The Past A: oh, and the Astros, Jesus, Girls, Money, Fast Cars, ... oh, and My Hobbies

This page hosts all the posts from my previous site: ohandtheastros.com. It lacks some formatting and the photos, but…time is fleeting

Transactions

Mon, 09 Jan 2017 18:48:26 +0000

One of my favorite activities each new year is tracking the Astros 25-man roster. From Opening Day until the World Series is over, I enjoy updating my piece of paper to match the moves made by the front office. One of those aspects of being an engineer, I guess. I know its still weeks away from the season, but as of this morning, no moves have been made on the big-league roster in over a month. I’m looking forward to something… helpful.

<ahref=”http://m.astros.mlb.com/hou/roster/transactions/”>http://m.astros.mlb.com/hou/roster/transactions/</a>

This link is to the Astros own transaction webpage. In my mind, it should be the definitive place to find out the latest. However, it is often the last place to be updated. Reporters seem to hit the web with news significantly faster than the Astros own website. I assume they don’t miss out on the advertising dollars as making the news is more lucrative than reporting it. So, this is my first blog (of hopefully many since I paid up for four years), so I thought I would at least throw in a little about my goals. First goal, reflect positively on Christ. As a Christian, I owe a duty to Jesus to do all as if for Him. Second goal, in some fashion, build up the girls. As a husband and a father, I owe a duty to my wife and daughters to not embarrass them (too much). Third goal, not lose sight of the costs. Time and money are limited, so I was to invest wisely. Fourth goal, have fun. My 993 is a beautiful car, but I bought it to drive and enjoy. Fifth goal, enjoy being an Astros fan. I have been an Astros fan since the arrival of Nolan Ryan in 1980 (even when I was mad he was a Ranger and mad we were forced into the AL). My best transaction in life was giving my life to Christ. I don’t think the Astros can approach that, but maybe, just maybe the work of the front office will let me go to my third World Series game in Houston this Fall.

Saviors

Tue, 10 Jan 2017 18:44:11 +0000

Baseball had some saviors a few years back, saving it from unhappiness and irrelevance. One is in the Hall of Fame: Bug Selig. Two others are not: Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. One is hailed for making the game we love great again. The others are despised as cheaters. At one time, McGwire and Sosa were adored for their towering home runs and Selig was… well… ignored. Time has given us a new perspective from which to consider their feats. Surely, our Astros have had some saviors. At one point, Drayton McLane saved us from the clutches of the man who cast Nolan Ryan aside. But a series of 100-loss seasons will skew the perception that he was a savior. If one’s perception includes winning a World Series game as being saved, our current saviors may be Jim Crane, Jeff Luhnow, and Jose Altuve, or maybe even Jose Quintana. Most of my family are Royals fans. Some of my friends are Cubs fans, others are Cardinals fans. The Cardinals are in a bit of a spot now as one of their employees made a huge mistake. From his perspective, he may have thought he was being a savior for his club against the evils of the Astros. Astros fans and most everyone else on the planet disagree, but we are all biased. On one Aggie Awakening I attended, we had a comedic genius in our midst. He weaved a story about this great gift God had sent His people and he had us laughing out loud when the people killed the gift. I quickly realized he had us laughing that some had crucified Jesus. I was immediately ashamed to be laughing. The comedian used his gift to open my eyes to consider the perspectives of others. I know that like me, all the men referenced above aren’t perfect. Each has their own perspective and people have many perspectives of Jesus. Some deny His existence, some deny His deity, some hate Him, and some helped kill Him. I accept His existence, I accept His deity, I love Him, and I acknowledge Him as my Savior. Now if Jesus can get Luhnow to trade for Quintana without giving up the farm, then maybe we’ll have a little extra happiness come October.

Daughters

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:52:49 +0000

Carlos Beltran is an Astro again. He’s excited. His name appears on an article on The Players Tribune and it seems he can write one heck of a story (see link below). In 2004, he had a whale of a half season for us and after the season, I was bidding on a 2004 Beltran All-Star Jersey. I didn’t bid enough and a day later he signed with the Mets. I was disappointed, relieved, and I picked another favorite Astro: Lance Berkman. Lance was a great player too and I bought his 2004 All-Star Jersey instead. <a href=”http://www.theplayerstribune.com/carlos-beltran-astros/”>http://www.theplayerstribune.com/carlos-beltran-astros/</a> As I followed Lance in the news, I found he also had only daughters. I pretty much have only daughters in my life (I will use nicknames for each while blogging). I have two daughters of my own (Big D and little D), a wife (Little Wife), a mother (my mother), and two sisters (Little Sister and Far Away Sister). All these girls in my life is where I got the idea to put Girls in the title of my blog and where I get to have a lot of fun and happiness. So back in 2015, I got tickets to see the Astros in the playoffs against the Royals. Big D wasn’t interested as her life revolved around my watching the Astros on TV for years and now she had swim practice. Little Wife went to one game (we tried to pretend it was a date, but more on that day another time). Little D got to go to the other game, and in addition to having a fun day, we became media stars just like Lance. Not really, the lady who took our picture did post it online, one of Little Wife’s friends did see it and recognize us, but no one has recognized us in the grocery store. (I modified the photo as I don’t remember who took it, and to protect the innocent.) <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-6″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/cropped-DarbyDaddyGame2-300×211.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”211″ /> As some may remember, this great day with little D ended on a sour note as the Astros lost that game and did not make it to the next round of playoffs. A superstitious person would believe it was because I bought season tickets to 2016 that day, but I know it was all to blame on someone else. My friend Greg may remember who I blame, but more on that another day as well. But it was the last Astros playoff game and I remember it with great fondness. I have only the highest hopes for the Astros this year and I was very pleased that Carlos decided to return (in spite of the booing he received every time he played here the last 12 years). Like Lance Berkman and myself, he has only daughters and has professed to be a Christian. Unlike Lance and myself, he is still in his thirties (for a little longer) and can have a huge impact on getting us to the World Series again. Hoping to take my daughters and wife to a playoff game to see Carlos play this year as well.

Right Thing, Right Time, Right Price

Thu, 12 Jan 2017 20:28:10 +0000

So we’ve covered Jesus and Girls, and now we have to look at Money. The Astros are a part of Major League Baseball and Major League Baseball is a business. Generally speaking, the owners are out to make money and the players are out to earn the best living they can. The Astros will spend about $125,000,000 this year trying to win a World Series. A number with that many zeros can be hard to understand, but it works out to somewhere near a million dollars a win. Most teams spend around a million dollars a win, so there must be something more to winning than just spending money. I like to picture this as buying the right thing at the right time for the right price. Last offseason, the Astros offered Rasmus fifteen million hoping he would turn it down and they would get one more draft pick. We needed an outfielder and Rasmus had a fine season the year before, so adding him made some sense. We all now know the market would not have gotten him that much from anyone else. Whether the Astros should have known this then is water under the bridge, but with a limited budget last year, fifteen million was too much. Like the players, Little Wife and I are out to earn the best living we can. She owns an insurance agency with her father and after years in the energy industry, I am trying to make a go of it in consulting. We won’t be making fifteen million a year (or maybe even in our lifetimes), but we have left space in the outflows to include some money going towards the Astros and Major League Baseball. The key for us is being good stewards of the resources we believe God has blessed us with. Trying to be a good steward, I’ve spent thousands of dollars on a car, but saved pennies buying bulk pinto beans. (I’ve also made bone headed financial decisions, but God does forgive our sins.) This season we are spending sixteen million on Carlos Beltran to be very similar to what we hoped from Rasmus last year. A similar thing at a similar price, but the timing is much better. A better player, coming of a better season, with less impact of the one player needed to win more games. Hopefully, spending that extra money now on Beltran will help us win more games, play more games, and allow some repeating of that cycle. Non-random links to places of business: <a href=”http://www.cruse-insurance.com/”>http://www.cruse-insurance.com/</a> <a href=”http://jdiceconsulting.com/”>http://jdiceconsulting.com/</a>

Cars

Sat, 14 Jan 2017 02:41:21 +0000

So I threw fast cars into the title because I like fast cars. The photo below is of my fast car. It’s about four years old and I got it two years ago. It’s silver, has all wheel drive, and the sport package. It’s a four door Infiniti with automatic transmission. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-24″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_2956-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> It’s the car I generally take when I go see an Astros game. I have this vision of being an old man and walking across the street to see the Astros play, but I’m not sure that vision will ever happen. As it turns out, I spent a lot of time looking at a lot of numbers trying to find out which was the best car for me. Similar to how there are a plethora of ways to assess an Major League baseball player. The big term in player assessment now is WAR (Wins Above Replacement) and people have all kinds of theories about how much each win is worth to a team and it seems to be driving player salaries very high or very low as the case may be. Back when I was a kid, we had a game APBA baseball that we played a ton. Rolling dice and using cards, we could simulate the performance of players over a “season” of games. Based on statistics, I ended up with the guys who put up huge numbers and played very little, and I did pretty well. But the game did not accurately limit performance of role players or guys who got hurt like the real game does. Later in life I played fantasy baseball. Playing this game can really sharpen your player assessment abilities while taking up huge amounts of time. I got to the point I knew too much about baseball and too little about the other aspects of life. But it did give me a pretty good feel for how to assess the ability of minor league players to make the majors and players in the major leagues to progress or not. I can’t project a freak accident like the funny hop that caused Alex Bregman to strain his leg this past season, but it isn’t a stretch to expect a known injury to Carlos Gomez to prevent him matching his past performance. One of the big problems with projecting performance is that these guys all have an ego and a competitive edge and this can sometimes lose perspective on how a slight injury or discomfort can affect their play. Finding out our DH was hurt most of 2015 helped explain why he didn’t perform as well as hoped. Finding out our ace’s shoulder didn’t feel great all year explains his erratic performance in 2016. One of the key wins for an organization will be when its players are always forthright with the status of their bodies. This next photo is my slow car. It’s twenty years old and I got it almost six years ago. It’s silver, has all wheel drive, and the sport package. It’s a two door Porsche with manual transmission. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-23″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/DSC2361-300×199.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”199″ /> Not long after I got the Infiniti, my cousin came down to visit and see an Astros game. So naturally I took him out in the 911 to have some fun. Afterwards, I took out over the same path in the M56. It wasn’t as much fun, not nearly. But I knew that would be the case. I studied the cars before I bought them, and I knew what each was good for. The 911 is good for fun. The M56 is good for comfort. Yes, the M56 is faster than the 911, but it’s not like I am going to race them against each other. Since I was a kid, I have enjoyed assessing which player is better and it would seem I should like the term WAR. But alas, I don’t like WAR. When I am trying to decide if I want AJ Reed or Yuli Gurriel to play first for the Astros this year, I don’t want it to be based on some super detailed analytical model that compares/projects small sample sizes in different leagues for players at different ages in park neutral system. I want a human brain taking into account the heart of the player, the impact on the team, and the relationship to the park they play in. I expect the Astros to use their brains picking the roster and not some computer. So if I am going out for fun, I take the 911, even if it is slower.

Review of 2016

Sat, 14 Jan 2017 23:28:23 +0000

As Greg requested, I wanted to give a review of why 2016 fell short of expectations. The biggest piece of that puzzle was Colby Rasmus accepting the qualifying offer. Our ownership was still in a state of repairing the revenue and the amount available for salaries in 2016 was limited. The front office expected to have $15 million or so available to pick up an outfielder to back up Preston Tucker, someone to play first until AJ Reed was ready, a pitcher to displace Fiers in the rotation, a situational lefty to allow Sipp to be used in a way he excels, and a backup catcher. Fifteen million can get you a lot if you look at it that way. Instead we had Rasmus to push Tucker to DH while Gattis was hurt, White was allowed to fail at first after this hot start, Fiers started a lot, Sipp was forced into left handed situations when he was actually better against righthanders, and our backup catcher was so bad, we sent Gattis to learn to catch. Tucker is the latest in a long run of Astros outfielders who tear up the minor playing everyday and can’t adjust to DHing, coming in off the bench, or platooning. As we saw with Bregman, sometimes they just need to play everyday for a while to turn that corner. Tucker needed that in 2016 and he didn’t get it. He ended up hurt, but unless he is on fire in Spring Training or we trade Aoki or Marisnick, Tucker will not be on the team and we will have wasted his potential. Maybe he will catch on somewhere else and be the next JD Martinez. White actually got the at bats in 2016, but he wasn’t ready. After tax day he was basically worthless. I really like Tyler and I wish him success on the Astros, but he too will suffer because the team ran him out there day after day seemingly saving Reed for after Super 2 time, and punishing Singleton for some reason. Fiers can be a good pitcher, but he isn’t. I felt he should have been demoted instead of Feldman when McCullers came back, but potential won out over age. Feldman did well in the pen, very well. Fiers kept alternating between good and bad and forced the bullpen to work hard. The decision to keep only Sipp as a lefthander made sense considering who we had, but to use him as a situational lefty was disasterous. We should have traded something to get him help or even bring Chapman up. Now we have two more years of Sipp after a forgettable season and still no lefty to keep him from doing the same this year. We traded a starting pitcher for a worthless backup catcher. In theory we traded someone who we were not going to keep for someone we did. But Kratz was a known quantity and we got what we expected, nothing. As little as he played we should have brought up a young guy just to expose him to the next level. Do I mention the pitcher we traded pitched 191 innings with a 3.76 ERA. Only McCullers with his 80 innings had a better ERA and no one had that many innings. All of this is related to Rasmus accepting the $15 miilion dollar offer. I understood the Astros expected him to decline and we would get an extra draft pick. The reward was a draft pick and $15 million to spend. The potential loss as discussed above is huge. The Astros took a risk and lost big time. I never thought the risk was worth it. Rasmus hadn’t made a ton of money before, he hadn’t had many good seasons before, we were a good team with a chance to win, and he loved it here. I think a lot of teams learned from this mistake and the new Collective bargaining agreement will hugely impact qualifying offers in the future, but the Astros got burned and missed the playoffs. We missed the playoffs by five games. I think the aftermath of the Rasmus signing was worth more than five games, but I think there are additional factors that could have made up for this mistake and I will address them another day. So my life question for the day: What risks are you taking? Have you calculated the reward, compared it to the cost, and weighed the probabilities? Risk management is something we all do whether we think about it or not. Please consider the risks you are taking with respect to God, your family, your job, and all you hold dear. Don’t make 2017 a year of risking and losing.

Review of 2016 Leadership

Mon, 16 Jan 2017 15:35:44 +0000

My last post put the blame for missing the playoffs on making a qualifying offer to Colby Rasmus. It was a leadership decision and once the offer was accepted, it demanded an adjustment in planning. The same is true in life, once we make a plan, we have to adjust to changing circumstances. Following an outdated plan only leads to failure. When we bought our first house we were offered the advice of buying the biggest house we could afford so we might not ever have to move. It was good advice and we stayed there a long time, but we found out we didn’t know enough about life or houses to pick one that met that real criteria. We also couldn’t afford a house that did that and we stuck to our budget. We eventually learned that a house on a through street and a pool filling the whole backyard was not a good choice for bringing up kids. We now have a house on a cul-de-sac with yard around the pool. Over the years we’ve learned this house too can’t accommodate all things, so we may move again in the future. One of the keys here is that my leadership was limited by ability and knowledge. I used what I knew, picked a direction, ran it past Little Wife, and off we went. That’s not exactly how it went as I left out a couple steps. Yesterday a friend at church asked if I had ever been afraid over the last sixteen months without a job. At first I was shocked by the question. Me? Afraid? Of course not. I’m only afraid in social situations or activities where I might get hurt. Then I explained why I was not afraid about my job. Of course Little Wife has a job, but really I wasn’t afraid because I try to live my whole life as if I am listening directly to the voice of God and doing exactly what He says. Who could be afraid in those circumstances? Of course I told him, sometimes I make mistakes and don’t hear the directions exactly right, but the point is I put my faith in God’s Word. It says that He knows my needs and that if I rely on Him, He will meet those needs and use me to bring Him glory. I have a leader and I think I plan a pretty good follow the leader. I pray and ask Him for direction each day, and then I try to listen to what they are. We prayed before we bought our first house. We prayed before we bought this house. And if we ever move, we will be praying before buying another. The Astros too have leaders with flaws and they will make mistakes along the way, but I think they have the right ideas in mind and if they continue to learn and adapt, the Astros will be perennial contenders.

Catchers, 1 of 1’s, and a Gut Feeling

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 23:09:49 +0000

So in 2004 when I started collecting baseball cards again, the Topps company started a new era in card collecting: the 1 of 1. These are visually different versions of a card that have only one copy made. That year they made this card: Hector Gimenez 2004 Topps Traded Blue Rookie <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-39″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Scan0005-214×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”214″ height=”300″ /> Since Hector was a catcher, it was one that I could stomach paying for. It began my string of catcher cards. Hector made it to the Astros and was my favorite catcher for a while. He played sparingly, but I rooted him on. Next came JR Towles and my pursuit of this card: 2007 Bowman Chrome Superfractor Autograph <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-38″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Scan0004-219×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”219″ height=”300″ /> They guy who had it for ages priced it out of my reach, but after years of the value falling, it fell far enough for me. JR Started his big league career on fire and playing sparingly there after. So the Astros finally decided to go big and drafted Jason Castro to be the catcher of the future. Jason made the big leagues quickly and has been the started ever since. Along the way I picked up this card: 2010 Bowman Sterling Red Refractor <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-34″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Scan0006-209×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”209″ height=”300″ /> For an Astros fan, Jason looked to be everything you could ask for. A durable guy, who handled the pitchers, and could hit a little. He did not become a superstar, but he had some success. When I was little Johnny Bench defined what a catcher could be and every catching prospect since has been expected to duplicate Johnny’s success. As we should know, Bench was a generational catcher, like Yogi Berra before him, and Ivan Rodriguez after him. We should not compare catchers to them. We should choose guys like Ted Simmons and Bob Boone who were successful and only hope our prospects can show signs of getting to that level. Two of my favorite Astros catching prospects are John Buck and Jacob Nottingham. Buck was used to get us half a season of Carlos Beltran, and we loved that return. Nottingham was used to get us Scott Kazmir and although Scott did not deliver like Randy Johnson, he did win some games and start in the playoffs for us. Not a bad outcome at all. I was lucky enough to get these Jacob Nottingham cards along the way: all four of his Bowman/Bowman Chrome 1 of 1’s. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-36″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Scan0002-205×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”205″ height=”300″ /> In 2015, before we experienced the Eric Kratz era, we had to go through the Hank Conger era. We traded a major league ready starting pitcher and a major league ready backup catcher for a back up catcher. Turns out he could not throw out a base stealer to save a win. Hank’s lack of ability in this area probably drove AJ Hinch (a former catcher) crazy as he juggled who caught who and against which teams. I always expected the numbers to show that the pitchers pitched worse for Conger than for Castro, but I don’t think that happened. I think the Astros were surprised that the pitchers didn’t perform better for him in spite of his superior catching skills. In 2016, we used Evan Gattis to catch and I think we again found that the catcher didn’t have a big impact on pitcher performance. I think that is why we struck early to get McCann and let Castro move on. I am hoping the pitching is better this year, and I hope McCann gets some credit. I got this McCann a few years back: 2007 Bowman Red <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-35″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Scan0001-203×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”203″ height=”300″ /> One of the things we do in our lives is make decisions based on a “gut” feeling. I bought the Gimenez because I could stomach it. Some of our interactions with others are based on these gut feelings and sometimes we understand the basis for them and sometimes we don’t. If I need directions and am lost (hypothetically speaking of course), I will ask the man in a suit rather than the man in a white t-shirt. We assume one person is safer than another and use their clothing to decide. Our gut feelings are generally the experiences of a life time trying to keep us out of trouble without having to pass all the issues through our brain at one time to be processed. I don’t know how all that works, but I have a gut feeling now. I feel that the Astros pitchers will be among the best in the league and we will all be very happy with McCann and Gattis or whoever is behind the plate. I hope Castro has personal success with the Twins, but I look forward to someone who performs a little more like Ted Simmons, my favorite catcher growing up.

What we leave behind

Wed, 18 Jan 2017 21:00:47 +0000

So in a few hours, the Baseball Hall of Fame will announce the players voted to be inducted in this year. As Astros fans, we all hope Jeff Bagwell gets in this year. But it has been tremendous watching the debate about the who voted for who, who should they have voted for, and why. Mostly it has been fun to see people get so emotional about it. One idea I heard new this year was that the voting should be taken away from the media as they are to report the news and not make it. Voting who should be in or who should not can be perceived as “making” the news. The role of the media has also been attacked the last year as our country has seen the election of a first time politician as president. The liberals may have been overconfident with the main stream media ushering in the next Clinton era. The conservatives may have been expecting to be the underdog to the media darling. In the end, the media did not get the story they wanted, and they will have a lot of unexpected stories to report on the next four years. I personally have followed baseball since I was a little kid and would love to have a say in who gets into the Hall of Fame. I have a say in who gets to be an All Star each year, so why not the Hall of Fame? I mean I am the one buying the tickets, buying the merchandise, and being affected by all the advertising. I doubt anything so easily to manipulate as the All Star internet voting system will be developed (thanks to Kansas City fans), but with forty years of paying attention, I can quickly give an opinion on each players Hall of Fame fate. My biggest enjoyment has been to see the talking heads take a side on who did and who did not take steroids. Some will swear that this player took them and deserves to be excluded from the Hall of Fame. Some will swear (I heard one guy swear on his own life today) that the same player did not take them and should be in. Some look at the minor league numbers of Bagwell and say there is no way he hit all those major league home runs without steriods. Yet every scouting report I ever hear about a kid is how they will grow into their frame and have power later. One comment I heard today was that no cheaters deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. I find that funny as the game of baseball has been full of people doing everything possible to be better or win more since it was invented. The rules change to make it “more fair” for everyone, but even today, players with the right medical condition can take drugs that other players would get suspended for. In the end, the Hall of Fame is full of people who played baseball at a high level for a long time and who did not get banned by baseball. (Not even Jose Canseco has been banned by baseball for using steroids.) Craig Biggio is a guy who played baseball as hard as anyone I ever saw, played the game with tremendous respect, displayed a character beyond reproach, played at an extremely high level across multiple positions, and put together historically impressive numbers, yet he still wasn’t a first ballot Hall of Famer. It was a remarkable slight to him and to the city of Houston. This was the point at which I felt the Hall of Fame wasn’t the end all be all that it had been held out to be all these years. Yes, I am proud we have an Astro in the Hall of Fame and I will be proud if Bagwell gets in. But its not winning and its not going to affect the price of his baseball cards long term. I heard Randy Travis’s Three Wooden Crosses this week and it wraps up a sentiment I have today. Its not getting into the Hall of Fame that counts, its is what you leave behind. The farmer, the teacher, and the preacher left impacts on the lives around them and even the hooker had a son who became a preacher. I’ve been reading articles as a point of reference on this story and I came to a realization. No matter how good a life I lead or what great things I leave behind, I want one thing to be clear and easy to find out about me. I didn’t do what I did to reach some Hall of Fame, I did what I did and I will do what I do to Glorify God and His Son Jesus Christ. What do you want to leave behind?

