smoking, so he was a dick to the crowd the whole nite. At ACL, however, he was quite jubilant. Both concerts were amazing. The level of musicality that they bring to a live setting is just amazing. They might be the 'tightest' sounding live band I've ever heard. And the live rendition of "Via Chicago" blows shit outta the water.

Irish is a good wrestler, for sure, but he's a good wrestler in the NCAA sense. When he gets somebody on the ground, he's absolutely clueless. He's like Koscheck with even less finishing skills. Brandon Vera is a monster striker and a half-decent wrestler himself. As far as the size differential, Vera subbed Assuerio and knocked out Scherner, Eilers, and Frank Mir, all of whom are heavier than Jake O'Brien. The fact that Irish couldn't put away Herring despite ample opportunities doesn't make me confident that he could do a damn thing with Vera even if he could take him down.

Unless Irish brushes up on his stand-up, his striking, his submissions, and his finishing quickly, I guess they won't be showing that fight. Stick Vera in there with Arlovski. Arlovski would rough him up good.

The '05 WS had two extra inning games. One of them (Game 3, the 14 inning one) is tied for the longest ever WS game in terms of both innings and overall time. ...just sayin'.

Sweet. Maybe I'll see ya there. I got tickets to see Brooks and Dunn on the 17th and am currently working on ZZ Top tickets for the 18th. I don't care what nobody says, the rodeo is awesome.

I got the game tickets first because it was a package deal, and the Yankees tickets are going to sell out again really soon. I've got my travel accomodations lined up. Me and my Dad are going. 2 roundtrip tickets from Houston to Orlando, 3 nites at the beautiful Kissimee HoJo, and a rented Chevy Geo Metro all for the low low price of $820. And I wrote an essay in my Abnormal Psychology class a couple semesters ago about Glenallen Hill and his nite terrors. That was just weird. And I don't think John Smoltz's ironing injury is too funny. I've actually done that before.

I'm pretty sure that they're not free. So, what's the more ridiculous way to get injured? Kerry Wood slipping in his jacuzzi and bruising himself or Ken Griffey Jr. getting beaten up by his kids on the family yacht and breaking his hand? Baseball players have too much damn money, yo.

So...anybody going to Spring Training? I just bought tickets to the 'Stros/Marlins on March 15th and 'Stros/Yankees on March 16th. Now I just have to get airplane tickets, hotel room, and car rental and I'll be good.

1. "Five Years" 2. a. "Space Oddity" b. "Ashes to Ashes" 3. "Breaking Glass" 4. "Be My Wife" 5. "I'm Afraid of Americans"

Yeah, so, since there's been alot of All-Time and All-Star Baseball team threads lately, I thought one more wouldn't hurt, and I freely admit to shamelessly stealing this idea from UTB. Anyway, take your current favorite team and make an All-Time Greatest 25 man roster. I'll start with my 'Stros 1B-Jeff Bagwell 2B-Joe Morgan 3B-Ken Caminiti SS-Dickie Thon LF-Lance Berkman CF-Caesar Cedeno RF-Jose Cruz C-Alan Ashby P-Roy Oswalt P-Mike Scott P-Nolan Ryan P-JR Richard P-Mike Hampton (sorry, Rocket. I need a lefty.) RP-Dan Wheeler!!!!!!!!! RP-Dave Veres RP-Joe Sambito RP-Darryl Kile RP-Dave Smith CL-Billy Wagner CL-Brad Lidge IF/OF/C-Craig Biggio OF-Jimmy Wynn IF-Phil Garner OF-Kevin Bass C-Brad Ausmus This was more difficult than I had anticipated, and I admit to having more than a couple sentimental picks. Edit: Despite my disdain for Joe Morgan, I couldn't leave him off the list, even though he didn't really blossom until he left Houston and went to the Reds. Therefore, Morgan and Biggio platoon at 2B, and Biggio also sees time at catcher and a little bit in the outfield, in the case of an injury of an extra inning game.

In an interview with local Houston TV station KRIV-TV on Thursday, Roger Clemens said that there's only a 20% chance that he'll pitch in the 2007 season. He also said that he finds it comical how everyone keeps saying they wish he'd make up his mind about where he's going to pitch this season, saying "I'm not leaving anybody hanging. I don't want to play." So, yeah, he'll be back for either the Yankees or the Astros sometime in June probably.

