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OFFICIAL 2017 WORLD SERIES L.A. DODGERS VS. ASTROS THREAD

I was born in 1988. I remember going to games at the Astrodome. I remember the superfan named "Batty Bob." I remember Richard Hidalgo and Derek Bell and Darryl Kile and (wait for it) James Mouton.

I remember Mouton because once, in 1995, I leaned over the railing in the outfield to look down at the field, but I was wearing my glove on my head. The glove fell onto the field. I ran back to our seats and sat down, silent, hoping nobody would notice. Everybody noticed. The umpires stopped the game. Mouton picked up the glove then looked up at our section and asked who owned the glove. “Not me! Never seen it!” I thought. Fifteen other children (at least) turned and pointed at me. Those narcs. I was mortified.

I remember the last game in the National League. I was there, at Wrigley, on a cold day in 2012.

I remember when Matt Cain threw a perfect game against us in 2012.

I remember when Yu Darvish almost threw a perfect game against us in 2013, but Marwin (praise be) broke it up with one out remaining.

Boy, do I remember 2013. I remember the butt slide:



I remember striking out a record 1,535—I see you, Chris Carter—and I remember the 15-game losing streak to finish the season.

I remember the national media cackling when one 2013 game yielded a "0.0" Nielsen rating. "Nobody watched!" they screamed and pointed. I was pissed. I watched that game on a shitty internet feed from my apartment in Chicago during law school. Nobody watched!? I watched! Fuck you, Heyman. I watched every game that season. My law school grades suffered. It was rough.

When we moved back to Texas after law school, I forced us to buy a Comcast cable package out of support for the failing local network. The network went bankrupt anyway.

I began tracking all of our minor league games and prospects back then. I got excited for the 2013 draft! Then we drafted Mark Appel, who sucked, instead of Kris Bryant, who turned into an immediate star. I started to question whether we knew what the hell we were doing.

I remember letting JD Martinez go, then watching him explode into one of the best hitters in the game.

I remember winning the Wild Card in 2015 and (almost!) beating the Royals. I started to think we knew what we were doing. Then we traded Dexter Fowler for Luis Valbuena, Carlos Perez and Nick Tropeano for Hank Conger, and a butt load of players for Evan Gattis.

I remember trading the farm for Carlos fucking Gomez.

We missed the playoffs in 2016. By then I knew that I knew nothing.

What I'm trying to say is this feels great. Go Stros.
 
^ I read that, and I'm so happy for you.

And I'm so sad that I haven't had the chance to make a post like that...for any meaningful sport.
 
MY HERO Chuckie Morton

https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/11/02/houston-astros-world-series-champions-charlie-morton

The Astros raised eyebrows around the baseball world when they rushed to sign him after last season to a two-year, $14 million contract, plus incentives. Charlie Morton? The guy with the 46–71 career record and 4.54 ERA, making for the worst winning percentage of any active pitcher with at least 150 starts? The same guy who would be on his fourth team and has surgeries to his elbow and both hips in addition to his hamstring? The guy who took six years to get to the big leagues, only to go back down first to work with a mental skills coordinator who worked with soldiers at West Point, and then again to re-learn how to throw as a sinker-slider pitcher with a low arm slot?

The Astros saw a different Morton. They saw a guy who was throwing his sinker and four-seamer 97 mph, a 5-mph improvement after he redesigned his training regimen after the 2015 season, losing 15 pounds and generating more speed with his body and arm. They also saw a guy who, in that brief time with the Phillies before he broke down again, owned the fifth-highest curveball spin rate of any pitcher who threw at least 50 curveballs.

Morton had long been interested in analytics himself, sharing such passion with his father, a Penn State graduate who works in finance. The Astros saw the spin on his curveball and realized he should be throwing it more, especially to lefthanders. It was a similar story to how they found Collin McHugh and his under-utilized high-spin curveball on the scrap heap.

“Through the ups and downs of the game, you can find the truth in the data,” Morton said.

Morton increased his curveball usage against lefties from 25% in 2015 with Pittsburgh, to 35% this year with Houston. Wise move. They hit .064 against the pitch.

“When hitters are [10] for 113 against a pitch, you throw it,” said pitching coach Brent Strom. “Credit the front office for recognizing his spin rate and his ability to throw his fastball for strikes. I hesitate to bring it up, because people like to make fun of what we do with spin rates. The heartbeat is still important, but the numbers don’t lie.

“The one thing we heard was that he was something of a pessimist, a glass half empty kind of guy.”

Said Hinch, “I think more accurately, he just doesn’t want to disappoint people. He’s a pleaser by nature. He wants to be successful for others, so there’s a selflessness to him. He’s tougher than he’s been given credit for because of how well he wants to do and how hard he pushes through.”

Morton went 14–7 for Houston, a career high in wins. He hit 99 mph with his fastball. His curveball equaled that of McCullers as the fastest-spinning hook in baseball. Batters hit .114 against it, lower than every pitcher but David Robertson and Corey Kluber. It was the arsenal of a No. 1 starter.

“The front office was all in on Charlie from the very beginning,” Hinch said. “They never sopped believing in him and telling us about his strengths. With guys like Charlie it’s easy to criticize the things he hasn’t done. He hasn’t stayed healthy, he hasn’t done this or that. But when you look at what his weapons are and think what he can be, it played out exactly the way our office told me it would.”
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So is this the Hot Stove thread now? B/c the Angels locked up Upton for 5 years pretty damn early. JD Martinez must be giddy.
 
So excited for the parade today - are you going TexasDeac10 (or any other Houstonians)?
 
Wakelaw2006 said:
So excited for the parade today - are you going TexasDeac10 (or any other Houstonians)?
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TBD. I'm on the fence. The route is 4 blocks from my office, but there were already people camping out when I got to work this morning at 8:45. As much as I want to be part of the festivities, there isn't nearly enough space in downtown Houston for as many people as they're expecting.
 
TexasDeac10 said:
TBD. I'm on the fence. The route is 4 blocks from my office, but there were already people camping out when I got to work this morning at 8:45. As much as I want to be part of the festivities, there isn't nearly enough space in downtown Houston for as many people as they're expecting.
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lul wut? Come on man. you just posted about all the terrible things about being an astros fan and now you wuss out cause the parade is gonna be crowded?
 
A plane matching Roy Halladay's tail number has crashed in the Gulf of Mexico and reportedly a person is dead, but no confirmation that it was him on board.
 
Say Hey Deac said:
A plane matching Roy Halladay's tail number has crashed in the Gulf of Mexico and reportedly a person is dead, but no confirmation that it was him on board.
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Holy shit. My son plays youth baseball in the same league his son in the Tampa area. Halladay was active in coaching

He signed a ball for my son a few years ago.
 
terrible stuff

guess a press conference is being held in like 15 minutes

awful whomever it is
 
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