Common Sense: Astros Firstbasemen

Fri, 20 Jan 2017 15:56:50 +0000

Back when Nolan Ryan was pitching every fifth day for the Astros, I was keeping score. It was how I came to be so happy when Glenn Davis was sent packing. Glenn Davis was the big hitter that Jeff Bagwell pushed aside. We got Bagwell in August and we traded Davis in January. We got Finley, Harnish, and Schilling back, so it was a great trade for us. But having scored all those games, I knew Glenn Davis could not come up with the big hit for my guy. If Glenn Davis had a chance to do something great while Nolan Ryan was on the mound, he failed miserably. Or at least it seemed that way to me. This was before you could research baseball numbers to death. I had the data in my biased young mind and it gave me the answer. I actually didn’t score any Astros games after they let Nolan Ryan get away, but I did pay attention since they were the home town team. Bagwell was a great player. He played with the “common sense” that quite frankly most baseball players do not have. He spoke about it some yesterday on the MLB channel. When playing first, he was just playing catch, nice and relaxed. It made him look good, it made his fielders look good, and they all played better accordingly. So it is with life. If we are relaxed and enjoying the things we do, life seems pretty good. If we get all stressed out and try to do more than we can, that same life seems pretty overwhelming. Financial Peace University has been successful because it follows the “common sense” of directions God has laid out in the Bible for dealing with money. Following these principals won’t make you rich, but it will make things better. Through the years of following Bagwell, I found he didn’t do so good in the clutch. Late innings with the game on the line you generally want your superstar on the mound or at the plate. Bagwell didn’t seem to do as well in these situations as in others. I was sure of it, but it was late in his career before I heard the statistics. Sure enough he didn’t do great in the clutch, but maybe no one does. “Common sense” says we all struggle when things get stressful. I haven’t looked up the numbers of how he compares to other in clutch situations because Bagwell did a lot of his team at other times and in other ways and better than almost everyone else playing then (and he’s retired). I got an autograph on a baseball from Jeff Bagwell back in 1998 at some random game. It has other autographs on it and sits with the others up in the media room. I don’t remember getting it now, but I do remember the one time I spoke with Jeff Bagwell. It was a little stressful for me as I was speaking to someone I didn’t know who is a hero in this city. I was also speaking to someone who I wasn’t sure of their religious status about Christian matters. In the end, he was very nice and directed me to Lance Berkman to speak to about those matters. Later, I was pleased that I made myself go up and ask him questions. I learned that while he might not be a Christian, he surely had all he needed to seek Him out. I spent quite a bit of effort back at that time trying to do something. It never materialized in the way I wanted, but I know it changed me and made me better prepared to step out for Christ and do His work. “Common sense” tells us that we can’t all become President of the United States or make the Baseball Hall of Fame, but reality tells us we can have peace in our lives through following Christ.

Its Raining Again

Fri, 20 Jan 2017 21:43:56 +0000

So Tim Raines was elected to the Hall of Fame this week and I am telling stories, so why not a humbling one (or three). First off, Tim Raines was one of my favorite players. I’m not sure how that happened, but we liked Tim Wallach and all those Expos. One of my first MLB jerseys was of Vladimir Guerrero. I’ll save that one for next year. So one of the first humbling events was finding out my favorite player was using drugs. As someone who avoided drugs and alcohol, I was startled that my favorite player used drugs. The humbling part was that it was many, many, many years later that I found out. Seems it was easy to not be informed out in West Texas back in those days. I did learn to forgive people for mistakes before I learned this, so it was never an issue for me, but it was weird to see how much I did not know about the world. The second event was provide by my friend Bill. Bill had been with me when I got my Bagwell autograph back in the day. Little Wife had a convention out in Las Vegas, so I got to go on vacation. While I was there I went to the local card store and bought a official baseball with a Tim Raines autograph and a certificate of authenticity. Bill was calling me to say that the television station was showing the FBI busting into the same card shop a few weeks later. Turns out the certificates of authenticity weren’t very authentic. Bill got a huge laugh out of it, and so did I. Why I believed anything in Vegas still confounds me. The third event was a little more drawn out. I held that baseball with the fake Tim Raines autograph aside for years. Then the Astros made the World Series and the White Sox came to town with a coach named Tim Raines. As soon as I got in the gates, I made a beeline for the area behind the White Sox dugout and made a nuisance out of myself until Tim agreed to sign the ball. So this is what the ball looked like when Tim got it: <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-48″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_2957-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> He was gracious enough to sign the ball with then pen I threw him. So this is what the ball looks like now: <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-49″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_2958-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> If you can make out the blue sharpie, then you are doing well. I learned that using a sharpie is not good for autographs on baseballs. I had learned it before, but I guess it didn’t stick. So not only do I have a Tim Raines autograph ball, I have some humble pie to go with it. If I was a Baptist preacher, I’d have a nice summary tying this all back to a lesson from scripture. As it is, I just have plans to go to Astros Fan Fest tomorrow with some stuff to get signed in sharpie, or a ballpoint pen. See I can learn.

Forgiven

Tue, 24 Jan 2017 03:26:54 +0000

As I contemplate, I sometimes end up with different plans than when I began. This time, I tried to figure out how to write about Pudge (the new Hall of Famer) and his time as an Astro. Then I thought about Fanfest and how to wrap it into a story. But finally I stuck on forgiveness. God offers us forgiveness through the blood of His Son, and in the Lord’s prayer, we are shown that we too need to forgive those in our lives. Accepting forgiveness may be easy, but in forgiving others, I have a hard time separating forgiveness from consequences of not remembering and acting to protect my interest. Conceptually, I know we are supposed to forgive our brother every time they ask for forgiveness. I can also extrapolate this to forgiving someone even when they don’t ask for it. I believe Christ’s death paid the penalty for everyone’s sins and they have been forgiven and only need to accept the forgiveness they have been given. My gap here is when do I know to tell the other person they have done something that I have forgiven them for. I know I have offended many people over the course of my life and some offenses I understood immediately, some offenses I understood after time or being told, and some offenses I still am in the dark about. I want to be forgiven for those offenses that I did not intend and those that I was in the wrong in committing. At the same time, I want to forgive those that have offended me and do so in such a way as to continue to have a relationship with; hopefully a better relationship. And here is an area in which I struggle. (I am also struggling to find an example that doesn’t make things worse.) So I had a class mate in elementary who got mad at me to the point he wanted to fight me. We were out by the dam playing baseball with a relatively large group, and I did something (that I never understood), and here he came with fists flying. As it turns out, I didn’t care too much for fighting, but I had a knack for not getting hit. So this kid is trying and trying to hit me and I just keep making him miss. It got to the point I was laughing on the inside, if not out loud. He eventually quit fighting, as I never got mad enough to fight back. But in the end, I think I always held his trying to fight me against him. We were around each other for many years, but I think I always held back forgiveness from him. Years later when I heard a mutual friend died, I thought it was silly of me to carry that around all those years. It sure wasn’t hurting him. I’ve been mad at my little sister (Little Sister not Farway Sister) often over the years and some times it was something she had done on purpose, sometimes it was to retaliate against something I had done, and sometimes it was just something she and I did not see eye to eye on. The same is true the other way around as well. So we each have done our best to forgive each other over the years and we probably need to do better. I did come to one idea that I really didn’t intend when I started thinking on forgiveness. I blended in the term offenses in to a discussion that was really about sins. There is a difference. I think it impacts my struggles, but as much as I want forgiveness for my offenses related about, I really only need forgiveness for my sins. Sins are transgressions against God are not necessarily offenses against people. I can offend people by stating I believe they need to be saved by Christ. A few years back, the Baptist Church offended Jews when the Baptists stated a desire to convert Jews to Christianity. I’m not sure how the higher levels of the Baptist Church responded to being told they had offended some Jews, but I assume they did not ask for forgiveness. As Christians we believe Christ is the Messiah and as the church we are the body of Christ and we are to follow His example of trying to convert both the Jew and the Gentile to salvation in Christ. (Note both the “Jew and Gentile” means everyone.) If I offend others doing the will of God in my life, then I stand behind that and suffer the consequences as Christ died on the cross for my sins, but if I have offended you in some other way, I ask for your forgiveness.    

Control through throwing

Tue, 24 Jan 2017 17:30:35 +0000

Pitching wins championships. That is the motto clubs live and die by. A motto is never the whole story. Defense can win championships in football, but without pitching a great defense in baseball is wasted. Offense can win championships in basketball, but scoring six runs a game doesn’t help if you give up seven. The best teams have solid defense, timely hitting, and good pitching. The Astros have used analytics to great advantage on defense and have pulled together a group of players that should result in a great defense this season. The Astros have piled on the offense and we all hope that we consistently score runs with shear numbers on base and some timely hitting. This leaves pitching as our great unknown. Analytics has made a huge deal of average velocity and last offseason, we went in search of someone who had a high average velocity. I think our problem from 2015 in the bullpen was not average velocity. We looked to have a great bullpen until they all got tired down the stretch. The problem with the bullpen was we had starters our manager would not leave in the game long enough to save the bullpen. A pitcher has three elements to his game: velocity, movement, and control. Velocity is apparently hard to teach. You can be relatively short and have velocity like Billy Wagner or tall like Randy Johnson have have a lot. Movement on pitches is a wonderful thing and seems easier to teach that velocity, but is a function of velocity, arm angle, and spin rate. Arm angles can be adjusted, but spin rate too seems to be harder to modify with coaching. Control is something that can be developed and is probably the biggest variable that changes game to game or inning to inning for the pitcher. One of the big drivers of control change during a game is fatigue. When a starter gets tired, he starts to lose control and elevate pitches or sometimes even starts to leave then over the middle of the plate. High pitches over the middle of the plate are a batters dream and similar to the one clean whack I got on a ball in the batting cages at Fanfest last week. Fatigue is battled by getting the pitchers in shape and each team has a myriad of theories on how to get pitchers arms in shape. Looking at the history of pitchers, pitching gets arms in shape and if our starters never practice throwing 140 pitches a game, then they will not be able to without getting hurt. Mike Fiers got a no hitter a while back with a lot of pitches. Everyone was nervous that he would hurt himself as he had never pitched that many pitches. Nolan Ryan pitched that many pitches over and over and while he had blister issues, he rarely had arm trouble from throwing a lot of pitches. I am not suggesting everyone throw 140 pitches a start, but I am suggesting that we get over this fear of 10o pitch games and allow our starters to develop the stamina to pitch a little longer and keep the bullpen ready for a seven month season. My suggestion would be to have each starter “pitch” in the bullpen until they hit 120 pitches for the night. Especially on night when they don’t last very long in the game. I want Dallas Keuchel pitching in the ninth going for a win in game four of the World Series. Nothing against Ken Giles, but Dallas completing that game would be tremendous.   I know there are other issues affecting control, but more throwing seems key for starters.

Imagine

Wed, 25 Jan 2017 23:19:26 +0000

Imagine AJ Hinch turns in a lineup card with Beltran, Reddick, Gurriel, and McCann on the bench and Bregman hitting ninth. Better yet, imagine they are all healthy, and Hinch actually likes it this way. Our four highest paid hitters on the bench. I got his idea during the autograph sessions at Fanfest and interacting with AJ Reed, Tyler White, and Preston Tucker. In 2014 and 2015, these were our best slugging minor leaguers. Preston Tucker was our starting left fielder in 2015 and opening day designated hitter in 2016. Tyler White was our opening day first baseman in 2016. AJ Reed arrived in 2016 with the heading of our future first baseman. If these guys produce like they have in the past, we could have a monumentally good offense. And make no mistake, each wants to be an everyday starter for the Astros this year. The McCann sitting for Gattis is no big deal as they are both powerful catchers. Gonzalez would need to be in the outfield for Reddick, and that will happen although maybe not very often. Reed would need to beat out everyone else for the first base job and we all know it can happen, but few really expect it. Preston Tucker beating out Marisnick and Aoki for a spot on the team and beating out Beltran for the spot in the lineup is reasonable if you ignore last year (and I am sure that will be hard for the team to do). Beltran was great, Marisnick showed he can defend as well as anyone, and Aoki is projected as a get on base machine. Tucker has shown the promise to put up 2015 Beltran numbers, exceed Aoki on base percentage with power, and he will be in front of the Crawford boxes where Carlos Lee once roamed. White is the trickier one as he has to beat out everyone else for the DH spot. I know he played skill positions in the minors some last year, but he is limited to first base and we have several guys who can play there. I like to imagine this as leaving the expensive cars in the garage and driving the old 911. My imagination still works well as the 911 cost me less than our other two cars, but was more expensive new and is worth more now. The point is that the Astros have a wealth of talent this year and are poised for years of success. We might end up with a AAA lineup that includes Reed, White, Tucker, Kemp, Hernandez, Moran, and Stassi; all with major league experience and recently rated as top prospects. I have wondered all winter why other teams are not trying to pry these guys from us, but maybe they are and the Astros are trying not to sell low. So, imagine something else. Imagine you do something unexpected, something with potential, something you wanted to do, and just haven’t. Like write a blog, open a new business, start exercising again, or try eating better. Sounds like a bunch of new year’s resolutions. But I think I might like to see what this lineup could do: Springer – CF Tucker – RF Altuve – 2B Reed – 1B Correa – SS Gonzalez – RF White – DH Gattis – C Bregman – 3B

Home to the

Mon, 30 Jan 2017 15:47:19 +0000

Ever have more money than you wanted? I think it is the natural state of man to want more; more money, more food, more drink, more everything. In print and on video, I have heard the phrase, “more money than you can imagine.” My favorite version is Luke talking to Han about saving Leia, but it seems to happen quite a bit. I always found the statement weird as I can imagine an awfully lot of money. I once heard the amount of “money” in the whole world. It didn’t seem that much to me. I used to watch Michael J Fox play Alex Keaton on Family Ties. I always wondered why a kid so driven and so smart still lived at home. My expectation was that he would already be rich by the age of 16. My theme for the day is money and expectations. When I started working after school, I thought I was “rich” making $17.50 an hour. A year later with no job and unsecured debt, I realized how wrong I was. I had an expectation of a job as long as I wanted making more every year until I could retire. I didn’t really want that, but it was what I expected the company to want from me. Turns out they had bigger things to worry about than me and hundreds of my co-workers, and my expectations had to change. Another expectation that has changed for America is housing. When I was little, we lived in a trailer park. Then, I grew up in a 1700 square foot house. It seemed awesome as I had my own room. When I was last in my hometown, I drove by our nanny’s old house. It was tiny. I remembered that our house was bigger, but I didn’t really think much of it. I think we had one more room, but everything else seemed similar. But I was comparing it and the houses on that street not to my old house, but to my new neighborhood and my house. Our house seems middle of the road in our neighborhood, and I therefore think of it is normal. Apparently so does the rest of America as houses are getting bigger and bigger, and that means they cost more and more. Every time I think of our house being median, I wonder what all those people with bigger houses do to make so much money. My expectation is that they have more money than us to live in bigger houses. This plays out with professional teams as well. The Astros had the best fan experience spring training facility in the world. Now they are moving into a $150 million monstrosity that should be the envy of every team not there, at least at that price. I’ve heard some hints that it might not be such a great place after all. But it is only a tenth of the price of the new Falcons stadium. And the Braves ownership has allotted over a billion for their new stadium and surrounding development. That’s $2.6 billion on two stadiums for Atlanta. When new, I loved our “The Ballpark at Union Station” and I hope we keep it beyond the 30-year agreement with Coca-Cola that runs through 2032. I’ve visited Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, and I hope we can have a long history at this park. I hope we set a new expectation for longevity in Stadiums. As our park in only three years newer than the now retired Turner Field the Braves have left. When we bought this now “normal” house, we hoped to stay in it until Big D graduated high school. We now hope to stay until little D graduates high school. We changed our expectations. Neither was set on money, but they do have financial implications. So I encourage you to set your housing expectations not based on what others have, but want you want and what you can pay for. What you make when you start that 30 -year mortgage might be less than you make at the end, but then again it might not.    

Stress and a little birdie

Tue, 31 Jan 2017 16:24:23 +0000

My friend Eric got me started on golf back in my college days. We played a little course in my hometown and I think I shot a 100, thirty four over par, with a faint memory of chipping in for birdie. I am sure I didn’t play exactly by the rules since I didn’t know them, and I can’t remember if I really made a birdie because I may have done something funny or because I had no idea of its significance. Over the years, I have wished Eric hadn’t talked me into it that day as I never got good, and golf is mostly seemingly endless hours of heat and frustration hitting a ball over a hundred times with less than a handful seeming worth repeating. I actually played golf a reasonable amount with friends later in college and work friends before Big D came along, so for me it is really about spending time together with friends. I did have one day in which I was a great golfer. Little wife’s father and a teaching pro friend of his took me out to show me how to hit a ball. We went to a local driving range and I amazed them with how far a little guy like me could hit the ball. I amazed myself with how I could hit the ball so straight so many times in a row. I probably won’t ever forget that day, but only because of what happened next. I went to play in a scramble the next day and neglected to wear my golf shoes to warm up. I had never sprayed the ball around as much as that day on the driving range, but it got worse once we hit the course. I think I stopped hitting after about six holes. I could still sorta put, but every ball I hit with something else was lost. I have yet to take another lesson, but … Anyway, the point of the story is how stress in life mirrors stress on the golf course. The goal at the start of any day of golf is to have a personal best. If your best day is 112, you want to get under 110. If your best day is 63, you want to hit 62. The problem is that any shot can add three strokes to your score really fast. I eventually learned to not score past twice par, but those early days saw a few double digits on par threes. So for me, each stroke was a chance to mess up and the pressure would continue to build until I finally could no longer meet me goal of coming in under 100. Sometimes I would think I got better after I got tired, but I usually got better when I stopped trying to do something I was not capable of. We do this in life. We try to be the best at every single thing we do and we get stressed out as we fall a little short in any one area. The more things we try to do, the further we fall short and the higher the levels of stress. I have played golf only once before last week since Big D came along. It was a hectic day with little happiness and I was content to not play again for a while. But last week was vacation, I had friends playing, and I completed the foursome; so I agreed to play. It all started out well with a fun day hitting balls at the local range the week before and a handful of straight shots. The day to play was a marvelous day with sunny skies, a slight breeze, and a beautiful course. I started out spraying balls all over the driving range, but it sure was a pretty spot. Next thing I knew we were off to the first tee and my first ball was off in the bushes. Great, got that out of the way. My “mulligan” made it half way to the ladies tee, so I was three shots in before our fourth teed off. I finished off with my first double par and was sure if I could keep my goal to getting the ball in the hole before I reached double par, I could have a good day. After 11 holes, I had two double boogies and a few real double pars, but after the 12th hole, I was ready for the clubhouse. It was a little too last to quit playing, but I finally stopped trying. My first shot was out of sight, but in a good way somewhere down the fairway. My second shot was on the green. Statistically, one should hit the fairway and green just with random swings, but my shots are consistently bad in random ways. So I was putting for birdie for the first time in ages and super happy with my single boogie. I was so happy, the next hole had even less stress and my drive was again in the fairway. Not sure I’ve done that twice in a row ever. The next iron hit the green and we were thinking two boogies in a row, this is kind of fun. Only a funny thing happened on the way to boogie. My birdie putt actually went in. I was shocked. So were my friends. The caddies took it in stride, but I enjoyed the moment. I missed another birdie putt (and the two after it) later in the round, but I had a real birdie and now I have a shirt to commemorate and a photo. <img class=”alignnone wp-image-79″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/cover-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”418″ height=”313″ /> The key for me was how much better I did once I stopped trying to be perfect. I may never get under a hundred, but if I ever play golf again, I won’t be trying so hard for that first birdie. If I can only keep my eyes off of trying to get an eagle, I should be able to have fun out there.

Winning the Season – November

Thu, 02 Feb 2017 00:00:29 +0000

The 2017 season started at the conclusion of the 2016 World Series, or at least in my analyses. So we start with November to see how we did as a team kicking off the season. We start with losing Fister, Rasmus, Valbuena, and Castro to free agency. All four contributed to the team and leave holes that need to be filled. I actually liked all four players and am glad they were Astros, but none of the four were in a position to make the 2017 team better. Fister faded badly, Rasmus and Valbuena were injured, and Castro failed to reach the next level. Our first add was a lefthanded outfielder off the waiver wire, Norichika Aoki. I knew nothing about him and after initially reading about him, assumed he would not make the team even though in theory he replaces Rasmus in the lineup. The next move was to trade Neshek. A brilliant move to shed salary. Neshek helped a lot the last two years and filled a hole, but is easily replaced by one of our young pitchers. The next move was to protect Guduan from the rule 5 draft and an easy decision to make. After a week of preparation, the team next signed Charlie Morton to basically replace Fister. For me Morton is all upside and I like the move more than I liked signing Fister last year. Then the big brick fell. The team traded two young flame throwers for Brian McCann. Two guys who few were following for the catcher we all hoped Castro would become. It was a great addition to the club and put us in place to be favored to make the playoffs. We then sent Singleton to the minors as he didn’t need rule 5 protection, but we lost Nolan Fontana when trying to do the same thing. Fontana may end up a solid backup on a major league roster, but our team has Gonzalez in that role. We have to assume that Fontana had minimal trade value and the loss is minimal. Our final move of the month was to add Josh Reddick as a long term solution that Carlos Gomez was not. This officially filled the role of Rasmus on the team and left everyone wondering what would happen with Aoki. Reddick is a big left handed bat with certainty winning out over potential as we move into the expect to win portion of the rebuild. So November saw five slots on the roster open up and two on the 40-man version. Three were filled with solid improvements from elsewhere, one was filled with a question mark, and one forty man spot was filled with a high potential arm. All in all it was a great month and moved us from just outside the playoffs to expecting to get in and hoping to win the division.