Well, with Rocket, Pedro, Lefty, and Cy Young, you don't really need a bullpen. They're each good for about 500 innings a year. The Houston Chronicle actually had an article about this exact same subject today, and the All-Time Astros' Lineups (including batting order, not including bullpen) they came up with are better than mine, so here they are: 'A' Team: Craig Biggio 2B Dickie Thon SS Jeff Bagwell 1B Lance Berkman LF Ken Caminiti 3B Cesar Cedeno CF Jose Cruz RF Alan Ashby C Nolan Ryan P Rotation: Ryan, Joe Niekro, J.R. Richard, Dierker, Mike Scott Setup: Larry Anderson (I can't believe I forgot Larry Anderson. Not only was he a great set-up man, he also brought Bagwell to Houston.), Joe Sambito Closer: Billy Wagner Manager: Phil Garner Announcer: Gene Elston (If this were truley the 'A' team, I'd replace Dierker in the rotation with Oswalt and make Dierker the manager. I love Phil Garner, but Dierker was the better manager.) 'B' Team: Billy Doran 2B Terry Puhl RF (I also forgot Puhl in my list.) Jimmy Wynn CF Bob Watson 1B Moises Alou LF (I shoulda stuck Moises on my list. He was excellent his entire stretch with the Astros.) Doug Rader 3B Roger Metzger SS (the Adam Everett of the 1960s and 70s) Brad Ausmus C (It goes to show how deep the Astros' catching is when Brad Freakin' Ausmus is the 2nd best catcher all time. Har har.) Don Wilson P Rotation: Wilson, Roy O, Bob Knepper (another underrated Astros' pitcher), Shane Reynolds, Ken Forsch Manager: Larry Dierker Announcer: Milo Hamilton I think a 'C' lineup could be made of all the guys that Houston traded away before they got big or the guys that only got really good after they left, i.e.-Johan Santana, Bobby Abreu, Curt Schilling, Joe Morgan, Rusty Staub, hopefully not Willy Taveras, Jason Hirsh, and Taylor Buchholz, etc.

Sure. What would an All-Time Greatest Team be without Walter Johnson and Goose Goslin?

Maybe if the Cubs kicked in a bulldozer or something...

Yeah, he'd probably laugh at a 3 year deal, and rightfully so. Still, if the Cubs could sign him for a Roy Oswalt-esque deal 6 yrs./$73 million they should jump on it, even though I think Roy wanted to stay in Houston more than Big Z wants to stay in Chicago. As a general rule, once they start talking in the 3rd person, they're harder to sign. If I were the Cubs, I'd even go up to a 7 year Barry Zito-like deal. I'm sure they've already eliminated any semblance of a hometwon discount by not getting something done a few months ago, but if they lose Zambrano, they're rotation is going to be pretty not good.

Although personally I don't think much of Soriano as a player, I would never give a big, long-term deal to a pitcher. There are too many variables to assess, whereas you generally know what you're getting out of Soriano for the next 5 years. Generally, I'd agree, but Zambrano's a different kind of animal. He's been both healthy and durable since he came up in 01 and he's one of the few certifiable, no-doubt aces in the NL. On top of that, he's only going to be 25. I think the Cubs would be completely braindead if they didn't sign hiim to at least a three year deal.

He should just go Rickey Henderson and speak in the 3rd person all the time. So, who's gonna be worth more in 2010...Carlos Zambrano or Alfonso Soriano?

Looking at the Dodgers team, I just can't wait to see the All-Time Yankees or all-time Red Sox teams. When doing mine, I tried doing the same thing with limiting it to people who had actually played for the team for a length of time, which is why Randy Johnson nor Clemens made the rotation and include, mostly, guys that I had a somewhat good knowledge of. Looking at my final 'Stros roster, there's not alot of SUPERSTARS!!!!!! on the team, but they're all pretty much solid, and, one thing I'll say about the Astros, they've always had really good, really underrated pitching. Guys like Veres and JR Richard and Bob Knepper and Sambito and Dave Smith. Really good pitchers.

True that, but I'd feel kinda dirty sticking the Unit in there, since he only played for that half-season and while playing openly talked about how he had no interest whatsoever staying in Houston. If I were being true to the 'All-Time' Astros team, I'd stick Dierker in there as the fifth starter...or maybe Jim 'One Vote for the HOF, but I Did Once Strike Out Eight Dodgers to Begin A Game" DeShaies.

Yeah, I figured as much. The Astros/Colt .45's were pretty bad until about 1972 or so. I think, after the All-Time tourny is over, it would be interesting to do like a "Pre 1970s" tourny and then a "Post 1970s" tourny and then sim the winning teams.