Role Model? Yes

Thu, 02 Feb 2017 19:23:35 +0000

I was reading an article on fangraphs (link below) and was pleased to see someone quantify the improvement in the Astros lineup. However, one of the key gains from many of the Astros moves have been to add positive role models. I see Beltran, McCann, and Reddick as bring positive characteristics that the team can incorporate into a winning culture. <a href=”http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-astros-have-a-completely-new-look/”>http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-astros-have-a-completely-new-look/</a> One of the interesting comments Detective Joe Kenda made last night on the show Little Wife loves to watch was that cops are not heroes. He believes heroes are doing something extraordinary and out of character. He believes cops do what they do everyday because it is their job and therefore, they are not heroes. I don’t buy his logic, but I can see a downside to having everyone expect you to be a hero every day. One of the sentiments I have seen those in the public eye take is that they are not role models, they don’t want to be role models, and want to be able to do whatever wrong it is they want to do without feeling guilty. Again, I can see a downside to having everyone expect you to be a role model all the time. But lets get real. Everyone who reacts with anyone else in any manner is a role model. Little d sees everything I do and it impacts her either negatively or positively. I took on the duty to be her role model as she is my kid, but the kids down the street see me do things all the time, and it impacts them as well. One of the key components of the Astros success in the late 1990s and early 2000s was the impact of the team’s two main role models: Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio. They were the face of the franchise and the culture of the team was based on the impacts they had on the rest of the team. Biggio played the game harder than anyone and it was evident every time he sprinted down to first base. He had a positive impact. Carlos Lee was not my favorite Astros because he loafed like nothing mattered. I didn’t care how much Lee produced because I didn’t like the way he played. Ask Adam Everett and he probably won’t totally blame Lee for the incident that ruined Everett’s career, but I do. Bagwell used his head in the game and showed that it wasn’t all about talent, it was about skill and when you applied it. The Astros have had a few veterans in various roles the last couple years, but this will be the first years we have seasoned veterans in key roles. Last year our veteran was Carlos Gomez, and I had him down as the worst role model on the team. In my opinion, he didn’t respect the game, Hinch had him in center even though we had three better center fielders because of his ego, and he interacted poorly with the fans. Jed Lowrie helped the year before, but his impact was limited after the injury. The point of all this is that you are a role model whether you want to be or not. You do not have to be a hero, but everyone around you will be impacted by your behavior whether you like it that way or not. And don’t think that you have to be perfect. Only Christ was perfect and it took Him being God to live that way. Christ is our role model and we should strive to learn from Him and have a positive impact on those around us. Little d and Big D see a lot of my flaws, but they also see the good I try to do, and the benefits when I am successful. One of the great joys in my life is watching Big D be the positive role model that she is in the lives of all those around her. I see a lot of her flaws, but I know she is trying to be a positive role model. If she can do it, I know you can too.

Where is my pen?

Fri, 03 Feb 2017 17:13:50 +0000

Last week on vacation we missed out on the haunted house tour. Seems like the ghosts went on vacation or something. Today I was wondering how one knew your house was haunted. I assume seeing a ghost would qualify, but I’m wondering about weird things like all your good pens disappearing. If the disappearing pens count, then our house is haunted. The Astros have an altogether different type of pen. Its made up a of a number of guys who aren’t good enough to be a starter, or at least that was always the theory. Either because they only had one good pitch, couldn’t pitch many innings before becoming tired or ineffective, or they were just too young to throw into the rotation, people ended up in the bullpen. Back in those days the starter stayed in the game until it was over, or the outcome was known, or he just didn’t have it that day. Hoyt Wilhelm was the first quality relief guy that I ever heard of. He retired before I knew anything about baseball, but he was good. He did start 27 games in 1959 with a 2.19 ERA, but most of his career was from the pen. Goose Gossage was the first reliever I saw that was good. He had a 3.94 ERA the only year he started, but he was good enough to get in the Hall of Fame before saves were trashed as a measure of relievers deserving so. 1969 started the save era and 1975 started the way saves are earned to this day. This stat has greatly affected how the bullpen is used and what type of pitchers are in the bullpen. There are still young guys, guys without multiple inning effectiveness, and guys with one pitch, but many times they are better than the starter. Last offseason we traded for Ken Giles. I thought we gave up a little too much, but we dealt from a strength and now have an elite young closer. We also have a deep pen with Gregerson and Harris having great success and closer experience. Devenski and Feliz give us great multi-inning options (assuming they don’t make the rotation). We have Sipp and hope he is successfully used this year. And we have a number of young up and coming guys who will round out the best pen I can remember us having. I do want Hinch to bring in short guys to close out innings before bring in guys for mulitple innings after the starter fails, but hopefully we don’t have as much of that as last year. I believe a long inning guy should not come in quickly to a low out high base runner situation and then be expected to last forever. When Hinch threw Feliz in with one out in the first, five runs in, on the road, against the Yankees on the seasons second day, and left him in through 107 pitches, I feared we would lose him for a long time. Luckily he wasn’t injured, he was sent down to rest, and we found Devenski. So I expect big things from our pen this year and I hope the manager to keep it from disappearing late in the season. Now I am off to the store to buy yet another package of good pens. I think they last about a week between each one disappearing, so maybe I’ll buy 40 and see if they last to the end of the season, in early November when the pen saves the fourth win in the World Series.

22 Years ago today…

Sat, 04 Feb 2017 13:35:15 +0000

Little Wife and I got married 22 years ago today. By far the best thing that ever happened to me. Big D and little d came along later. They are both great little girls growing up. Went we went to my high school reunion, an old friend made a very profound statement. “Jeffrey, we like her better than you.” or something to that effect. The Chief is a pretty smart guy. Today’s piece will be small, but our little family will spend the day together and celebrate the day. I want to let you know that I believe God brought Cathy and I together and she is a perfect match for me. My brain works in way different ways than hers does, but we always get to the same conclusion on the big stuff. So I want to encourage you to rely on God to bring you who you need and then to cherish them as the gift they are.

Working on Superbowl Sunday

Sun, 05 Feb 2017 21:51:44 +0000

When I was praying this morning, I kept drifting towards the concept of things I need to be doing. When I was reading the Bible, I read “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.” Combining the two, I landed back at a conversation we had with the girls yesterday about working on Sunday. One of them asked about football players who have almost all of their games on Sunday. Today is the Superbowl here in town. We are outside the blast radius (as I think of it) and life here is pretty normal. We went to church this morning, out to lunch with friends, and will go watch the Superbowl for a little bit later. Sunday is our Sabbath and the Sabbath is supposed to be kept holy. A friend of mine grew up to live within walking distance of the temple so they would not have to drive on the Sabbath, and I assume they don’t go out to eat, and may miss a lot of Saturday afternoon sports on tv. In 1965, one Jew made a huge statement by not pitching on Yom Kippur in the World Series. The Superbowl and the World Series of course are very different, but it would be politically incorrect for an NFL player to skip out on today’s Superbowl or even a regular Sunday game in the season for religious reasons. I think its one of those incompatible situations. The NFL isn’t going to change away from playing on Sunday for one player or maybe even a hundred. We know there are a number of very religious people in the NFL on the field and on the sidelines and even more in the stands and watching at home. Monday through Friday is taken by work, Saturday has been taken by colleges, and Sunday is the home of the NFL. But we also remember that our pastor works on Sunday. The priests work on the Sabbath. We even work in the children’s classes and during worship when we volunteer. How do we distinguish this work from that done by NFL players, or the Astros on Sunday games? One concept brought forth was “If you enjoy it, you can do it on the Sabbath.” I didn’t fully buy off on that, but it does say that there is more to work than labor and more to being holy than not working. My playing football in the yard with the kids on Sunday is definitely not paying work, however, Von Miller playing football last year in the Superbowl was definitely making money. The phrase that comes to mind for me is this one “Do everything as if working for the Lord.” If the Lord has made you with the talent to play on Sunday, then go out and be the Superbowl MVP, like Kurt Warner and give the glory to God (and not yourself). If the Lord has given you the talent to be an engineer, then be the best engineer you can be, and don’t work on Sundays. If the Lord has made you to be a Pastor, then work on Sunday and give God the glory. There are things you must do as a citizen in your country, state, locality, and you should do those things, and do them well. But everything else? They are the Lord’s.    

Pitching Predictions – Pre-Spring

Mon, 06 Feb 2017 19:55:46 +0000

No one really expects the Astros to pick up top of the rotation pitcher before Spring Training starts, so I have decided to go ahead and predict outcomes based on what I see now. First step was to predict wins based on the schedule and then I predicted all the pitching outcomes to support that. End result our pitching was expected to be better than it was last year, and we have the team to expect those same kind of results this year. Confused? One of the most enjoyable Bible study lessons I prepared was the set around the study of Revelations. One reason this was so is that no matter what I said, my prediction was as likely to be as wrong as everyone else’s. Knowing the future has been man’s dream from early ages, yet it is held as the secret of the Father (even from the Son in regards to when the Son returns). So the key to making accurate baseball prediction is not knowing what will happen, but using the available data to predict trends and the team’s ability to deal with injuries and under performance. Last year we predicted repeats from Keuchel and McHugh, improvements from McCullers, middle of the road from Fister, and something productive from the Fiers/Feldman combination. Our pen was expected to be improved with Giles and the return of most of 2015’s productive members. Our 2015 ERA was 3.57 and we expected a repeat. As we know our starters didn’t pull the same load as expected and the lack of a lefthander, like Thatcher or Perez to help Sipp, left the pen short as well. Our ERA ballooned to 4.06 and while a lot of focus was on the offense, it at least provided similar production to 2015. Fister was good for four months, but none of the other four spots in the rotation performed as expected. Going into the end of the season we saw improvement in McHugh, Keuchel, and performance from McCullers. Fiers was not great, but we had Musgrove ready to replace that hole. We even were so confident we traded Feldman. Then Fister fell apart, Keuchel and McCullers stopped playing, and the one hole became four and no team can overcome that for two months. Peacock actually didn’t do poorly; Musgrove was successful; and McHugh was good. But Fiers had to keep pitching, we had to keep running Fister out there, and the two F’s hurt. It was hard to watch, but with Feliz and Devenski in the bullpen all year, our pre-season starting depth was gone. So for 2017, I predict Keuchel and McHugh perform close to 2015 levels and give us a solid #1 and #3 in the rotation. I predict McCullers performs as expected with a solid #2 performance. I predict Musgrove gets the fourth spot and provides solid #3 performance while missing some starts to keep his innings down. Musgrove is really the only switch here as Fiers may be expected to with the fourth spot. I predict Fiers wins a spot in the pen leaving Morton to fill the fifth spot and provide journeyman production waiting on Martes and Paulino to get ready for their spots in the rotation for 2018. I see Fiers will be the main spot starter with Rodgers coming up to help when needed. I see the September rotation of Keuchel, McCullers, Musgrove, Martes, and Paulino showing us that Fiers, McHugh, and Morton will be gone next year if not this. This leaves Devenski and Feliz in the pen and I don’t see them as ever cracking the Astros rotation without trades being made. With Musgrove ready and Martes and Paulino getting there shortly, we just don’t have space for these two quality pitchers to go back to the rotation. I would like to see McHugh and Fiers traded now to allow these two to battle for a spot in 2017, but I don’t think the team is ready to go into the season with no starters having pitched more than 168 innings last year. Projecting everyone to step up at once is not practical. Banking on it is insane. I do predict Tolliver making the team and Hoyt and Gustave spending lots of time on the roster over the course of the season. These additions will keep Sipp productive and allow the pen to stay healthy or available all seven months of the season. I predict we end up with an ERA very near our 3.57 of 2015, but with about 95 wins to show for it. So I am sure there will be parts of this that don’t work out, but I see the team with the depth to fill in behind the top five starters and behind the top seven relievers. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see us trade Sipp and Gregerson out with McHugh, Fiers, and Morton. With all the young pitching talent we have amassed looking to be ready by August, maybe we can get some more before we lose these veterans to free agency. The Bible tells us that if we knew when the thief was coming, we could prevent the theft. However, we don’t know when the thieves of injuries or not progressing will come, but we know they will. Hopefully, this year, the Astros are prepared for when they do.

Predicting Hitting – Pre-Spring

Tue, 07 Feb 2017 13:59:48 +0000

So last post I threw out that number 95 wins and used our pitching reverting to 2015 levels to justify some of that, but we had that pitching in 2015 and only achieved 86 wins, so something else has to happen. I’m predicting a shocker: that the hitting gets better too. I used ERA to give a feel for how the team pitches, but only because it give a hint of quantity of runs and relative quality. For offense, the name of the game is runs, so I just used counting statistics to get a feel for improvement. The Astros scores 729 runs in 2015 to be 6th of 30 teams and 724 runs to be 15th in 2016. So roughly the same production, but much different outcomes. These run totals were the most from the Astros since really the 2003 and 2004 teams. My first pass numbers give me a ridiculous number of 100o runs. That is 6.2 runs per game. That seems a bit much and would be the most since the 1999 Indians. Five runs a game gets us 810 and I would expect us to be well beyond that number. My second pass give me a number of 911. I like that number almost as much as I like 993. I still think Altuve should be in the lead off role and would expect 140 runs from him there. I expect Bregman should be in the number 2 hole and should score 100 runs easy, but may not get that slot every time or may not play all the games. I think Springer should hit third and expect 120 runs from him there. I think Correa should hit clean up and get about 100 runs scored. I expect these four to start almost every game and be the core of our team. I expect Beltran to play almost everyday and ring up about 500 at bats. 90 runs is probably a little much to expect, but I think it is a good ratio to his at bats. I expect the last four slots will rotate constantly between Gattis, McCann, Reddick, and Guriell and I expect them to score about 60 runs each for the catchers and 80 for the fielders. I expect Tucker, Reed, Aoki, and Gonzalez to make the team and score about 10% of the runs in 20% of the at bats. This brings us up to about 923 runs or 5.7 a game. That would have led the league the last nine seasons and is over a run a game better than last year for us. I think the team will be much better this year as we have displaced the poor performance of Castro, Rasmus, Gomez, and expect more from Bregman and Guriell than we did from the guys they are replacing. I think dropping a half run a game in pitching and gaining a run a game in hitting will bring us well within room to shoot for 95 wins. I don’t think this calls for anything beyond what our hitters have done in recent seasons expect for Bregman and Guriell to play the full season. I can easily see improvement from Correa, expect Altuve to continue improving somehow, hope to see George put it all together, and can easily see Reed or Tucker becoming the monsters they have been their whole lives. So I can see us reaching the 1000 run plateau and I can see the team putting up the best offensive numbers ever for an Astros team. But I will stick with my prediction of 95 wins and 911 runs. My 911 is a 96, but that extra win is too much to predict.  

Winning the Season – December

Thu, 09 Feb 2017 02:44:42 +0000

So we follow up a winning month with the month that will be forever remembered as the month little d used great to describe something. Following Big D’s example, little d describes everything as “Good.” It makes it really hard to know how to respond. “How was school?” “Good.” “How was dinner?” “Good.” So finally in December, we asked “How was Christmas?” and she responded with “Great!” I guess that means we bought too much, but watching her was pure enjoyment and well worth it. Hopefully, she realizes it is all down hill from seven. The first Astros move was to claim a lefthander from the waiver wire. Ashur Tolliver is a rookie with a nice minor league career and five major league games under his belt. He will be competing for a spot as the second left hander in the pen and could free up Sipp to fill the role has has successfully done in the past rather than as the lefty specialist. Not a huge move now, but it has potential. The next move was bring Carlos Beltran back as a one year rental. The story is that he will be the DH, but I see him playing right against every lefty for Reddick and in left against righties often. The big factor here will be the play of Tucker and Marisnick to push Gurriel to first or DH. Either way this was a huge fill of the Valbuena spot and again leaves us wondering what role Aoki really plays. We did loses Mike Hauschild to the Rangers in the rule 5 draft. I think this was a mistake as we still have Chapman and Aplin on the 40-man roster and neither is critical for the 2017 season and neither has trade value based on 2016 performance. Hauschild was a solid AAA starter that obviously had some value to other teams, but was lost in the Astros future with Musgrove, Rodgers, Peacock, Paulino, Feliz, Devenski, and Martes all itching for a chance at a spot in the rotation. So December was a small win for the team with Beltran solidifying our case to contend for the West title. But the biggest issue with December is the growing backlog of performing AAA players who won’t make the opening day roster and need to be traded before we lose significant talent to the waiver wire and yearly rule 5 drafts. In addition to the seven highly touted starters who are on the cusp of ready and not starting, we have a number of relievers on the 40-man roster who may be ready to contribute; and we have the logjam of Reed, White, Singleton, Moran, Tucker, Kemp, Hernandez, Marisknick, and Aoki keeping the likes of JD Davis and Derek Fisher waiting. I am all in favor of keeping Bregman, Musgrove, and Martes over the likes of Quintana and Archer, but at some point our leadership needs to figure out how to turn Moran and Singleton into move than future waiver wire/rule 5 losses.  

Winning the Season – January

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 13:11:18 +0000

So I am starting this on the 30th, so we still have time, but so far this month is the big goose egg. I have no memory of eating a goose egg, but surely they are as nutritious as chicken eggs. If we end January with no moves, it will be a moral victory as we didn’t send our future away for a marginally better pitcher. The Dodgers gave up a good looking pitcher for a second baseman. An old fashion now for now trade of surplus for need. The Rays probably feel they got a little more future pitching for a relatively easy to replace hitter. I like the feel of this trade, but the only trades that can help us need to have really good players coming back with cost effective contracts or guys with years left before needing rule 5 protection. The Dan Straily haunting part two happened with him traded for lots of young prospects. I can see this being repeated down the road with Mike Hauschild’s name in place of Strainly’s. This trade in no way helped the Astros as the Marlins gave up numbers to get a middle of the rotation starter, unless we can give up a Fiers or McHugh for a similar haul and make sure one of our ready starters gets their chance at stardom. The other news for the month is the latest in the Mariners string of trades. I have no idea where all this movement leaves the Mariners, but if AJ Hinch doesn’t learn to walk Robinson Cano with the game on the line, the Astros pulling together a team may be all for not. I hardly ever use twitter, but I used it several times to voice my displeasure over this issue last year. So with 36 hours to go, January has been a solid neutral with the Astros still in contention for the AL west title, but needing to beat both of the teams that were ahead of them at the end of last season. Update: Nothing happened, good or bad. so three months in and we haven’t lost a month yet.

Back to work

Sun, 12 Feb 2017 15:12:41 +0000

The Astros officially get back to work this month just as I have finally gotten some paying work. This week we have seen two movements in ownership among the 30 MLB teams, and it seems like a good time to conjecture about ownership. The owner of the Tigers passed away this week. He was a wealthy man and didn’t mind spending extra money to try and make the Tigers a a winner. He owned the team since 1992 and the Tigers made it to the World Series twice during his tenure. He made his money in pizza from Little Caeser’s. When he bought the team in 1992, he paid $82,000,000. Last value I found was $1,150,000,000. That means he made $1,000,000,000 from owning the Tigers for 25 years. I have no idea how much revenue, profit, or loss he had along the way, but the base return makes it a tremendous investment. And the area loves him because he tried to make the Tigers winners. The owner of the Marlins was rumored to have made an agreement to sell the Marlins. He bought the team in 2002 for $158,000,000 and is selling it for $1,600,000,000. Even more than the Tigers were reportedly worth. The Marlins current owner has had some success on the field with a World Series win the year after he bought the team, but he has not spent money trying to win since. He is walking away with $1,400,000,000 over only 15 years, an even better return than for the Tigers. Digging a little further, we find that Florida does not love the Marlins owner and he is leaving them in a bad spot. Looking prior to the Marlins, he turned a $12,000,000 investment in the Expos in 1999 into the $158,000,000 to buy the Marlins, so in effect he has gone from $12,000,000 to $1,600,000,000 in only 18 years. The Expos fans probably hate him more than the Marlins fans as the Expos moved to Washington when he traded them for the Marlins. I now own my own company and have had it for a year. Its been a slow year, but I hope to have some income by April. Little Wife and her father own their own company and have each had the slow start to making money. We don’t expect to sell the companies for billions of dollars, but we hope we can make enough money to get the girls through college and keep us from starving in old age. The ownership team of the Astros paid about $610,000,000 for the Astros in 2011. The team has doubled in value since, but the owners will not see the rate of returns of the Marlins and Tigers. But they too may reach the $1,000,000,000 mark before they finish. The old Astros owner left a bad taste in the mouth of the fans and has been sued by the new owners after they found out just what they bought. The hope is that the new owners can deliver on their promise of creating an eternally competitive system and win us our first World Series. One of the key components to ownership is having control and being in a position to decide how you help those who work for you. Nominally speaking we think of our bosses as good guys like the old owner of the Tigers who is trying to help or bad guys like the owner of the Marlins who is just taking and we decide if we like our bosses based on how much we like our income. In another sense, we can recognize that God owns everything and He has given us the ultimate reward in salvation. We can then work for Him knowing He is the ultimate good owner and is here to help us.  

Speed Blogger

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 12:38:49 +0000

So Sunday I wondered where our neighbors truck was. They had lots of visitors and his truck was missing. Something I filed away for later. Sitting with Big D, she told me she was now thirteen and a half. I was flabbergasted; only two and a half years until she can drive. Then I realized she would need a car. Then I realized she would need a car to learn in. I told her Little Wife’s car was too big, so she said she could learn in the Infinity. I told her that wasn’t happening as it was faster than the 911. She said she could learn in the 911. I laughed. She acts like she doesn’t like that car. I told her she could drive it, but not learn in it. (We will have to see when the insurance agent lets her drive it.) Anyway, I realized that if we were going to get her a two year old car to learn to drive in, we could go shopping now and decide while the cars were new, then in two years be in the look out for a good one to buy before she gets her learner’s permit. Forever the discussions have ranged between something new with all the safety features to something old and cheap to replace or repair. Safe wins out, but what exactly is safe. I feel safe in the 911, because it can do a lot, has high visibility, and is very solid. (It also is a non-depreciating asset.) I feel safe in the Expedition because it is massive. I feel safe in the Infinity because it has all the safety gizmos from when it was new. But later Sunday our neighbor stopped by and asked us if we had been wondering where his truck was. Only bad thoughts run through your mind at that point, and indeed the truck had been totaled in an accident the night before. It flipped four times, crushing the roof, and ending up upside down. The pictures of the truck didn’t match the condition of the man standing before us. He and his wife had nothing more than bumps and bruises. He is going to look for another one of those trucks. But he had a witness aspect to the story as he asked if we thought it was the truck or God that had saved them. I and the rest of the neighbors couldn’t shout fast enough that it was only God who had brought them through this unharmed and that God has a huge purpose for them going forward in some fashion. My neighbor was hit by some one driving a little car fast and the driver ran from the scene as there was copious amounts of alcohol in that car. Driving and drinking is one of the worst things the average person does consistently in this country. It kills and it causes damage to people and property. The key to all this is that safety is paramount in driving and having a safe car is great, but trusting in God and knowing He has a purpose in our life is greater. God can save us from the penalty of sin, but he can also save us from the consequences of having to live in this world. So I am not quite a speed blogger as this took five more than my allotted fifteen minutes, but I tried. Now back to work.

Stop, Drop, and Roll

Wed, 22 Feb 2017 16:19:25 +0000

When we were younger, “Stop, Drop, and Roll” was the phrase we learned from a fireman about what to do when we find our clothing on fire. Apparently, this phrase can also come in handy when we are older and trip over a curb. I think (hope,pray) it saved my wrist and it definitely kept my face from hitting the pavement. So far, no one I know has claimed to have video. The Astros have been in Spring Training mode for a week now. The best news I’ve heard so far is that Preston Tucker is 100% healthy. He had huge success in the minor leagues and he has spent time each of the last two years in everyday lineup. If he can combine health with production in spring games, he may give the team leaders reason to move Aoki or Marisnick. One of our neighborhood kids is not quite two and actually enjoys falling down. She has a much shorter distance to fall than I do, and God designed us to be more robust when we are little. As I “hopped” up from rolling on the ground I remembered the feeling of getting up from all my days as a kid. The worst memories are from football practice when the coaches had us fall to the ground while running in place. I’m not sure kids still do that, but it works muscles you don’t tend to use otherwise. It also brought back good memories of diving for baseballs. Since we often played on a somewhat rocky field, diving was left for those times we knew it was the only way to reach the ball and we knew we could get it. Watching major league players today, the good ones dive all the time. Guys like Marisnick make great plays (or stopping the ball from going past) seem like the ordinary. Some guys dive after missed balls just to stop quicker. Those fields are in great shape to allow that. Preston Tucker is not one who routinely makes diving catches, but he needs to learn to “stop, drop and roll” if he is going to be the Astros left fielder. He might hit enough to be the DH, but I’d prefer Beltran to be able to sit and hit everyday. Jake Marisnick and Preston Tucker have different development curves. Jake was moved to the major league roster because of his defense and his hitting was not allowed time to develop in the safety of the minors. Preston Tucker was brought up because of his hitting and his defense has not been developed in the safety of the minors. What is interesting is that they both may start the season in AAA with the chance to catch on fire and “Stop, Drop, and Roll” without worrying about Tal’s Hill.

Catcher and the Designated Hitter

Fri, 24 Feb 2017 19:35:40 +0000

I was disturbed by a comment made by AJ Hinch the other day. (Note: this is a long one, only about the Astros.) Reportedly, he said he would not use Gattis and McCaan at the same time in a game to preserve the designated hitter spot in the lineup. When I was little, the pitcher hit. The National League has yet to add the designated hitter, and it resembles the game I grew to love. The designated hitter was added in 1974. The main reasons, as I understood them, were to keep good hitters who could not field in the game and keep pitchers who can’t hit from hitting. Carl Yastrzemski and Rusty Staub were two players I really liked that ended their careers in different fashions in the two different leagues. Yastrzemski was the designated hitter the last two years getting several at bats a game and providing more than the pitcher would. Rusty was “the” pinch hitter and spent years hitting once a game in tight situations and producing more than whoever he hit for. My problem with not using Gattis and McCann in the game at the same time is it basically limits the two power hitters to 600 at bats over the season. Similar to how Staub was only good for one at bat a game and how his not going to the AL ended up limiting the potential value of Staub to his team. Limiting Gattis and McCann to the catchers spot will really limit their value to the team as they had almost 1000 plate appearances between the two last year. The goal for a GM is to assemble a team will the best chance to win. The goal for the manager is to use the team the GM has assembled and try to win as many games as possible in the regular season and beyond. The key to success for each of these roles is to have a brain and use it. Gattis hit 32 home runs last year in 447 at-bats. That is a lot of power. McCann hit 20 home runs in 429 at bats. Not bad, but not as impactful as Gattis. In a normal left/right platoon, McCann could be expected to get about 400 at bats and Gattis only 200. This would cut Gattis’s value in half and hurt the impact on the team. Trying to get Gattis more at bats before McCann actually leaves the game requires double switches and uses two players weakening the production of the bench. The underlying premise is that you don’t want to have removed your starting catcher too early and have to go to the non-catcher if the backup gets hurt. The consequence here is only the loss of one game, at the most. The odds of a catcher getting hurt in a game are not zero, but they are not significant. Therefore, the real risk is low. You still might win with the non-catcher catching. The reward of using your powerful hitting catchers together in games is that they hit better when hitting more often and your get nice production from them. If every hitter we have is better than Gattis, then I can see him riding the pine, but who else had 32 homers last year? The principle premise is that you don’t want the pitcher hitting. I totally understand this premise, but that is what a bench and a bullpen are to prevent. And also, sometimes, they sometimes do make a positive contribution from the plate. So if Gattis is the DH and McCann is catching, hitting for the DH is a substitution and the only issue is the backup catcher issue. The injury risk isn’t high and so the move is made and on the game goes. With both in the lineup, hitting for the catcher forces the DH to move to catcher and releases the spot the catcher is in to the pitcher. If we have pinch hit for the catcher, it means that we feel the new hitter gives a chance to win the game that letting the catcher hit does not. Getting help from the bench is why we have a bench. When a lefty is starting, Reddick would be coming off the bench with a chance to pinch hit for Gattis when a righty comes in late in relief. When a righty is starting, maybe Gonzalez comes in to pinch hit for McCann. If Gattis and McCann are even our 8th and 9th best hitters, they need to be in the lineup to give us a better chance to win. Even if we have pulled the catcher and lost the DH, it puts us back to managing like it was a National League game. Pinch hit for the pitcher, make double switches, have the pitcher bunt, have the pitcher not swing, or whatever helps you win. In the end, I think Hinch is signaling that he is over relying on the numbers. He needs to understand the numbers, but he needs to remember that the numbers are based on individual performances of individual people in individual circumstances, and statistics spread out the highs and the lows that created them. How many times did Derek Jeter make a hit to win a game? He was a great player, but Carlos Correa already has more game winning hits. I encourage Hinch to learn the numbers, and play the numbers across the season, but in any individual situation, I encourage him to take the risk on his players and use all of the lineup. At the end of a Mets game, we knew Rusty would come in with the game on the line and perform better than most anyone else on the team. I sure would like to have some one like that on my AL team hitting the whole game instead of just at the end.  

End Pitchers Hitting

Sat, 25 Feb 2017 16:41:02 +0000

While creating my last post, I realized I was for a change to the game I love. I am now for redefining the rules that designate a hitter as hitting for the pitcher and make it the spot in the lineup that doesn’t have to field. And I do mean to end the difference between the two leagues. Back when I played fantasy baseball, I knew the rules and I used them to my advantage. Each year we changed the rules to make it easier for those that didn’t use them to their fullest extent to compete. I liked winning, but victory is sweeter when it is harder to come by. There is an interesting part of the Bible when a leader of God’s army is instructed to decrease the number of men he is taking into battle. Gideon was the leader’s name and he started with 32,000 men. Gideon sent 22,000 home, but that was still too many. Those who lapped the water from there hands got to stay and go into battle; the final number was 300. So naturally, I always wanted to drink water from my hand after reading the story. Gideon is victorious, but due to the small number of fighters used everyone knows it is only because of the power of God. One of the first times I felt moved to ending pitchers hitting was when the Yankees came to Houston and one of their better pitchers was injured running the bases. He had hardly ever done anything but pitch his whole life and now he was trying to help the team by running. Running is easy, supposedly, but maybe not at the major league level over bumps in your path at full speed in front of God and everybody. Wang was a front of the rotation starting pitcher for the Yankees before the injury. Afterwards, he was a footnote. The rules of baseball were made up a really long time again and have been evolving ever since. Right now the league and the players are fighting over the size of the strike zone and who gets to decide on how big it is. The focus of the league has always been to make money for the owners and for the players. The owners should not want to put the Clayton Kershaw’s of the world as risk hitting or running when someone like David Ortiz can do it better. I, for one, do not watch non-Astros games, but I did sneak in a few at-bats of the World Series. It was torturous to see pitchers hitting in the World Series. Corey Kluber got a hit and had to run the bases in the second inning. What if he had been the one to get hurt and end his run as a top notch starter? Of course, the whole Hinch theory of not playing Gattis and McCann in the same game is what pushed me over the top. All the years of studying the game and the strategy to let the starter keep going, pinch hit for him, pull a double switch, bunt, and beyond becomes null an void. It is why I don’t like the AL as much as the NL. But once you have removed that strategy, the whole concept of roster construction being modified to keep from having to do so borders on the asinine. “I have two good catchers, but I am not going to use them a the same time on the off chance that I might have to pull my pitcher for a pinch hitter.” Really? I’ve had my doubts about Hinch in the past. I still harbor thoughts that better management in that game against Kansas City would have gotten us to the World Series again. But now, I am just praying the team performs so well his limits do not prevent our World Series victory. God can do that if He wants.

Let the games begin

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 13:22:42 +0000

Saturday spring training games started. Spring training is a cross between fun and work. The players are trying to earn a living, but doing so while playing a game where winning isn’t really important. I have traditionally ignored spring training games, as they are not the regular season, but the progress of the players through the camp and the perception of that progress has huge impacts on the regular season. Last Spring, Tyler White showed enough progress to be in the Opening Day lineup. He started the season on fire and even won a player of the week award. It earned him a large number of at bats early in the season. But it was his first spring training, his first time on a major league roster, and he struggled with the rigors of the major leagues. He came back later in the season adjusted and ready to perform, so this spring training is a chance for him to win another opening day roster spot. The two seasons I visited spring training were all focused on getting baseball cards, balls, and a Berkman jersey signed. It was a ton of fun and we got to see and speak with a lot of the players on the team and coming up through the system. Being a rule stickler, I buy only official cards, and official balls, and authentic jerseys. Being frugal, I bought used baseballs on ebay, cheap cards off ebay, and a low cost jersey on ebay. (Anyone sensing a pattern?) My intent was to get items that would mean something to me and not necessarily create extra value to sell (on ebay). So all these things sit in the media room with the other used balls and cheap cards. Some day when I no longer have a house, the girls will probably keep a few and give the rest away. These first five games will give those with a chance at the rotation their first opportunity to show their stuff against the competition. Peacock, Rodgers, Musgrove, Fiers, and Devenski will start and all five could be in a major league rotation come April. There is almost no way we trade three of these guys over the Spring to make that happen, but at least one will get some April starts for the Astros. Our church congregation is moving to a permanent building later this Spring. The excitement feels similar to the build up of spring training. The difference is that we are not working to enrich ourselves, but others and we are not working for fun but for joy. We are working to share Christ with our community and doing so through and for authentic relationships with Him. And we are not doing this that don’t count. Each day we have an opportunity to work for Christ and show others that true hope springs eternal life.  

A month of Sundays

Wed, 01 Mar 2017 13:31:15 +0000

When I was little, this phrase indicated that someone hadn’t seen you in a really long time. More recently, it has come to mean the length of a baseball season. Over twenty nine weeks from early April to early October, major league baseball tries to determine who will be in the playoffs with 162 games. The picture in my brain that goes along with this phrase is an older lady coming up to our family at a church picnic all happy to see us. I didn’t understand how it could be a month of Sundays since we last saw her as we went to church every week and she did too, but I was just a kid. Of course as a little kid, I took it to mean a month or four weeks since the only time we would see hem was on Sundays. Now that we have opportunities that keep us from church on some Sundays, and have roles to volunteer with when at church, and the same is true of our friends, it can seem like months of Sundays between seeing our friends at church. So the question arises whether there is anything good or bad about a month of Sundays. Does it matter if I don’t see my friends for 29 weeks? A discussion we had in Sunday School last week talked about our mission field. Generally, mission fields are thought of as far away places like Hungary. One of my cousins looks to be called there with some of his kids. But most people have a mission field much closer. It can be there own home, their neighborhood, their place of work, or their friends they see every month of Sundays. One of the phrases that rings repeatedly with me is be intentional. I don’t think any of the Astros became professional baseball players without being intentional. I didn’t get to be a professional engineer without being intentional. Most of the achievements we have as man came through being intentional. One area I do not do well in is being intentional with my friends. My keeping up with friends has been random and haphazard. I’ve tried at times to be intentional in this area, but it is not a strength. As a result, I have friends, but I have no plan for who to keep up with or how or when or anything. Its not a gift I was given and it isn’t a skill I have tried to develop. I do a bit better being intentional on having a mission field. My number one mission field is Big D and little d. I thank God for this mission field and do my best to fill them with knowledge of God’s love. My second mission field has always been my local church. From being an usher, to helping in children’s Sunday school, to leading adult bible based studies, I have always tried to be active in some helpful way. So I encourage you to look a the upcoming month of Sundays and intentionally work in your mission field.        

Roster Spot 1 – Getting Better, Always

Thu, 02 Mar 2017 12:37:06 +0000

So I am going to do a post for each man on the 25-man roster over the course of March. Then I will do the other guys on the 40-man roster the first two weeks of April. I’ll weave in what I can, but I started early. The first spot on the roster goes to Jose Altuve. The Astros signed Altuve as an amateur free agent from Venezuela back in 2007 when he was 17. He joined the major league team July 19, 2011 from AA and debuted the next day. He quickly became our best player and is now one of the best players in the league. Altuve will forever in my mind be linked to JD Martinez who also came up from AA in 2011 and has gone on to become one of the better players in the league, although not with the steady progress of Altuve. One of the key facets of today’s society is instant gratification. Marketing phrases like “You deserve it.” and “Buy now, pay later.” have fed this growing concern. This past season, AJ Reed was expected to come up and be a productive player instantly. He had time and success in AA and AAA, we needed production from first base, and he needed to deliver. He did not. We missed the playoffs and there is a feeling that his time as an Astro may have passed. I like to think about Mike Schmidt and his place as one of the best third basemen ever. Mike hit .206 and .196 his first two seasons in the majors. The next season he was an all-star and in the top ten voting for MVP. JD Martinez had three years of moderate production before the Astros cut him loose. The next season he was a powerhouse and became an 2015 All-star. The difference was a little bit of injury and bad luck as opposed to a hot streak and being in the right place at the right time. Jose Altuve by contrast has been productive since he came up and has gotten better every season. And according to Carlos Beltran, Jose is still itching to get even better. So I want to encourage you to make a long term goal of getting better and continually working to reach that goal. I’ve spent a lot of time last year not getting better in areas I wanted to be better in, but I’ve spent time this year getting a plan together and making progress getting better in the areas I need to and want to get better in. So join me. We might not crack the Astros roster this year, but we will be closer to who we want to be next year.

Roster Spot 2 – Follow the Rules…to our advantage

Fri, 03 Mar 2017 13:14:45 +0000

So this next spot goes to Marwin Gonzalez. Marwin debuted with the Astros on April 6, 2012. The Cubs signed him as a amateur free agent in 2005. We got the Red Sox to take him from the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft in 2011, traded for him, and kept him on the roster all of 2012. He has been our go to backup ever since. So today you learn one of my prejudices. I do not like rule breakers. I have always thought that the rules were made to be followed and changed if found to be wrong. I do like to take full advantage of rules when they are in my favor. God gave me things to have stewardship over, God gave me a brain, and He expects me to use it to His advantage. (Reference Jesus and His Story about leaving minas with the master’s servants.) Fouling in basketball was probably my most flagrant use of the rules, and I admit the way fouling can play out now in the NBA calls for a rule change, but I do like rules to be followed. Case in point, Marwin Gonzalez does not have a “real” rookie card. In late 2005, the powers that be decided rookie cards had a definition and needed to have a visual identification. In 2009, the powers that be decided that only Topps could make “official” baseball cards. In 2012, a company not named Topps made a card of Marwin Gonzlaez without the official designation of him as an Astro, and the nitwits of the industry decided that this card made by people not following my expectation of the rules had indeed made a “rookie” card of Marwin Gonzalez. I do not recognize this 2012 card as a “baseball” card, but my 2013 Topps cards of Marwin Gonzalez are ordinary without this rookie designation. I was trying to reinforce the idea of follow rules with little d the other day. I was using the guy who just ran the stop sign at the end of the street to make sure she knew she needed to stop at stop signs and red lights once she was driving. She didn’t like that too much. She thought I was about nine years too early to be talking about her driving, but if she is going to have the 911 someday, I want to make sure she understands the difference between rules like stopping at stop signs and recommendations like speed limits. So Marwin has been an Astro longer than anyone except Altuve and I hope he makes the team this year. I also hope he hardly ever plays as we have players with greater potential on the team, and I like the end of the game flexibility we have bringing him off the bench. He can switch hit. He can run. He is a great fielder at several positions and he can play pretty much anywhere for a couple innings. I’d even let him be the third catcher or the all else fails pitcher. He gives Hinch a nice tool to take advantage of the rules to help us win. Pretty cool when the #2 guy on your team is a role player.    

Winning the Season February / Roster Spot 25 – A misnomer?

Sat, 04 Mar 2017 14:28:17 +0000

I sat down to write about February and almost nothing happened. We signed a couple free agent minor leaguers, showed up to spring training, and played a few meaningless games. Nothing that could be considered a win, but nothing that could be considered a loss. March will be extremely important for this and every team trying to get to October. As previously noted, I like to track the Astros roster transaction by transaction. One thing I noted last year more than ever before is how often that last roster spot was used to move people on and off the active roster. The spring training battle to win that last spot will lead to a victory in name only. Whoever gets it will be doing good to last the week in the majors. Last year Michael Feliz lasted two days on the roster. in 2015, Asher Wojciechowski made it a week. In 2014, Matt Albers was replaced after a couple days. Each of these transactions have their own story, but the point is that they all happened about a week into the season and we should expect the same this year. One of the key things for the Astros this year will be what happens to those guys as they are cycled off the roster this year. As with JD Martinez the year before, we lost a number of guys off the roster last year with little or no return. Sure we got better players onto the roster that helped our chances to win, but each guy kept on the 40 man roster has value. Last year we released Wandy Rodriquez when he lost the battle for the fifth starters spot. Based on how our season went, that was a bad move that I had feared at the time. I have a soft spot for Wandy. We lost Danny Reynolds to waivers, we sent Kratz away for nothing (as I have railed on before), we lost the a fore mentioned Asher Wojciechowski to waivers, we lost Juan Minaya to waivers, we traded Eury Perez for cash, we traded Alfredo Gonzalez for cash, we lost Matt Duffy to waivers, and we sent Carlos Gomez away for nothing (way too late). We did trade Scott Feldman for Guadalupe Chavez and Josh Fields for Yordan Alvarez. Like any trade, we will have to wait and see if these turn out. But at least we got something for these two relievers. Josh was not doing well for us, so any return was positive. Scott was pitching really well for us and really would have been nice to have after Keuchel and McCullers went down. Brad Peacock had a bad day yesterday and he is out of options so he may be our first casualty. We will see if Luhnow can work some magic with the MLB roster this year.    

Roster Spot 3 – Superfractor

Sun, 05 Mar 2017 13:24:44 +0000

So way back in 2009, Topps made a Dallas Keuchel Bowman Chrome Superfractor. At some point, I got lucky and won this card on ebay. It was few and far between that I actually won cards like this back in the day, as I was trying to practice frugality, and some guy in middle America had a thing about buying every copy of every Astro card I wanted. I’m sure to this day he has most of the key Astro cards I do not, but I got his one. Dallas was drafted in 2009 by the Astros and made his debut June 7, 2012. Similar to Mike Schmidt, Dallas’s first two years were not awe inspiring. But also like Mike Schmidt, Dallas turned a corner his third year in the league and has been winning awards ever since. Early in 2014, I took the girls with me to Astros Fanfest. We had a great time and towards the end of the day, we noticed Dallas Keuchel was signing autographs for the kids. I sent Big D back through the line to see if Dallas would sign my Superfractor. It was apparent that Dallas had some idea of what the card was, as once Big D handed the card to him, his head was on a swivel to see if he real was supposed to sign this card. He eventually saw me and I nodded approval and he signed away. Little did I know he was about to make a two year run as one of the better pitchers in MLB. I’ve gathered that the rarer cards are rarely signed to ensure their value is not diminished by the possibility of a fake autograph, but as little wife says “It doesn’t matter what they are worth if you aren’t going to sell them.” I still like to collect Astros cards I don’t have, I still like to get the ones that are unique, and I still like to get the unique ones signed when I get the chance. I don’t worry about it damaging the card (I did ding a Aplin #/5 this Fanfest) and I don’t worry about the card losing value (I got four 1/1s signed this Fanfest), but I do worry that I might end up spending money on golf in the future instead of collecting more superfractors. But that would mean I was out with friends.  

Roster Spot 10 – Lofty Expectations

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 12:56:04 +0000

Carlos Correa. Like other Rookie of the Year award winners; Mike Trout, Kris Bryant, and Bryce Harper; great things are expected of Carlos as he begins his third major league season at the age of 22. Trout and Harper won the MVP at the age of 22 and Bryant has won his MVP in only his second season. Pretty lofty expectations. Correa was drafted with the first pick in the 2012 draft out of high school and was given the number 1. We all hope he stays with the Astros for a long successful career and that number gets retired next to 5 and 7 and gets the call to the Hall as well as they did. Pretty lofty expectations. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-165″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/correa-300×283.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”283″ /> Carlos made his debut on June 8, 2015. Several experts wanted him up earlier in the season and claimed the Astros were delaying his debut to get one more season out of him down the road. People argued that he could help the Astros get to the playoffs in 2015. Pretty lofty expectations. Jesus was born in a stable to the family of a carpenter and his wife. The Jewish expectation for the Messiah was to over throw the Roman government and bring everlasting, worldly domination to the deserving, chosen people of Jewish descent. Pretty lofty expectations. So I am not trying to compare Carlos Correa, a simple baseball player, to Jesus Christ, God Incarnate. The only one who can do that is Carlos himself (and he should). But I am trying to make a comparison of the expectations the world places on people. When I was little, I expected people to take care of the things I couldn’t. This included my mom making breakfast, the government keeping the communist at bay, and God having angels to watch over me. Now I know how lofty those expectations really were, especially when I cook little d eggs for breakfast. Now I have learned to temper my expectations. I expect to remember to eat breakfast. I expect to remember to take time to go vote. I do still however expect God to have angles watching over me. Even though I have tempered my personal expectations, I do expect Carlos Correa to put up MVP worthy numbers this year, to continue down the path of a Hall of Fame career, and to help bring us to the playoffs this year. I expect the same of Jose Altuve and George Springer. It would be nice if all three have better numbers than Trout this year (in a good way of course). So its not like I don’t have lofty expectations. One last expectation. What does Christ expect of us? Simply to believe in Him. One lofty expectation we can all meet.

Roster Spot O – Productivity, Consistently

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 12:34:20 +0000

I watched a little of the Astros game the other day. I caught George Springer giving a very entertaining interview to Julia Morales and Julia Morales interviewing an very entertaining student. It kept my mind busy while I did the laundry, but I’m not sure I learned a whole lot about the team. So in sequencing my roster spot discussions, I started with the guys who debuted in the majors as Astros and were a lock to make the team. So I got as far as 6 before I really understood how likely the DL and roster crunch may determine the fate of so many of our young Astros. Two of these 6 are coming off the DL and one is a role player. So going forward, all my write ups will assume no one goes to the DL and we will adjust if that affects anyone. So next we come to Josh Reddick. Josh was signed to a four year deal this off season and will debut with the Astros the first day we face a righty starter. Josh just turned 30, debuted in 2009, and has 96 major league home runs. Lets face it, Josh Reddick is no Mike Trout. Josh was not brought in to carry the team to the playoffs. He was brought in to give stability to a second position in the outfield. In 2015, we started the season with Springer, Rasmus, and Marisnick. Rasmus had a good season, Springer played a good half season, and Marisnick played himself out of the lineup. In 2016, we started with Springer, Rasmus, and Gomez. Springer had his first full season, Rasmus had a good few weeks, and Gomez never showed up. From 2008 until 2011 we had an opening day outfield of Lee, Pence, and Bourn. That is what we call stability. The team is looking for Springer and Reddick to be in the opening day lineup together the next four years, or at least based on Reddick’s contract they are. Here is a link to our opening day lineups from baseball reference. <a href=”http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/HOU/opening.shtml”>http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/HOU/opening.shtml</a> In his eight years in the big leagues, Reddick has really only played two full seasons. He has never had more than 85 rbis or runs scored. He has only stolen a high of 11 bases a year. His second best home run total is only 20. So why did we give him a four year contract? Are we stupid? Reddick has earned a gold glove and he plays defense at the highest level. We expect four years of good defense from him. Reddick has hit 10 or more home runs, each of the last five seasons. Reddick has played over 100 gmes each of the last five seasons. Reddick has been in the playoffs four of the last five years. Reddick hits righties a lot better than lefties. Reddick was brought in to deliver the consistent production that we have not gotten the last few years. To some degree he was brought in to platoon with Marisnick who does not hit righties well, but plays phenomenal defense. Personally, I think Reddick will be good for the 2017 Astros, filling a void that Rasmus’s poor health left us. I hope that he is pushed aside soon by the likes of Preston Tucker, Teoscar Hernandez, Derek Fisher, Kyle Tucker, Daz Cameron, or Jason Martin as they develop over the next four years. All six of these guys could be on the Astros in 2019. (Note that Tucker was in the 2016 opening day lineup at DH.) Our offense is built around Springer, Bregman, Altuve, and Correa. Beyond that we have players like Reddick to provide stability and players like Tucker to provide potential. With the core we have, stability should be enough to be one of the best offenses we’ve ever had and bring productivity, consistently.

Life Insurance – Why it’s for you

Wed, 08 Mar 2017 13:31:04 +0000

One of the memories that cracks little wife up is from when a friend of ours asked me “So, it’s like you have … a sense… about numbers?” For those of you that don’t know, my fourth grade teacher got me started in math contests. Every so often we would spend a Saturday morning taking a math test. Once I got to high school, the test I remember taking was called Number Sense and the idea was to perform up to 80 math problems in 10 minutes. You got points for each one you got right and lost points for each one you missed. If you skipped one, it counted as a miss if you tried one after the one you skipped. It took a lot of work to get to where I could finally finish all 80 problems in 10 minutes. I never got all 80 right, but at that speed, its pretty challenging. So where did this sense about numbers get me? I am an engineer. In principle, I use scientific findings and apply them to real world issues and develop practical solutions. Its not all about math, but having a solid background in math sure does help. Big D has to pick classes for next year this week. Last year when she had to pick a class, I spent time understanding her options and presented them to her before she picked. She wanted to be an interior designer, so I based my assessment on that. One class she did not pick was Concepts in Engineering. A year later, I think I heard her say she wishes she had picked that one. I never heard her say she should have picked art instead of band, so maybe she is learning. So this year, I spent even more time understanding her options for next year and the impact it would have on high school. I think she wants to be an interior designer still, but I think she is more interested in taking the higher GPA classes. Peer pressure can be a really good thing, if you pick the right friends. Her career assessment has moved from website designer (which baffled her) to actuary (which she knew nothing about). So of course little wife was all excited Big D might be doing insurance. Since she didn’t know, we told Big D that an actuary used math to set insurance policy rates. I never heard of that when I was growing up, but it sounds pretty neat now. It seems it is all based on math and applying it to the real world. Actuaries are responsible for setting the policy rate for life insurance so that the company should make money on the premiums even when some of the people holding policies actually die. A number of people get life insurance for “free” at work and don’t really think about it too much. The problems with that are that you lose it when you leave that job and you might not actually have enough value to cover your needs. In reality, once you die, you need nothing but to have given your life to Christ, but the people you leave behind might be in a pretty bad spot. The whole idea behind life insurance is that you provide for those you would be providing for if you were still alive. If you have a spouse, you want them to continue to live at the same level their were living at with you. This is really important when you get older and are relying on pensions, social security, and savings to pay for retirement. If you have kids and a spouse, it is really important that you provide for retirement as well as funds to get the kids through their education. If you have kids and your spouse is already dead or dies when you do, it is of the utmost importance that you provide funds to care for your kids. God gave us kids to bring up to be self sufficient and dying and leaving them in the poor house is a major failure. Some people even take out life insurance policies so their estate can provide for their church or other charities. So I am not a life insurance agent, but I know people who are. If you don’t have life insurance and you have a spouse or kids, you need to get some or be rich. Most likely if you are rich, you have life insurance already. Call an agent, find out how much you should have, and then stick in it the budget. The younger you are when you figure this out, the cheaper it will be.    

Roster Spot B – Implementing Wisdom

Thu, 09 Mar 2017 13:41:52 +0000

Carlos Beltran joined the team over the winter on a one year free agent contract. Carlos was a second round draft pick by the royals in 1995. My 911 turns 21 this month and hadn’t been built when Carlos started his professional career. Kind of make me feel old. That and finding out this weekend that one friend from school had died, another had bypass surgery, and another close friend is in the hospital with heart issues. Extra specific praying going on now. I’ve mentioned Carlos in a few posts, but beyond his switch hitting for solid productivity as a hitter, one big reason he was brought in was to provide a bit of leadership to the team. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes as does the leadership they actually provide. Sometimes leaders are young guys who see a goal and charge after it expecting others to follow. Sometimes leaders are nearly silent guiding with glares or short statements. But lots of times, leaders are folks who had been there and done that and are actively guiding others towards a goal, away from problems, and doing so while teaching the next set of leaders. Leaders like this have something that others don’t. I call it wisdom, and I define it as knowing the right thing to do. But generally, being wise is attributed to old men sitting around waiting for someone to ask their opinion. Most young people are not going to take the time to seek out wisdom from old people. They generally want to be wild and crazy while young so they can have experience to make them wise to help their grand babies or however that country song goes. Carlos Beltran has experience. He came to the big leagues from Puerto Rico, he came up as the home grown product, he experienced losing, he experienced being traded, he experienced the pennant chase, he experienced free agency with a big contract, he experienced injury, he experienced poor play, he experienced being booed, he experienced playing in the small markets and the big markets, and lots of things in between. In baseball, he knows the right thing to do and he was very successful putting it to use last year. Solomon was the king of Israel and is reported to have been the wisest person to have ever lived. It seems he had pleased God and God promised to give him what he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom to lead the people of Israel and God delivered. Solomon wasn’t perfect, but he had a huge impact on those around him. We can all learn about Solomon and wisdom from the Bible, but lets hope the Astros can learn how to win from Beltran, again.  

Roster Spot W – Waiver Claim

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 13:27:05 +0000

Will Harris was claimed off waivers November 3, 2014. At the time, he had three seasons with 110 games under his belt. He had a 4.34 ERA that last season in Arizona, and they decided they had 40 better people than him. The Astros thought otherwise. There is an old phrase “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” This phrase cuts two ways. One way is that the one man has much and the other has little and the perception of the item is all relative to what they have. My old Casio watch I had in school was a treasure for me because it was the only watch I had and I needed to know what time it was. My new Casio watch is a minimal value tool that only gets worn when I have to wear one when doing something wet or sweaty. Maybe not trash, but definitely not a treasure. The second way is when two people value the same thing differently based on person preferences and not just monetary issues. One example of this is baseball jerseys. I have a Lance Berkman jersey signed and hanging on the wall from when he was an Astro. Maybe not a treasure, but definitely not trash. If someone gave me a Berkman jersey from his days as a Ranger, I would get rid of it as quickly as possible. Another example of personal preferences is based on understanding of what the value of the item is. This is the case with Will Harris. The Diamondbacks felt he had little value and the Astros knew that he was a diamond in the rough. He has been phenomenal as an Astro and we are expecting the same thing going forward. Will Harris is not our only successful waiver claim, but he is one of the keys to our success in 2017. A final example of the phrase and personal preferences is on perception of relationships and religions. Some people perceive Jesus as a long dead prophet, an old wives’ tale, or a mass delusion. For me, Jesus is a living being, the loving God, and my relationship with Him is treasured above even my wife and kids. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” My treasure is one I can share. Is yours?

Roster Spot 6 – Flaws

Tue, 21 Mar 2017 14:41:28 +0000

When I was growing up, I had a friend who stuttered. I’m sure we made fun of him more than we should have, but we were friends and I don’t remember thinking any less of him just because he stuttered. I am not a sociologist and haven’t studied the impact stuttering can have on people being successful later in life, but I’m sure it has some. When George Springer was drafted in 2011, I was excited by the abilities he had displayed on the field in college. At some point later, I learned he had stuttered as a child and he now uses his position to help awareness of the issue. I haven’t spent time with George enough to know if he still has issues with stuttering, but I know he is a big part of the culture of the Astros and has a television or radio microphone around him a lot before and after games. I can only imagine the courage it takes to deal with that each day if he is still dealing with the issue. When I was a kid I don’t remember any stage fright. I may have avoided those situations like the plague, but the friends I am most comfortable with at school reunions are those from elementary days. When I was in junior high, my first memories of crowds appear and I wish they weren’t so prominent. I apparently wasn’t avoiding them as well as I had been or I was just doing worse with the larger crowds of junior high. High school was worse. Our little school had thousands of kids and I knew few and we had so many more opportunities to be in front of a crowd. Maybe I should have taken a speech class along the way instead of computer math. College was easier as it was easy to not be in front of a crowd. My first real opportunity to hit stage fright head on was the first Sunday I taught Couples without Kids. I knew everyone in the class, but all of a sudden everyone was looking at me and expecting revelations from God. Ok, so maybe not revelations from God, but at least someone who could string a few thoughts together. I still have flashbacks of how much I sweated that day. By the time Bid D came along and we left that class in the past, I was not afraid to speak in front of people and now only avoid it like a common cold. George made his debut in the Show on April 16, 2014. When not injured, he has show all the potential we hoped for back in 2011. I think he has the potential to perform better than anyone else on the team and the team is stacked with some of the best talent in the league. I hope for only the best from him this year and maybe I’ll have time to go to his bowling night this year. Thinking back to the last two homeowner’s meetings, I doubt anyone there thought I had ever been afraid of public speaking. But I know it is right there in the back of my brain trying to keep me from succeeding. The old standard trick doesn’t work well for me, but I find that if I remember who I am trying to glorify, I can deal with discomfort.

Roster Spot B – Second thoughts

Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:59:33 +0000

Tony Sipp was signed as a free agent by the Astros in May of 2014. Kind of strange to sign a free agent in May, but he didn’t make the Padres out of Spring Training and they let him sign a big league deal with the Astros. Sipp pitched two seasons well for the Astros and we signed him for a big three year deal. This past season he didn’t perform as well in the situations the Astros asked him to pitch in and many had second thoughts about the big three year contract. When I originally read the highlights of the penalty MLB hit the Cardinals with for spying on the Astros: The first two Cardinals picks in this year’s draft. I was like “Wow!” I knew it needed to be harsh as the person who did it got about four years in prison, but I wasn’t expecting the Astros to make out so well. Eventually, I learned the first pick will be the middle of the second round (#56) and the second one will be the last one before the third round (#75). We get $2,000,000 in cash and bonus allotment to pay for the two picks, but not as exciting as I thought. I guess I was expecting two picks like the ones St Louis had last year: their first round pick (#23) and their first free agent loss pick (#33). I was having second thought about how well the Astros made out. Last year, we got Ronnie Dawson at pick 61; in 2015, we got Thomas Eshelman in the second round and Riley Ferrell early in the third round; and in 2014, we got AJ Reed in the second round and JD Davis early in the third round. So we are talking about the opportunity to land some very talented players. Not Kyle Tucker, Francis Martes, Alex Bregman, or Joe Musgrove, but talent none the less. So some degree people were having second thoughts about the Astros dealing for Quintana and thinking these two picks would help us recover. I expect the Astros draft team will be especially busy this spring trying to bring out the best indicators of future value for the franchise. Four of our top 30 prospects were drafted last year. Four more were signed from the international pool last year. So with our own picks and these two from St Louis, we could easily get five more top 30 level prospects come June. Maybe I’m having second thoughts about trading for Quintana. Not! The interesting piece for me is that a Cardinal employee was found to have stolen some of the information that teams believe is vital to being competitive and the Cardinals only lost $2,000,000. For a team that wins almost every year and has a tremendous following, that isn’t a lot of money. As it turns out, it is the most the league could take, and in the grand scheme of things, the Astros got as much as could be given. Maybe the league is having second thoughts about how much they can give up when others cheat. So the penalty may not have been fair, and the compensation may not really make up for the damage, but at least we got compensation. Tony Sipp still is a lefty reliever and the team feels it has found his solution is a different arm slot than he used last year. I still think he needs to be used as a pitcher and not as a lefty specialist, but apparently the team isn’t asking my opinion. I’m sure they are having second thoughts about the need for a second lefty, a third catcher, an extra hitter, or just the best arm we have at the end of the bullpen. I hope Sipp and his arm slot are the solution, but I still have second thoughts about multi year pacts for role players.

Roster Spot 8 – Arrogant or Confident

Thu, 23 Mar 2017 16:48:59 +0000

Lance McCullers was taken by the Astros in the first round of the 2012 draft as the 41st pick. He was drafted out of High School, is the son of Lance McCullers Sr, and has Scott Boras for an agent. With all of this, I originally expected him to be arrogant. Lance had pitched in seven AA games when he made his major league debut on May 18, 2015. He had an ERA of 5.47 in High A the year before, but he had the talent and the skill set to come to the majors at the age of 21. It seemed he also had a sense of humor with his batman shoes. We went to see the Lego Batman movie the other day. I love that these movies are made for the parents these days. I really enjoyed that movie. Not to be a spoiler or anything, but Batman was a portrayed as a lonely guy in the movie. A lonely guy who was arrogant. Most of my batman experience was based on the TV show and this lonely arrogant creation is newer to me, but consistent with the comics I didn’t read. So it turns out, Lance McCullers is really confident in himself and his abilities. Lance was our second best starter in 2015, and when healthy, was our best starter in 2016. He is coming into the season only 23 years old and expected to be the best or second best starter on a team aiming for a World Series victory. Seems like a recipe for someone to be arrogant. One of the keys to how people grow up is who they are influenced by. Many people have been influenced by a guy named Jesus. Jesus is not an uncommon name, but this particular Jesus has been identified as Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus came to save us from our sins and to serve us. His example of humility is beyond worldly expectations and in this case has keep Lance McCullers from being arrogant and merely confident. Lance leads his twitter profile off with “Saved by Christ” and he is one of a number of current and former Astros minor leaguers who use social media to proclaim the work of Christ. Lance has been working all offseason to not repeat his injury filled 2016 and I’m sure that if healthy, he will provide quality starts for the Astros. Note that Lance is younger than everyone in line to be an Astros starter soon except David Paulino who made his debut last fall at the age of 22 and is just a few months younger than Lance, and Francis Martes who is 21 and may make his debut this year. Hopefully, Lance can rub off on them as well.    

Roster Spot Q – Division of Duties

Fri, 24 Mar 2017 15:52:31 +0000

When I think of platoons, I first think of military matters and large groups. I also think of a movie that I’m not sure I ever saw. But when I think of platoon, I think of third base for the Astros back when I was paying attention to Nolan Ryan. A little research shows the best combination was in 1986 when the Astros had some success with Denny Walling and Phil Garner. The two combined for 87 runs, 19 homers, and 86 rbis back in the dome. Much better than the two ever did on their own. Last year’s lineup was very right handed with Altuve, Springer, Correa, Bergman, Gurriel, Gattis, Marisnick, White, Hernandez, and Gomez. So over the winter we added a number of left handers: Aoki, Reddick, and McCann, as well as a switch hitter in Beltran to go along with Gonzalez. I have railed against using platoons with developing players, but with veterans, it can be a very productive option. So this year, we will have an outfield platoon or two. As of now, Reddick and Aoki will be in the lineup against right handers with Beltran in the DH spot. McCann is expected to catch at these times, so all of our new pickups will be in the lineup on these days. On days we face lefties, we expect Reddick and Aoki to sit. On these days, Beltran will play left, Gattis will catch, someone will DH, and Jake Marisnick will play the outfield. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-168″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jake-214×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”214″ height=”300″ /> Jake joined the Astros in a trade on July 31, 2014 along with Colin Moran Francis Martes, and a draft pick that brought Daz Cameron. This was a huge haul for the Astros. Jake is one of if not the best center fielder in the game today. He has a strong accurate arm, he has speed to run down balls, he has great diving skills to reach or stop balls just out of running reach, and he lines himself up well for the throw after the catch. While Jake’s hitting has never really had a chance to develop, he is much stronger against lefties. Before 1986, the Astros had a couple of really nice platoons in left field. The first was in 1966 with Lee Maye and Dave Nicholson combining for 74 runs, 19 homers, 67 rbis, and a .270 average. Then in 1976, Jose Cruz and Leon Roberts combined for 80 runs, 11 homers, 90 rbis, and a .298 average. Cruz emerged as a star for the team after this year in a platoon and is still loved by Astros fans today. The team is hoping for the same from Jake this season and beyond. Before the first time I finished this blog, I had never thought of a platoon with me and Jesus. In theory, I could do all the easy stuff and He could do all the hard stuff. Since everything is hard for me, that would end up with Him doing pretty much everything. Come to think of it, life does work better when I just get myself out of His way. Seems like the kind of platoon we could all use. So the Astros seem to have built two platoons and we will have days with Marisknick and Beltran in the outfield. It may not be a great way to develop a career, but maybe it will be a great way to develop a winning team.

Roster Spot L – Trade our veterans

Sat, 25 Mar 2017 13:25:07 +0000

I was reading a book the other day and was pleased to know their were seven more to go in the series as I found I enjoyed reading this book. I have found that I like to read about the ongoing circumstances of characters when the author is good and the stories push along to a conclusion. Recently, I read all the Asimov Robot/Foundation books again and even some written by others after he died. Lots of books, lots of words, and a long, long story. The Astros added Luke Gregerson a couple years ago on a three year deal. Gregerson’s stats look like the same thing over and over again. About 70 innings and an era of about 3. We have used him a lot as the closer and he may still get a few chances here and then this year. We expect the same from him this year as every year and the only question is do we let him walk as a free agent at the end of the year. So after reading the 8th book in this new series, I do not hold the author in high regard. It seems every book got shorter and shorter and pulled more and more repeat material from the ones before. I understand making each book stand alone, but rehashing the same facts in eight different books was just mind numbing. Its hard to use a book as a distraction if you keep trying to put it down. The concept that comes to mind here is how the sixty six books of the bible tie so well together. If you haven’t read it, it is a long, long story about a set of characters, and pushes to a satisfying conclusion. Definitely on my recommended reading list. Focusing on it can distract you from a lot of worse things going on in the world. So one of my themes of the off season has been for the Astros to learn how to take advantage of the depth of talent on the team without losing value. One option for the team is to trade veterans while still under contract. This is what they did with Pat Neshek this winter, although I haven’t seen what we got back for him yet. This year we have Gregerson and Beltran that will play with no contract obligations for next year. If the season tanks, I expect we try to trade them for the pennant race. If we are winning, normally we would expect to lose them in free agency for nothing. We entered into both contracts expecting to win games and lose them at the end of the season, but is this really the way to stay competitive? Right now we have Gregerson, Giles, Harris, Feliz, Devenski, and Sipp in the bullpen with Hoyt, Gustave, Guadun, Toliver, a host of starters, and some other minor leaguers getting ready. So come August when other teams are desperate and we have a free agent to be of closer quality, doesn’t it make sense to trade and let our other arms take over? I really like Gregerson and I like the idea of having all this talent in the pen, but I suggest we keep our ears open. Right now we have Beltran as a major force on the team, but we have Tucker, Reed, Moran, Davis, Hernandez, Fisher, Laureano, and other minor leaguers getting ready. So come August when other teams are desperate and we have a free agent hitter of his quality, doesn’t it make sense to trade and let our other hitters take over? I really like Beltran and I like the idea of having all this talent for 40 man roster time, but I suggest we keep our ears open. Is that too much repeating of material?

Roster Spot I – I wanna trade

Sun, 26 Mar 2017 21:45:01 +0000

Ken Giles joined the Astros last offseason in a huge trade. We picked up Giles and Jonathan Arauz for Mark Appel, Harold Arauz, Vincent Velasquez, Thomas Eshelman, and Brett Oberholtzer. Appel got hurt, so no feedback on that aspect of the trade. Harold Arauz did ok at Class A. Eshelman struggled going to AA. Oberholtzer did much of nothing before moving on. Jonathan Arauz stayed at rookie ball all year. The key to this deal was Velasquez for Giles. Giles had two great seasons as a reliever and was poised to be an elite closer for years to come. Velasquez was coming off a solid MLB debut after years of arm trouble. Velasquez had his most starts ever in one year and showed flashes of potential. Giles overcame a slow start to put up a decent season. 2017 is the year that we find out if Giles was worth the haul we gave up for him. As I sit putting off going to the grocery store, I see my list of blog ideas on the back of an old grocery list. I was so excited when I started that I just had ideas flowing and wanted to get them down before I forgot them. Months later, I wonder when I will ever get to the ones on prejudice. Those topics are in the news everyday, so maybe the audience is almost ready. Today I heard continued rumors that the Astros are interested in trading for another starter, but the White Sox are still stuck on players the Astros aren’t trading. I find this entertaining. One rumor that an “expert” floated around was Quintana for Musgrove, Martes, and Kyle Tucker. I find this hilarious as Musgrove is likely to be as good as Quintana this year, Martes will be better than him next year, and both will be controlled for more years than Quintana. Tucker is still a couple years away and has a ton of talent between him and starting. Martes and Tucker are #1 and #2 on our list of top prospects and Musgrove is of course graduated from the list. That sounds like a pipe dream rather than a legitimately expected return. Boston traded their top prospect, their fifth prospect, their eight prospect and their 28th for Sale who is a good bit better than Quintana. If we offered the same level of deal, we would be giving Martes #1, Whitley #5, Laureano #8, and Wrenn #28. I could see giving up Tucker #2, Whitely #5, and even Perez #6, but not Musgrove, Martes, and Tucker. What I want to see is what we can get for Moran, Kemp, Peacock, Fiers, Hernandez, White, and Singleton. None of them look to be in our future (assuming those slots go to Reed and Preston Tucker), and they all have a ton of talent and are in between the prospect list and the 25 man roster and we may lose them to waivers or rule 5 picks.

Roster Spot K – Vacation Mode

Mon, 27 Mar 2017 20:50:15 +0000

Brian McCann came to the Astros this winter for two very young, hard throwing minor league pitchers. Opening Week will see his debut as our catcher of the present. This is a scan of a card of his I had at the time. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-35″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Scan0001-203×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”203″ height=”300″ /> Same card now after Fanfest looks like this: <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-185″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/brad2-223×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”223″ height=”300″ /> As some may know, I spent last week on a ship between here and yonder. little wife and I used to go on cruises as often as we could pull the money together. A week away from work, all the food you can eat, nice weather, and stuff to do (or not do). Who doesn’t love that? I found that I really wanted to be home working and generating income. Something different from using vacation back when I worked for someone else to simply not getting paid now that I work for myself. Maybe more to do with everything that has happened to get the paying work started than really wanting to work. I found that I am now highly critical of food. On trips before, I would eat until I couldn’t, but this week, I found myself only eating things that I really enjoyed. Pushing away a filet mignon, was new for me. But it had to be the worse one I ever tasted. The weather was awfully nice, but for a variety of reasons I was as content indoors as out on this trip. More on that later or another time. Stuff to do or not? We had so many options that it really seemed as if it was often easier to do nothing than to try to pick what to do. And that was even before we got on the ship. Our cruise director was probably sorry she gave anyone options for all the help she got. She made fantastic picks, but getting 17 people in the right spot every couple hours was probably too much to ask for . So after years of waiting for a real catcher and months of waiting for the real catcher to play, we soon will get to see Brian McCann not be the catcher we wished Jason Castro could be. McCann should deliver what our team needs: a veteran presence behind the plate, some good at bats, and someone to help keep the goal a World Series victory. What is interesting about the Astros offseason is that it didn’t allow for focus on how bad any of the “big” moves might have really been. Everyone knew Castro was moving on, so the Astros did, gave up talent, took on salary, got an old catcher, and everyone was happy. We knew Gomez and Rasmus were big busts, so replacing them with an expensive waiver wire claim (Aoki) and a long term, big dollar deal for a platoon player (Reddick) were deemed necessary and not desperate throwing around of cash and clogging the outfield. $16,000,000 for one year of a really old guy (Beltran) following a four year $47,000,000 deal for an older Cuban star (Gurriel) were not seen as preventing us from getting an Edwin Encarnacion, but as allowing the past a second chance and betting on talent. These perspectives will be swept away with a World Series victory, but they will be hammered if we don’t. All my negative points from the cruise would have been swept away if I didn’t walk away with a sinus issue. As it is, after a week of this, I wish I hadn’t gone on vacation. Just kidding. It is spring time, hope springs eternal, the whole point of baseball is to try and win. The whole point of vacation is to spend time away from the normal with friends and family. Not playing baseball and not going on vacation are the same, retirement! Lets hope Brian has a few good seasons before then.

Roster Spot 4 – Give me a learning expereience

Wed, 29 Mar 2017 02:15:31 +0000

Alex Bregman was our top pick and number 2 overall in 2015. The spot came from our failure to sign the overall number one pick the year before. So it seems like it was a good failure on our part. He made his debut July 25, 2016 at the age of 22. Note that he is older than Carlos Correa (by six months). He may also be a better shortstop than Carlos Correa. Along with Correa and Altuve, Alex will be a star part of our infield for the next three years to match Springer in the outfield. Alex got picked to go play in the World Baseball Classic and the Astros let him. I was surprised he was picked, I was surprised the Astros let him, but I wasn’t surprised at the results. He is a 22 year old kid and the USA has some really good third baseman. So Alex sat while the others played. Hopefully it was a learning experience for him. I have had a learning experience or two over the course of my life. One of the more recent has been along side a huge debate in the national media. It revolves around who can use what bathroom. The first I heard of it really was when Houston had a gay mayor and she used her influence to get the city to approve modifying the rules on who could use what bathroom and impact how bathrooms were configured in public spaces. A huge out roar came from some who wanted to make men use the men’s room and women use the women’s room. Petitions were created, signatures were gathered, lawyers were called in to protest, and it all ended with people voting on a rule that had been portrayed as critically important. One rumor I heard was that the “left” had an agenda to erase gender identity in people and force everyone to treat everyone equally. Another rumor that I heard was that “conservatives” were defending their little girls from evil. So lets get this straight. Politicians in general do what they do for power and are happy to let people with money buy them power and help them out later for doing so. People with money in general want to do whatever they can to make more money. These concepts have come to be politically correct even though they are more closely associated with evil. Politics was built for people to lead the government in the direction that helps the general population. Taking other peoples money and doing favors for them was never supposed to be the role of a politician and any politician who does so is doing evil. Every politician who does not is not reelected. People with money who do not lie, cheat and steal, do not get money as quickly as those who do. Lying, cheating and stealing is evil. How come being evil is politically correct? Hint: Politicians and people with money set what is politically correct. So in the end, I had my life lesson when I went with my nephew, my brother in law, and my brother in law’s sibling to see a movie. My brother in law’s sibling walked into the ladies room as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I’ve known my brother in law’s sibling for many years now and this was something I hadn’t seen happen before. But it made sense. My brother in law’s sibling is making a transition from living as a male to living as a female. When these big issues happen in the political realm, it is abstract ideas being fought over by people with agendas that are fighting to keep their power and position. The real issues happen to individuals every day. I don’t want men with certain sexual problems in the same public bathroom as my daughters. But I don’t want women with kidnapping intentions in the same public bathroom as my daughters either. The idea here is that it is our responsibility to make sure our own daughters are safe in the bathrooms we let them go in and no rule made by politicians will ever substitute for us walking our children to the bathroom and making sure they are safe. I can guarantee that more little boys in men’s bathrooms with be subject to worse things than little girls in women’s bathrooms are from “deviant” men dressed as women. The problem we should be making our government address is how to identify people with mental issues and get them the help they need to keep the rest of us from suffering from their lapses in good judgement. Alex Bregman hopefully has learned that the new kid doesn’t get all the good toys, but maybe he will also gain a little hunger to help him become one of the big boys for next time.    

Roster Spot H – No Hablo Espanol

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 03:11:43 +0000

Oso Blanco is next up on our list. Otherwise known as Evan Gattis, our White Bear arrived January 14,2015 along with James Hoyt in a trade with the Braves for Mike Foltynewicz, Rio Ruiz, and Andrew Thurman. Gattis was a catcher with the Braves, but we let him be a hitter. He was a pretty good DH, but we found out later he was hurt and expected big things from him last year. Except then we wanted him to catch again and sent him to the minors to make sure he could. He lead the team with funny splits hitting great as a catcher, so we go into this season hoping for a catcher who hits… when he plays…somewhere…. anywhere. So I know little about Gattis and how he got the name Oso Blanco, but my guess is that he ran across someone who spoke Spanish and thought he looked like a bear, a white bear. He is a very bear looking individual. I always think of Paul Bunyan the lumberjack. I grew up in a relatively small town with a large Spanish speaking population. So in seventh grade I took Spanish thinking it would help me some day. Then I took it again in the eighth grade. It was the class with my worst grades and I decided to take Latin in high school since it was a dead language and couldn’t do me any good beyond look good for colleges. Or maybe it was so it would look good for colleges even through it was a dead language and could do me no other good. With four years of foreign language I can almost speak English. little wife took some Spanish and Latin across her educational career. I think they were her worst classes and her Spanish is about as limited as mine. Big D is taking Spanish right now and we are encouraging her to actually learn to speak it. We are she can’t be as bad at languages as we are. little d took a french class last year and loved it. Not sure she knows any French, but maybe she will take to Spanish when the time comes. In the Bible, the apostles were given a gift from God of being able to speak in such a way as others heard them speaking in their native tongue, or at least that is the way I understand it. The Bible also speaks of the gift of speaking in tongues and of interpretation of tongues, but I’ve never know if that was simply being able to learn another language (a gift I don’t have) or if that was some mystical unnatural language from God. I know there are some that will debate the merits of each of those possibilities until the end of times. So as it turns out, I like listening to terms like Oso Blanco that I can remember have a meaning in a language other than English. I like Evan Gattis more for his nickname than the fact he hit 32 home runs and gave us an option besides Jason Castro. I fear he will hit rarely against lefties or just to give McCann break and we will not get the benefit of his power this season and end up trading him for nothing over the winter. I hope he gets his 500 at bats and gives us near his 32 home runs from last year. I also hope we lock him up for a couple years and trade him when the next catcher is ready.

Roster Spot Y – Not all the same

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 14:14:55 +0000

Yuli Gurriel joined the Astros as a free agent last summer. We gave him a five year $47,500,000 deal. At the time, it was supposed to be a big free agent pick up and shore up third base for a while. There was hope he would help a drive to the playoffs, especially after Valbuena went down. He debuted on August 21, a little late to really help, but in reality, our big free agent pickup was blocked by a 22 year old rookie. Seems like someone forgot we picked Alex Bregman number 2 overall in 2015 and he would be in the bigs to stay almost a full month before Gurriel was ready. In my mind, this is like ordering a new 911 way before its ready and finding an older 911 for a price that is too good to pass up. Once they both show up, you find space for them, but you aren’t sure how you can drive them both enough to really enjoy them. I say in my mind because that is not something I could ever see myself really doing, but my imagination does work. Over the winter, it finally dawned on everyone that they had an extra infielder and instead of going for an Edwin Encarnacion that they said they wanted, they left AJ Reed blocked by an older, unproven, expensive guy who would be playing out of position. Since we already had Gurriel, I didn’t think we needed Encarnacion and I liked getting Beltran for one year over Ecarnacion for three or more. It should allow us to play our talent as they come up. But if I could now trade Gurriel and Beltran and their contracts for him and his, I would seriously consider it. One interesting thought running through my head is a comparison of religions to baseball players. Every baseball team has a place for a first basemen, but only one can play at a given time. Every person has a spot in their heart that yearns to be filled with a relationship with God. Over the years, many people have claimed that this spot in your heart can be filled by any kind of religion or moral system and that they are all essentially the same. This is kind of like saying every first basemen is the same. A true saving faith in Jesus Christ is as far from a godless communist system as one can get. People like to think sharing and sharing alike is good, but people without God are evil and don’t share quite the same way. The definition of evil being apart from God as opposed to the watered down definitions used by the politically correct. If Preston Tucker, Reed, Davis, or Moran hit, they can be the DH or first basemen with Gurriel at DH next year or after we trade Beltran. Kind of the same way Fisher, Preston Tucker, Hernandez, or Kemp could replace Aoki in the lineup next year or after we trade him. I don’t believe we need to stick Gurriel or Bregman in the outfield to make room for Reed, but they have to be better out there than Carlos Lee was. So I got this at Fanfest as well. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-204″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/yuli-300×286.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”286″ /> So I am hoping that Gurriel wearing number 10 plays up to his potential and we look back on these as good problems to have. He did .500 in 2015 with 15 homers in 224 at bats and at least .290 in every season before that from age 17 to 31 with seven season of OPS over 1.000. We could have a very good infield indeed.

Roster Spot Zzzzz – “In hindsight, we should have…

Sat, 01 Apr 2017 01:32:19 +0000

So I have 8 more posts to write on the winners of an opening day roster spot, and only three days until opening day. Less than marvelous wifi on the vacation got me behind, but I had fun. They announced who go the last spot on the opening day roster and acted like it was a big deal. As I stated weeks ago, it is most likely day one of a revolving door. But in reality, the last spot is going to Brad Peacock because Colin McHugh is not ready for the season and going on the DL. If no one gets hurt or plays poorly, Peacock will be the first guy gone when McHugh looks like he can contribute. It seems, like Dan Straily before him, that Brad Peacock has no trade value right now, but someone would take him for free if he was sent to the minors through the waiver process. Peacock came to the Astros in a trade with Chris Carter and Max Stassi from Oakland back before the 2013 season. Peacock debuted with the Nationals in 2011 and spent parts of the last four seasons on the Astros roster. He has some talent, should be old enough to have some skill, but he just isn’t good enough to beat out any of our top six or seven or eight starters. He is the eighth man in the bullpen and will most likely just get mop up duty this go around. I think Hinch would rather have Hoyt on the team, but Luhnow doesn’t want to lose Peacock yet. I would estimate Peacock as our 15th best pitcher. He would have to start every fifth day for two months to add value, so I almost think the team expects him to fail and make it through waivers later in the month. If he is that worthless, why bother? Guadalupe Chavez is who we got for the long man last year after Scott Feldman pitched well in mop up duty. Scott Feldman was our 2014 version of Charlie Morton. Our 2015 Charlie Morton was Roberto Hernandez, who we waived inspite of the great job he did for us. Our 2016 Charlie Morton was Doug Fister who we let keep starting and blew up late in the year. Would have been nice to trade Fister and keep Feldman. My point is that every year we bring in an extra starter and end up using a starter as a long reliever and we have mixed results getting value from this role. After McHugh returns, I expect Fiers will go to the long relief role and will last until Martes takes someones spot in the rotation. Hopefully we can flip Fiers before his trade value is nonexistent too. I feel like I am beating a dead horse. Forgive me, it is a spot I think the team can really improve on with just a little hindsight.    

Roster Spot 5 – AA is the future

Sat, 01 Apr 2017 14:11:36 +0000

Chris Devenski is one of those guys who sneaks up on the world. He was drafted in the 25th round of the 2011 draft by the White Sox. The Astros traded for him August 3, 2012 to complete the Brett Myers to Chicago trade. Devenski debuted on April 8, 2016 after Michael Feliz had been worn out trying to save a game in which Colin McHugh exploded. Devenski had been slated to be the number one starter for our AAA club and instead became a rookie sensation. Devenski jumped from AA to the majors and was one of the better pitchers in a deep pen. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-214″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/dev-210×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”210″ height=”300″ /> We have a number of pitchers who have come up from AA or with little AAA time recently to success in the majors. McCullers came from 7 AA games. Feliz only had 15 AA games before his debut. Paulino has the same number of MLB games as AAA. Musgrove has more MLB games than AAA. Will Harris had 13 games in AAA and 20 as a rookie in MLB. Giles had 11 AAA games in the year he debuted to have 44 MLB games. So obviously talent and skill development can get a player from AA to MLB quickly. Of the guys on the 40 man roster, Guduan should be ready to debut by September 1 and will have over a year at AAA, Hoyt is already ready after almost 3 years at AAA and his debut last year, Rodgers has parts of four years at AAA, his MLB debut, and could be ready any day, Tolliver has debuted and has time at AAA, but could be ready come Septemeber, and Paulino has only to over come his injury, regain health and he will be ready. Martes will get an open 40 man spot as soon as the team is ready to bring him up. The other relievers will have to wait until injury or trades open spots. One of the good things about our club is getting pitchers ready on their own schedule and then pulling the trigger. Hopefully we can watch as Devenski, Feliz, Gustave, McCullers, and Musgrove grow at the MLB level and Martes, Paulino, and Guduan join them. We could end the season with McCullers, Musgrove, Paulino, and Martes in the rotation with only one of Keuchel, Morton, Fiers, and McHugh.

Roster Spot P90X – Exercise

Mon, 03 Apr 2017 20:59:03 +0000

It is opening day. I went to a meeting, went to work out, and now I am huffing and puffing. Taking two weeks off for vacation and recovery has me back in recovery mode. Now waiting on my ride to the game. Talk about exciting. Back in 2014, at the end of the year, Bowman Chrome came out with the first cards of Michael Feliz. This was the end of my hyper collecting Astros first year auto and every parallel. I got more Michael Feliz than of others at the time. I think some of the ones I am missing according to Beckett do not really exist. Michael debuted in May of 2015 and has shown flashes of brilliance. As stated the other day, he came up straight from a small number of games at AA, so he still has lots of opportunity to get better. I see him in the pen all year, but he has what he needs to be in our rotation for a while. For those that don’t know, Beckett is the leader in pricing for baseball cards. Being the leader doesn’t mean you are any good, just better than the rest. Some times for some cards, they are spot on. Spot on meaning somewhere between their high value and the 0.4 factor they put on their “price”. They had cards that are “priced” at $60 from 2004, that people would be lucky to sell at $6. They have cards from 2006 priced at $25, that no one would ever sell for less than $100. I am sure they have some smart people working up there, but I doubt they have someone doing a quality check on older cards. Back to exercise. It is important for kids who are seven to men who are 84. Pa turned 84 last month and he can’t hit the little white ball as far as he could a few years back. little d is 7 and she could stand a little more stamina riding her bike. I am now 49 and I could use a lot of exercise. Every day is a new day, but I am not counting down every day like my cousin Lance who was at 66/344 on my birthday. I am sure I am in double digits for the year. Go Lance. So go find a spot to watch or listen to the game and then, tomorrow, start your exercise program. Be it P90X, the hyper running Abbas does, or the getting exhausted once a week I try. As Nike used to say, “Just do it”. Go Aatros.

Winning the Season – March

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 14:14:16 +0000

So March was the bulk of Spring Training and the last chance to get it right before the season starts. The biggest news of the month was that no one needed now got hurt. David Paulino came down with something, but he probably will be healed before we would bring him back up. Colin McHugh came up with a dead arm, but other than missing some games that we can use to find out where Fiers and Peacock are, no real loss. We did lose Kevin Chapman to waivers. He did not have a good spring, so it was expected, but we still got nothing for him. We did sign a couple minor leaguers I never heard of. The biggest news of the month was that Max Stassi made it through waivers and back to our minor leagues. In April, we already traded Tyler Heineman to the Brewers for some one or cash. So that is a note that our catching pecking order is way different than a year ago. So to some up March, we won big time. We lost no one of significance to injury or to a stupid trade. So the off season is over and we are 2-0 with great pitching and some homeruns. Not really what all the pundits were talking about, but what we were all hoping for. In game one, my biggest take away was that Aoki was allowed to face a left hander in the bottom of the eighth when Marisnick came in for defense in the top of the ninth. I expect a pinch hit there, but maybe next time. The second take away was that the bottom of the lineup is left. right, left, left against a right hander and with a short three man bench, we are vulnerable to a left handed fireballer. If Reddick can hit at all, it would be good to see him in front of Beltran and McCann in frontn of Gurriel so it is left, switch, left, right, left. This will really help keep the bench short and not put us in such a hole against left handers late. I only saw bits of game two, but my biggest takeaway was McCann catching and Gattis at DH. As stated, I think this really helps the team with both in the lineup and was a really good sign. My other take away was that we already saw Gonzalez for Gurriel. I still hope Gonzalez sits alot and Gurriel can put up numbers, so hopefully this was just a get everyone in early kind of move and not a trend.

Roster Spot 7 – Best years of

Thu, 06 Apr 2017 13:03:52 +0000

Once long ago, I had to come up with some words of wisdom to go in the yearbook. I was 17 or 18 and neither wisdom nor words were my strengths. A few years back, I was reading said yearbook words of wisdom and the term “best years of my life were included.” They were not the best years of my life, but it was accurate at the time. This past week, I was watching “The Force Awakens” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” with little d and I got more enjoyment out of that than most anything I did in high school. I also had to get on little d for not getting out of bed and to stop asking to go to McDonald’s tonight. Most of high school was better than that. Abraham was at a real low point when God told him to sacrifice Isaac. My kids are little and there are two of them and it is unfathomable to even consider the pain that Abraham had before him. Abraham had faith in God and knew that God could do anything from bringing Isaac back to life, give Sara another boy even at 120 or so, or whatever it took to deliver on the promises God made Abraham. Its the kind of faith that I aspire to everyday. Of course, I fall short everyday. Short is one thing that Joe Musgrove does not worry about. Joe came to the Astros July 20, 2012 in a trade with the Blue Jays. Joe was a first round pick out of high school in 2011 and joined the then wave of the future that is now. Joe is 6′-5″ and, along with Morton, the tallest Astro. Joe’s results from the last three years show him to have the talent and skill to fulfill those first round expectations. This whole media storm around Quintana and prospects has overshadowed the high, high ceiling that Joe carries into his career. Joe is more likely to be battling Lance McCullers for opening day start honors than be battling for the last spot in the rotation over the next five years. He may even end up with a better season his year than Quintana, especially after that disastrous start Jose laid out there. So there is a good chance that these next few years with Big D still at home and little d still little and little wife still working may be the best of my life. There is also a good chance that the next few years may go down as the best years of the Astros. Nice that they should coincide.

Roster Spot 9 – Slay the lion first

Fri, 07 Apr 2017 18:06:28 +0000

So we lost last night. I was already asleep, so I missed it. Probably a really good thing for my blood pressure as I see who was pitching after I nodded off. For the millionth time, why would you bring your closer into a tie? These people live on adrenaline and a tie just doesn’t do it. Hopefully this is the last time Hinch makes that call before the rest of the pen is expended. Gustave, Peacock, and Sipp all should have made it in before Giles. Three wins for the Astros and one loss for Hinch. Gustave is Jandel Gustave and he won the “last” spot in the pen after a battle with James Hoyt that supposedly had Hinch crying that he couldn’t pick Hoyt. Lets be honest, if you are having a spring training battle for the last spot in the pen, then something is going right. In reality, Hinch managed himself into a corner. Hoyt has done everything in AAA that a reliever can do over the past three years and is beyond ready for the big leagues as he showed last year. Hoyt should have been on the team. Jandel joined the Astros as a free agent in 2010 at the age of 17 and debuted last year on August 11. (Someone important to me was born that day one year.) Gustave throws hard, but wasn’t doing that well at AAA when he was called up. Gustave was on the team last year because the pen was wore out and he was available. He did ok when he was up, but he hardly has the track record of Hoyt. Hinch somehow made the last spot a competition between the two. So Gustave had a nice spring, Hoyt had a bad spring, and now we have Hoyt in AAA where nothing really matters and Gustave available to pitch in tight spots for the big league team trying to win a World Series. He “won” the job, but his manager was crying. How good does that make you feel? His first outing of 2017 was a three walk effort with no success to go with them. a Real boost hat gave him. And now he was not used in a second tie game when he should have been. Wonder how confident he is now? One day God used a young man named David to fight the Giant, Goliath. God had used David to fight predators, bears, and then lions. David had some experience fighting, but now he was going to be fighting a man. That’s a whole new world. But God did something great for David, He told David he would be with him. God delivered and David went out there with the confidence of God and slew the Giant. Jandel Gustave is not David and Hinch is not God. Hinch can not supernaturally cause the other team to roll over and die. James Hoyt should be on this team and Jandel Gustave should have time in AAA to conquer the lion there before having to face Cano and Cruz and their like with the game on the line. So one rant on Hinch now over. Lets hope it doesn’t happen too often this year.  

Roster Spot 11 – Another rant on Hinch – Shock

Sat, 08 Apr 2017 13:42:06 +0000

So I started this before Fiers faced the Royals last night. Fiers came to us from the Brewers with the disgrace that is Carlos Gomez and “other considerations” for what at the time looked like a huge haul of prospects: Houser, Phillips, Santana, and Hader. Santana is on the Brewers now and has talent galore. Hader is their #3 prospect in AAA, Phillips is #7 in AAA, and Houser made the majors in 2015, but is now injured. Carlos Gomez is much belatedly off the team and on to enemy status. I actually bought a Carlos Gomez t-shirt this winter. It was $1 and it has Astros on the front. I really don’t dislike him as much as I dislike how the team handled him. When he was on the team, he was the fourth best center fielder, yet he started there every time he was in the lineup. He was an ego on a team that didn’t have them and didn’t need them. I felt he should have been playing another position or off the team. Why Hinch didn’t do so is something I sometimes feel I should research, but its over. I believe the lineup should be set by who is hitting against who is pitching, but the defense should be set by who is better at the more valuable positions. The best shortstop is put there, the best center fielder is put there, the best third basemen is put there, the best right fielder is put there, the best second basemen is put there, the best left fielder is put there, the left over is put at first, and the other guy is the DH. Catcher is a hole of its own. So last year, when they all played, Marisnick should have been center, Springer in right, Rasmus in left, and Gomez at DH. It would have been a blow to his ego, but maybe it would have made him a better player if Gomez had been handled in this manner. We clearly saw that Hinch likes play guys in the spots as he moved Springer from center for Marisnick already this year, even moving Reddick to left. I love that George is willing to play wherever. Of course, Hinch has Correa at short and Bregman at third, so along with the enigma that was Gomez, we know Hinch has his own set of rules. So Mike Fiers came to the team on July 20, 2015 and has thrown a no hitter and only been used in two relief appearances. He is a starter and has talent and skill, but sometimes misses when applying it. He is supposedly in the rotation until McHugh is ready, when he is slated to be the long man in the pen. We already have three starters as long men in the pen, so I would prefer to see Fiers traded and someone else in his spot. Of course, he may throw a no hitter any night. So why did Hinch leave Gustave in for the second inning? Is he trying to lose? Or just get him off the team? No big deal after the catcher’s interference gave them the lead/win., but something to continue to watch.

Roster Spot 12 – Welcome to our Weird Family

Sun, 09 Apr 2017 15:30:35 +0000

Charlie Morton joined the team over the winter as a free agent bagging a two year deal for $14,000,000. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-234″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/morton-233×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”233″ height=”300″ /> He was billed as the replacement for us losing Doug Fister over the winter. The team must have saw more than for Fister as they went in for two years. Fister ran out of gas in early August last yer, but with Keuchel and McCullers down, we kept sending him out there. Morton has never passed 180 innings at the major league level, but he has put together three solid seasons and looked to have put it together last year before injury. If he can put it together, he can fill the gap that is now Colin McHugh. Beyond Fister and McHugh, our rotation is Morton and the other guys who started 10 games or more for us last season. Through six games, they look pretty good. little d and I are about to go watch the team take on the Rhinos. When she was little, we went with my cousins to see a Royals game and her limited vocabulary turned Royals into Rhinos and we chanted “Let’s Go Rhinos!” with everything we had the rest of the day and still love to think back on that day. Family is kind of like a mouth, everyone has one and you never really know what is coming out of it next. The fairy tale expectation is a Father, a Mother, and two or more kids who face everything as a team. Fairy tales use variations on this expectation to show that deep down, everyone has families that differ from the norm. Cinderella and her step sisters, Sleeping Beauty and her father, and Aladdin and whatever he had. My father led a life that had many twists and turns, a very few of which I know about. Last night at a party I got into a part of his story and the friend I was speaking to said I had to tell the story to her husband. So after swapping stories, I once again have run across someone with a family as weird as mine. It seems weird is actually the norm. So we welcome Morton to the Astros family and as we prepare for Easter next week, thank God for your family, love them, talk about them, and don’t leave out the weird parts. You might help someone, it may be you, and they might see God.

Last roster spot (13?) – Pure Luck

Mon, 10 Apr 2017 12:58:32 +0000

I left this spot until last because I am prejudiced, prejudiced against slap hitters. Slap hitters get singles. I grew up before the steroid era and I love screaming line drives that go for doubles. A home run is fun when your team hits it, but the action initiated from a double can go either way and is excitement. When you grab a guy to be your starting left fielder, you think of a guy who can’t field , but has some pop. Instead, we got a waiver wire guy. Waiver wire guys mean his old team didn’t want him. Getting a waiver wire claim means no one else who could have gotten him wanted him either. And in this case, we chose to pay this guy that others didn’t want $5,500,000 million for this year. I was not pleased. Norichika Aoki is our waiver claim from November 3, 2016 and is our main starting left fielder. He is a lefty, so we expect him to play most days, to provide adequate defense, to not strike out, to get on base every third time from a walk or a single, and we actually expect some slap doubles down the line. He is the prototypical anti-Astro, the typical Astro having been a guy who swings hard and misses a lot, but sometimes comes up with a homer or even a screaming line drive that goes for a double. I actually don’t really like the swing and miss so much, but it has become a part of the game as has fouling guys who can’t shoot free throws is a part of the NBA. Everyone now wants to be an old Jack Clark with more homers than doubles and more strike outs than hits. How about a little more Tim Raines with more doubles than homers and fewer strikeouts than walks. Jack Clark is now a nobody and Tim Raines is in the Hall of Fame. As often as I could when I was younger, I wore number 13 because I knew there was no such thing as an unlucky number. Never thought it could be a witnessing tool until just now. I guess if I was in shape enough to play I sport I could be number 13 and use it and luck as tools for witnessing. For any of you still playing, feel free to use that on, and remember to give God the Glory. So this has been a “list” of the 2017 Astros Opening Day Roster. Hopefully we have a few Hall of Famers mixed in with the nobodies and we end up with the team’s first World Series victory. The team has talent, skills, and maybe with a little managing luck, we will look back with great pleasure on this team.

Dufus, Doofus, and Ford Transmissions

Tue, 11 Apr 2017 18:06:02 +0000

So little d and I went to the game Sunday. We won. Twelve innings makes the victory a little sweeter. Knowing the dufus behind us for most of the game had to experience the loss makes it a little better. I sat there for innings blocking him out, but then I heard a TIm Tebow comment and I knew he needed God. As I sat there with my seven year old trying not to get emotional enough to say something, I asked God for an Astro’s win just to get this guy. He was a rude royals fan in case that wasn’t obvious. We left that area before the win, so I couldn’t do anything I shouldn’t, but I was tempted. The dictionary in my editor marks dufus as a misspelling, but I think it isn’t in its dictionary because it is politically incorrect. Dufus is the less common version of doofus, which is a dorky way to spell a cool word. Doofus is not in this dictionary either. Anyway, I had a good time at the game with little d. She brought her backpack with books to read, pages to color, and stuffed animals to play with. She also got to eat, shop, and … watch the Astros. I hope she had a good time and didn’t worry too much about the car getting locked in if we didn’t get to the parking lot before 45 minutes after the game. Along with this and being worried about how long until we run out of gas, she seems to be happy go lucky. We did make it to the car well before the 45 minutes were up and were actually home before the 45 minute mark. Driving to the stadium, finding a place I can stand to pay to park, and driving home are generally not worth going. Maybe that is why people only show up in droves when the team is winning. That extra feel good from winning or being at a playoff game make it worth the hassle and money. Maybe even that goes away as it seemed to back win the Braves won every year. I’m not sure little d will remember the game, but I am glad we took the six hours out of our life to go. I enjoyed it. Maybe little wife or Big D will go to a game this year too. The little green light that looks like a wrench cam on in the Ford today. When I called one place to look at the Ford with a warranty and maintenance package, they said they could look at it in 2 months. Either Ford has a lot of bad transmissions, very few technicians who work for that little, or both, but they sure aren’t real good on customer service. I had a bad feeling in my brain when they said they didn’t do loaner cars when I bought it, and maybe this is pay back for not finding a car and a dealer who did. Hopefully, we can make due with the “2+2” instead of the “seats 8” for a while. Maybe we can buy that 2017 Accord for Big D now and just park it for two years.

No Save, No Success, Round 2

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 16:49:11 +0000

So as it turns out, there are worse things. The little green wrench became the orangish engine block. Little did we know that we should not have driven the car again with the little green wrench on. So the car decided to stop working while someone was picking up someone from swim. Someone else was giving someone else a bath, so all of sudden things were no longer normal, but adrenaline was running. As I mentioned the other day, I would watch to see how Giles was used by Hinch and how he performed in non-save situations. So of course the real thing here was that a save was in order when Giles was warming up, but then we scored and the save was off the table. I am sure if you could measure it, then body chemistry in Giles changed when that run scored. In some respects it is all mental. The save is somewhat of an arbitrary with definitions, and some times hard for the casual fan to understand. It was dreamed up to figure out when a reliever did a job worth commending. Now it is the key to big bucks. With the big bucks and game on the line, it also drives adrenaline to win. I didn’t watch, but the final run scores with two outs, so there was not time to sit Giles and get someone else warm. The key here is not to hammer Hinch for Giles performance or even hammer Giles for giving up tow runs.The key is for both Hinch, Giles, the catchers, and the pitching coach to realize Giles throws on adrenaline when he is best. Learn to call pitches differently for him when the save is not on the line. Learn to pitch differently when the save is not on the line. So yesterday when the call came in about the green wrench, I was wrestling with an engineering problem. When I get in that mode, nothing else can get into my little brain. It was almost a miracle that I responded at all, but I definitely did not think through all the repercussions of a little green wrench enough to take proper action. I didn’t know what the little green wrench meant and I didn’t even think to read the manual. little wife read the manual while she waited for me to get the little one from the tub and come get them. When there, I thought to call Ford Roadside assistance when I saw the card on top of the reading pile. I showed back up a little before the wrecker was scheduled to as I didn’t want to be late or miss him. Once he showed up, I had to loan him a screw driver, a flashlight, a wrench, and to read the manual to him so he knew what to do to tow the thing away. The manual wasn’t perfect in its sketches, but it was far beyond his knowledge of how to tow the Ford. I wasn’t happy, but all my adrenaline was gone after waiting for him for 90 minutes in a parking lot in not a such a great place after everything was closed up. I’m sure the last two people walking through the parking lot were two far away to see me reach for my pocket, but I can now attest that adrenaline affects the way you do things. So I did a little praying sitting there waiting and I’m sure little wife was doing the same thing here at home in her bed with the alarm off while I was out in the world. So now we pray the little car will keep running like a charm while we wait on word from the dealership. Sometimes we think of praying as a duty, but sometimes, it is just sharing our burdens with someone who can deal with them.

Who do you like, and not like?

Fri, 14 Apr 2017 14:32:16 +0000

I was going back to somewhere I passed the day before to look for something I hadn’t found yet. I was irritated because it was somewhat out of the way and the thing was trivial. The day before I had been at an interview for some work. It was one of those good interviews in which they don’t ask you “Tell me about yourself.” I was reviewing the process in my mind and I came up with a question for conversation. Since my brain works a little slow with words and responses in normal conversation, I figured a set question would do me good, especially one that might put people off balance. I haven’t used it yet, so no telling how it will really come across. More than likely, if you are reading this, you know me and I won’t be using it on you. The plan is to just use it on people I don’t know. So here it goes. So what you want people that you don’t like to know about you? My first expectation is that the person will be put off by the question and begin to wonder about me. One possibility is that they ask me the same question right back. Of course, that gives me the chance to say something ranging from: That I was a Christian who stuck to my beliefs to that I was a Christian who stuck to my guns. The key of course is to throw the Christian aspect of myself in there and something else that can carry a conversation somewhere. Another expectation was that the person would say something like: I don’t care what people I don’t like think about me. Again this is a conversation starter and not necessarily a way to make friends and influence people. little wife and I took a Dale Carnegie class one year. I think it was after I got laid off and was trying to settle on something else. I thought it was weird to want to influence people, but twenty five years later I understand how people with power can ignore those with less. Another expectation was that the person would think that I don’t like them. I have always thought the phrase “I don’t like” was double dipped in too much meaning. liitle d uses it for every food she every food she has never eaten, every food she doesn’t want to eat at that moment in time, and of course for every food she has tried multiple times and just doesn’t like. Very rarely do we use the phrase differently from food for people. Apparently, saying you don’t like some one is a negative connotative where saying I don’t know them is not. I do not know AJ Hinch as I have never met him, therefore, I do not like him. As the Astros manager, Hinch is a public persona and people can get an opinion on him from seeing the things he does in public. From all the things he does, he looks like a good guy and is probably a good friend to have. And if I knew him, I would probably like him. However, I am not in a position to get to know him as a friend, so as an Astros fan, I judge him for what he does in public like giving Springer the chance to set records for leadoff homers. I like George, so I think it is fun, but I think Altuve should be the leadoff guy. I hope everyone has a nice Good Friday and a great Easter.        

He is risen

Sun, 16 Apr 2017 14:47:19 +0000

So today is Easter and we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. His victory over death bought our victory over sin by accepting Him as our Lord and Savior and the promise of life everlasting. Yesterday, was Jackie Robinson Day in baseball. Here is me wearing my #42 jersey to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Jackie’s debut in the majors. For those that haven’t seen 42, the movie, it brings out the Christian faith that Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey used to keep them on the path of integrating MLB. For those like me that are younger than 70, we hardly understand the friction between races at the time. We do have our own, but they too are hard to understand. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-255″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/42-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> My jersey is the one Brett Wallace used to ride the pine back in 2013. I bought it to help support the Astros Foundation. Digging into the weeds of the foundation, I am sure many of the needs being met were byproducts of racism. I believe there are two basics types of people in the world. Christians and those that Christ wishes were Christians. On this Easter, as we celebrate, let’s pray for those who can join us celebrating next year.

The Example

Tue, 18 Apr 2017 14:45:43 +0000

Last night’s Astros game is kind of an example of how the team is supposed to work. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it has three basic characteristics: Pitching, more pitching, and timely hitting. Charlie Morton pitched for five innings and gave up no runs. He gave up five hits, two walks, and worked around another catcher’s interference and a fielding error. The key is he pitched the pitch he needed to when he needed it. He certainly pitched like a pitcher we would want in the rotation. The example that comes to mind is Peter. Peter made any number of mistakes when following Jesus before His resurrection. He tried to tell Jesus what to do, he cut off a man’s ear, and he didn’t always walk on water. But in the end, he gave his life to Christ, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he gives us an example to look towards. The bullpen was perfect for four innings. Devenski came in early for two with lots of strikeouts, Gregerson worked the eighth, and Giles came in for the save. Seven strikeouts of the twelve outs. Low pitch counts. Everything you want in an bullpen. The example that comes to mind is Jesus. It is a little hard to come up with someone else who was perfect. Jesus came, He was sinless, He performed miracles of faith, and He gave His life up for us. He is admittedly a harder example to live up to than Peter, but His lessons encompass so many areas in which we have opportunities. And we had timely hitting. Gattis goes to second on an error and Bregman gets a single to knock him in. nothing huge, but two singles for a run. After his single, Springer moves to third on a single by Reddick putting him in place for an Altuve sacrifice fly. Another run on two little singles and a fly ball. Running on Trout was really cool as I don’t think he expected it. And finally, after the games first double by Reddick, Altuve creams a screaming line drive to center to drive int he run. Excitement! Of course since Trout was ready, Altuve was out at third trying to get a triple. Aren’t you supposed to not make the first out at third. A little timely hitting followed by foolish running. The example here is different, but it is the holy Spirit. Bregman didn’t plan for the single to follow the error, Altuve didn’t plan the flyball to follow George’s hustle, and Altuve sure didn’t plan the screaming line drive past Trout. The key is that all these things lined up and they did their best. When we do things for God, we can’t plan the outcomes. Only God knows the future. We can hope for outcomes, but we can plan the effort. Plan your effort and let the Holy Spirit take care of the results. Then God can have success from your efforts as the Astros got another victory from theirs.  

Leading the Ignorant

Wed, 19 Apr 2017 15:29:48 +0000

So last night, I walked away from the tv. I knew what was going to happen and didn’t want to see it. Is that how God feels when I am going to mess up? My guess is that the blood of Christ covers all sin and God doesn’t have to cringe. In case you missed it, Albert Pujols hit the decisive homerun against our Astros last night. Even the Chronicle wondered about that. So I wasn’t really watching the game as I was cooking and visiting with the girls and my mom. I did start watching Musgrove pitch about half way through his last try to Kole Calhoun out. For us this is just a game, but for the team winning is there job. They win by doing the right things at the right time. Hinch is the leader and hence I am hard on him when he fails. Last night he failed as a leader. Not that his untaken action would have made a difference, but it could have. When I was in Boy Scouts, I had a Boy Scout knife. I think I had to buy it, but once I had it, I couldn’t carry it at scout functions until I had my Totin’ Chip. It was essentially my license to carry a knife. They had a plan I had to follow to learn how to safely use a knife and how not to use it unsafely. But even after I earned my Totin’ Chip, the troop leaders still looked after me and made sure I didn’t really hurt myself or someone else using the knife I “knew” how to use. Joe Musgrove is a major league pitcher, the highest spot in his profession; he has his card. But he has less than half a season in the league and he has a lot to learn and he is learning in an environment where screwups cause losses and that is not the goal on a team looking to win the World Series. I am not saying we shouldn’t have young players on the team or even that we can’t let them learn on the job. What I am saying is the need to be led. When David was King of the Jews, he had help. He had friends, he had advisers, and he had prophets. Joe Musgrove has help too. He has friends, he has teammates, and he has coaches. But one thing all of these do not have is a leadership role. These friends, advisers, and prophets could not step in when the King was making a decision if they were not asked. Musgrove’s friends, fellow pitchers, and bullpen coach cannot stop the game to help Joe out. God was the King’s Leader and God did step in to help David when he needed it. Musgrove’s leaders are the cathcers: Gattis, and McCann, the pitching coach, and the manager. These guys can stop the game to help Joe. And last night they did not. Joe threw a lot of pitches in the second inning. Joe apparently threw a lot of pitches. He threw 100 in 5 innings. He passed 90 while pitching to Calhoun. I think he threw 11 to Calhoun. That means a lot of high stress two strike pitches, all I saw were 3-2. Joe got the strike out, but next up comes the best player in the world. Now I am not saying Joe needs to fear Trout, but there are two runners on, the Astros are only up by one, and Joe just worked really hard to get that first out. One of his leaders should have given him a break before having to face the best hitter in the league. The catcher, the pitching coach, or the manager. He is a rookie pitcher in the thick of the battle, tired. So no one does. Trout smashes a line drive that George cannot catch. Poor defense allows a run to score to tie the game and lets both runners move up. So now we have a tired pitcher, a young tired pitcher, a tie game, runners on second and third, and up comes the Astros Killer Albert Pujols. First base is open. There is only one out and three are needed to finish an inning. One of his leaders should have given him a break before having to face the best hitter ever against the Astros. The catcher, the pitching coach, or the manager. He is a rookie pitcher in the thick of the battle, tired. So no one does. (Am I repeating myself?) Instead of giving the guy a break or walking the hitter to make a double play possible, they make him face Pujols with the game on the line, runners at second and third, and having to get another out after Pujols to stop the bleeding. How mature would it have been if Joe had called the catcher out to talk or maybe even the pitching coach. Maybe someone will teach him that before his next game. How funny would it have been if he walked Pujols on his own. I’m sure that would not have been welcomed by the manger, but maybe it would have taught him a lesson. So I think team leadership failed miserably in this inning and the inning was basically the entire game as four runs scored and the Astros did nothing the rest of the game offensively and therefore we lost. I don’t fault Joe for the failure as he is still learning and needs leadership. Maybe Hinch, Strom, and McCann are still learning too. Somehow I doubt it.    

(Not) Fast Car Photos

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 20:54:09 +0000

So I thought I had a good idea to show photos of my old cars. I knew I didn’t have electronic copies of the old one, so I figured I could find some on line. So my quick task seems to have taken more of the afternoon than I intended. Of course, I do keep stopping to watch the game. So my first car was not really mine, but was my mom’s 1980 Thunderbird. It was blue, had a V8, and other than the speedometer that stopped at 85, it set me up for everything I wanted in a car. It looked something like this. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-266″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/tird-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> It wasn’t quite the car I think my mom wanted which was more like this. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-268″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_0187-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> My first real car of my own was the 1986 Civic hatchback my mom bought me for getting my Eagle Scout. It looked something like this. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-267″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/honda-300×166.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”166″ /> I thought it was a great car. My friend Joe 3.0 didn’t like it when the AC stopped on hot day in College Station, little wife didn’t like the smell from the moldy carpet, and it couldn’t really do 100 mph, but it got 40 mpg, held all my stuff, and just kept going. Since we both had two door coupes, we ditched the hatchback for a more useful Civic Sedan. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-264″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/oct3020040007-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> This was truly a great car. It still looked and worked great when we took this picture to sell it. Before we got rid of it, we had two Hondas. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-265″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/hondagarage-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> I could not get Big D in and out of the back seat without hitting her head, so it eventually the green Civic had to go, too. It was replaced with the bigger I35. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-263″ src=”http://ohandtheastros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_4216-300×200.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”200″ /> This is was the best car I had and I intended to keep it. Both Civics lasted nine years for me, and this one made it eleven. The only problem? It wasn’t actually a fast car. Like the Civics it was a quick car and did all I needed it to. But after years of switching between the 911 and the I35, I realized I wanted more. I didn’t need more car. I did get a car with bigger back seats and many years of advanced safety. That and the all wheel drive, the sport brakes, and the big engine. It has a V8 just like the Thunderbird. I drive it with the seat as low as possible like the hatchback. It has four doors like the green Civic. And it has all the bells and whistles like the I35. So the Astros won. I enjoyed watching the game. I enjoyed looking back at my cars. I have learned a lot over the years, but I see that I tend to build on my past. Its a good thing that my past was based on being in church and learning about God. Everything else tends to follow from that. I kind of like it that way.

Tired, Not up for Chess, How to tell?

Sun, 23 Apr 2017 14:58:37 +0000

So the Astros lost last night. First pass it looks like Morton got tired and fell apart. I wasn’t watching that inning, but I had been seeing Gattis and his catchers interference calls and began to wonder. Is Gattis a good enough catcher to be catching in the big leagues? Last year, Gattis hit a ton as a catcher and was being compared to Jason Castro. When Castro came up, I had high hopes. Late last year, I began to think Castro wasn’t any good and maybe Gattis was good, as a catcher. Baseball is about pitching and defense, but the score board tracks runs and getting the runs is the draw. Over the years, this has led the big hitters to be perceived as better than they are at other things because of their hitting. We were talking history and politics last night after dinner, and there are two key phrases in history. If you don’t understand it, you are bound to repeat it, and the winners write the history books. This first phrase is common with our daily behavior in that if we don’t learn from our mistakes, we will repeat them. My friend discussed the Clinton era negotiations with North Korea and the Obama era negotiations with Iran as actually the same people doing the same stupid things. Since the same people backed the Clinton and the Obama eras, their efforts have so far been portrayed as victories in the media that serves as recent history books. The perspective of time and who the long term winners are may change how history portrays these efforts. One of the best history books we have is the Bible. It is written to allow us to learn from the mistakes of others on both a personal and a national level. It is written by the winner, but He has an eternal perspective and the portrayal of the historical figures show the good and the really ugly. Gattis has only caught six games this year and four were of Morton, so working the statistics can be insignificant at this point. I find it entertaining to read some articles with all their detail on statistics and caveats on sample size when they are hammering home theories based on these potentially faulty statistics. Our brains work and one of the things we can see is someone swinging weakly at balls out of the zone that find a hole or a smashed grounder that makes an easy double play. When Gattis caught Fiers, the pitching line shows a good start. It also shows 97 pitches in six innings and a reliever who blew up. When Gattis caught McCullers, the pitching line shows another 97 pitches that only got 4.1 innings, gave up 8 hits, and allowed runs in the fifth inning. The best Morton start shows 92 pitches to get five innings. The other three Morton starts show runs in the fifth and if he made it, runs in the sixth. Also 89 pitches for five innings, 90 pitches for six innings, and 89 pitches for five innings. After four starts of similar pitch counts, I do not think it is all Morton getting tired. He should be getting stronger and a better feel for his pitches. I think it is the pitch calling. I think Gattis is not able to keep up with the hitters, what they have thrown to them, and what can be done to keep them off balance and making outs. Maybe he can’t play chess. I think he has a good pitcher throwing the same pitches to pitchers when they are expecting to see them, and they are getting hits. I base this on hearing the pitchers rave reviews of McCann and them getting to later innings successfully and watching the games, not doing regressions on the data from six games. Hinch was a catcher, so you would think he would be able to get catchers to improve. Hinch was not a good hitter, so his career was short. Maybe he didn’t have time to learn to teach catchers, but it was why he was so young to be a manger. He is a good relationship builder, but that doesn’t make him a good coach of catchers. Castro didn’t get better; will Gattis? Eventually, Morton will get to throw to McCann. Not sure Keuchel or McCullers will have to throw to Gattis again. Not sure Hinch will let Musgrove throw to Gattis. So it may be up to Fiers to see the problem and make the team respond. Maybe the team knows and just doesn’t like the AAA and roster alternatives. I hope we don’t wear out McCann waiting on something to give. Then again, maybe it is Morton. As an engineer, I want to run an experiment. If you keep failing and you don’t change, aren’t you insane?  

Present and Engaged

Mon, 24 Apr 2017 14:07:57 +0000

Yesterday, I tried to watch the Astros while playing with little d and trying not to go to sleep. After one inning, it looked bad. The Astros had allowed four runs after a first batter wild pitch strike out that did not get the batter out. It was a Sunday on the road, Springer was hurt ending his consecutive game streak, and Jake took a hard hit on the wall that eventually saw him removed from the game. Many of these Sunday games the team looks present, but not engaged. It was a criticism my boss once gave me. He was right. I had decided I was in a losing situation and I stopped trying. Oddly enough, I was not filled with rage that he had told me so. It had been a terrible few months of struggling to deal with something that was beyond me and I had finally stopped fighting it, but I stopped fighting most everything else as well. I took my coaching well, became the best employee I could, and left a hole when exiting the role. Yesterday we saw Joe Musgrove give up four runs in the first inning and it didn’t seem pretty. However, he came back in the next inning and you would never know he had struggled early. He went on to pitch deeper in a game than he had all year and the last five had no hits given up. Joe was engaged and found success. The team also was engaged, they scored two, then 1 , then tied it in the ninth, and won it in the tenth. They were present and didn’t give up, scraping to the end. Jonah is remembered for riding around in a whale. He then testified before Nineveh and they repented. But there is more to the story. He did what God told him after the ride in the fish, but he was not a happy camper. He did not want the people of Nineveh saved. He was present, but not engaged. Jonah became concerned with a vine, but God killed it. When Jonah protested, God rebuked him for being concerned with a plant and not for the 120,000 people in Nineveh. We all spend time being present. If we are to be successful, we need to be present and focus on the right things and then engage for success. The Astros were focused on winning a game and they succeeded. God was focused on winning peoples hearts.

A long time ago, in a galaxy we all live in

Wed, 26 Apr 2017 16:29:49 +0000

little d asked me how old was the oldest animal. I thought I read about a fish found in a lake up North that was found to be over a thousand years old. I couldn’t find it on google, but I did find a shark about 400 years old (plus or minus 100 years). We found a reference to a certified age of 122 for a person and eventually got to talking about biblical ages. The other day she asked me if a little while could be years as well as minutes or days. She’s pretty perceptive. It got me to thinking about the phrase a long time ago. In my mind, a long time ago is thousands of years. Its a battle between science, religion, and engineering. Science tells us that the evidence shows everything to be really old. The Bible tells us that it could be only 6000 years old or so. My engineering mind tells me err on the side of no doubt about interpretations and stick with something beyond a lifetime, but below 6000. I once looked into how long the first men in the Bible lived and noted that everyone besides Noah and his oldest boys died before the flood. Overlap was amazing, but that event kind of sticks a hard date in the time of history. The 120 year life span we all remember from Genesis was spoken about right around the flood. I assumed everyone after the flood was limited to that time frame, but found Noah lived 350 years after the flood to be 950 years old. Noah was still around when Abraham was born. His son Shem was still around when Jacob was born. Everyone listed before Abraham died before he did, and then Isaac, and then Jacob, and then on to the “typical” 120 year limit. I was on a phone call and an old Ag mentioned something that had been around forever (i.e. a long time ago) as having started in the 1980s. I had trouble with that as the 80s seem like “Just Yesterday”. (Just Yesterday being a song by Great White in 2007 that I heard again just yesterday.) So just as with a little while, I need to update my timeline of a long time ago to mean many different things. So just yesterday, we had the collision between Altuve and Hernandez. As with Jake hitting the wall earlier in the week, George tweaking his hamstring, and Correa getting hit in the hand, the Astros seem to be just missing serious problems. Having Peacock in the pen and Fiers in the rotation has smoothed over missing McHugh. Even having Teoscar coming up to replace Jake meant little dropoff. Having others who can come up to help on the spot is why this team is a really good one in respect to keeping the winning up all year. Maybe it will make 2013 seem like a long time ago when we lost 111 games and we used guys like Cody Clark to get through the year. I don’t even remember Cody Clark.  

Phase 2 – WInning the Season – April

Sun, 14 May 2017 01:58:43 +0000

So the Astros sit the day out with the best record in baseball. Sounds like a good time to look at the past. April saw the win in 16 games. This is a vast improvement over 2016 and shows that the victories over the winter have led to victories on the field. Nine losses show that we aren’t perfect, and maybe give us the platform to improve for the games in October. April brought a handful of transactions. The trade of the next backup catcher, pulling up Hoyt for the injured Gustave, calling up Kemp to replace the injured Hernandez who was called up to replace the injured Marisnick, the return of Marisnick, and adding some minor league RHPs (right handed pitcher). The big key here was that no one key was seriously injured. The call ups displayed the depth of the team and the additions showed the confidence in the depth of the depth. The continued problem with the Astros is the lack of a left hander who can get out left handers. Tony Sipp was a terrific left handed pitcher that we signed to a big contract. The problem was and still is that he is much better against right handers and really not that good against lefties. Trying to use him against left handers is actually helping the other team. Its a problem with using statistics at a high level as lefty on lefty improvements are generally averaged against a large pool and Sipp doesn’t fit. I’d rather pitch any of our bullpen against a tough lefty before Sipp. Why the statistic happy Astros continue to ignore the facts is beyond me. If we are to succeed in playing to the lefty on lefty preferences, we need a lefty who has historically done well against lefties and has the pitches to match the statistically advantageous norms. The other statistical oddity of the Astros is how poorly the right handed dominated lineup performs against lefty starters. By all account they should mash left handers like no one else. However, this team continues to struggle against lefty starters. The lefties we picked up follow the trends and perform poorly against lefties, so doing something weird like playing them on these days doesn’t help. I honestly think the solution is up to the hitting coach and the approach the players use against lefties, but winning helps mask some problems. I haven’t seen anyone do well under this hitting coach for extended periods and other than Altuve who learned his trade under the previous holder of the office, I haven’t seen anyone be better than their past yet. The goods thing is that the team is good enough to win in the regular season, but this hole may rear its ugly head in the playoffs. The team won’t replace the hitting coach during the season while winning, so the most we can hope for is praying that they notice the problem and try to do something effective during the rest of the season. The last hole is the one talked about all off season and beyond and the gain from another top of the rotation starter. As noted I believe Quintana is not the answer at the reported costs. But we can’t expect Fiers to magically get better. We can expect Musgrove to continue to learn, but we can’t honestly put our playoff hopes on him staying healthy, still being strong in late October, and improving enough to compete when we face a lefty starter with some tough lefty hitters in playoff games. Morton looks like he is getting better, but again expecting him to remain healthy, get better, and last until October is too much. We have to find a way to get a solid starter we can expect to be healthy, strong, and effective come October without giving away the future core of the team. One of the terms we have heard is that Astros sucked for three years so we could be competitive in the then future. But actually, what we want is to be winning consistently now. The Texans made the playoffs, but they had no hope of a Superbowl win. The Rockets won a playoff series, but no one expected more. The Astros want to win the whole thing. They need these three things to expect to win. If Crane and Luhnow expect us to keep following, they need to find a way to get a lefty, to hit a lefty, and to have a third string starter late in October. We’ve had a winning month every month so far, but October looms as the time to win or go home.    

Phase 2 – Winning a day at a time

Sun, 14 May 2017 13:28:04 +0000

I had an unstated goal to try and post a new blog everyday. I knew I wouldn’t do it, but it was still something to shoot for. Along with praying, reading the bible, exercise, eating right, and everything else, I wanted it to be a key part of who I am. About the only thing on this list that really happens every day is that I eat and that’s not really the goal. I’ve heard that historical figures like Ben Franklin have led lives of daily contributing and occasional flashes of brilliance helping mankind. When I worked at my first job out of school, they gave us Franklin planners in the hope that we too would make efforts to improve ourselves and make great contributions to their bottom line. I tried. I found that I didn’t quite fit their mold and moved on leaving my Franklin planner days behind me. Later, I was introduced to the world of pocket pcs and the personal digital assistant (PDA). I used mine to organize my contacts, organize my schedule, and felt it really helped me be a better employee. I really thought it was a great thing, until it wasn’t. One day a friend showed me her phone that did all that and was a phone. Talk about feeling left out. I got a new phone, sold my old phone, my old PDA, and moved on to a smaller company that could utilize my full abilities. Many phones later (and many jobs later), I now work for myself and carry two phones. They are both smart phones. One for work and one for everything else. Seems kind of silly since I work for myself, but once I made the split, going back seems even sillier. I find that leaving my work phone on the desk at the end of the day gives me freedom to enjoy my time not working. I still want to be a good employee and use the tools available to do so. I still want to have habits that make me a better friend, neighbor, and family member. I still want to accomplish things. I just find that I do better when I focus on one thing at a time at a time when I can focus. So don’t try to win the season everyday, try to win at something everyday. At the end of the season, you may not be a historical figure, but you will have racked up a bunch of wins.

Selling Stock

Thu, 18 May 2017 12:26:46 +0000

I used to work for a publicly traded company that gave me stock grants when I did really well over the course of a year. The last ones came in last year and I plan to cash out this Monday after dividends were set on Friday. Of course, it will probably be the day the stock stumbles, but that’s why is called a plan. I wanted to sell sooner, but I had hoped for a year of good investment returns. I have found out (multiple times) that investing can be a lot like gambling, laying out money hoping for something to go your way that you have no control over. I hoped oil would go up a little, expected the stock market to stagnate, and assumed that the rewards outweighed the risks. For months, it seemed like I was right. But now it seems like the old adage of knowing when to get out is more important than knowing when to get in is true. I would have been ahead if I had gotten out before the new president got in. Now it looks like I have been losing at the same rate as the general market is going up. This is actually the first stock I have owned individually in years as I had moved into index funds and a more conservative diversify and hold approach many years ago. One of the reasons I went away from individual stocks was my tendency to not watch for when to sell. One of the ways I have used money over the years is to buy baseball cards. For me, it is like spending money on playing golf, once the purchase is complete, the financial end of the deal is over. However, baseball cards have a huge financial aspect that can not be ignored: Some people that buy them are trying to make money. One of the last runs of an autograph card that I am collecting is the 2014 Bowman Chrome Autograph Mark Appel versions. Appel was a first pick of the Astros after a terrible season and hopes were he would be an ace for the team quickly and for years to come. His cards were a little more expensive than most Astros since he was such a high pick, but they weren’t terribly high since he was a college pitcher. One of the ones I am missing is worth ~$60 and there are 50 numbered versions of the card. The most recent one was graded and sold for about $75 which isn’t too bad based on grade, but was more than I am willing to spend on an old guy in AAA on another team. The most recent buying option had two in a lot and both were graded. The bidding stopped under $120, so again not a bad price, but beyond my desire. The funny thing is that the guy who won the two together, posted both for a price of $1100. Almost 1000% of what he paid and what the market says they are worth. I think he only bought them to make money. Not sure who is going to buy one or both if the market is so much less than his ask, but it won’t be me. I’ve actually seen that a few times this year. I will see a card I want, I will bid full (or slightly above) market value, I will lose by a dollar, and two weeks later the card will appear on ebay for tremendous multiples. A number of cards first appear with huge multiples on them as well, but I never get my hopes up for those. So I have learned that along with baseball cards, the stock market can be impacted by people hoping to make money. Maybe not by one person, but by groups with similar goals taking similar actions. My goal for the year will be to sell this stock and spend more time trying to find a way to make some money doing it again. I may not learn anything new, but if I do, I might just be able to buy another $60 card.  

The rest of the 40-man roster – Part 1 – Hope not

Fri, 19 May 2017 14:35:00 +0000

Back in January, I wanted to write about the guys who didn’t make the 25 man roster as soon as the season started. Here we are a quarter of the way through the season and I am just now getting there. The 25-man roster determines who can play on any given day and the 40-man roster determines who we can call up to play without the risk of losing a player. These spots are very important to responding to injury and other short term needs during the first five months of the season. Come September, the 25-man roster can expand to the entire 40-man roster if needed. The biggest impact of these extra 15 spots is setting which young players can stay on the roster for the coming season when their time in the minors is coming to an end. This year for the first year in a while, we actually have guys in these last 15 spots who could be on the 25-man roster or even be starting everyday. We actually only have two guys on the 40-man roster who have not made their MLB debut: Reymin Guduan a lefty reliever and Andrew Aplin a gold glove caliber center fielder. Reymin Guduan was put on the 40-man roster this past winter to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Reymin was signed back in 2010 as an 18 year old out of the Dominican Republic. Guduan is a hard throwing lefty with about a strikeout and inning stuff, but he is wild with almost a walk an inning. He is currently struggling for the second time at AAA. His being left handed is the only reason he has value at this stage. Unless he gains control, he won’t be any help. Andrew Aplin was put on the 40-man roster before the 2015 Rule 5 draft. He was drafted in the 5th round of the 2012 amateur draft. Aplin can field about as well as Marisnick and has shown high on base potential. He is at AAA for the third season, but strikes out more than he hits and shows minimal power. With Preston Tucker, Teoscar Hernandez, and Tony Kemp ahead of him on the 40-man roster and Beltran and Gonzalez playing outfield, there is almost no chance Aplin makes the team before September and probably gets cut before the Rule 5 draft to protect someone younger. These two guys are strictly depth at this point and the teams with rashes of injuries use this kind of depth every year. The hope here is that we don’t need this depth this year.  

The Tension Mounts

Tue, 23 May 2017 14:04:30 +0000

So going into the winter, our biggest needs were known to be another solid starter and a left handed reliever. Here we sit with 30 wins and our biggest needs are another solid starter and a lefty reliever. One of the barriers to fixing the problem is our belief in our prospects and the difference in them and our opponents belief in our prospects. Supposedly, we could have had what we wanted for our best four prospects. We took a pass on that. This week two things happened that have accelerated our need to do something or not. The first is that we got swept by the Indians. Losing a few games isn’t the end of the world, but it showed that our bottom three starters are all inconsistent and while they may have good games like Fiers, they can also have duds like Musgrove. The second is that we designated someone on the 40-man roster for assignment. My last post predicted that Andrew Aplin would need to be cut before the rule 5 draft, but Jeff Luhnow decided he had little enough value to drop him now to add a pitcher for a few days who was not on the 40-man roster. The question is whether he did this to help a trade with Aplin involved or just to get the Aplin Astros era over. I have watched us drop a number of guys on the 40-man roster over the years for little to no return and hope this isn’t the start of more of the same. We actually had some glimpses of progress this week. The lefty reliever we did pick up over the winter had a great Astros debut. Ashur Toliver came in after Musgrove’s dud and threw four shutout innings against these Indians. It would be great if he recovers from this long outing (60 pitches) and becomes the lefty specialist we want. Brad Peacock who we did not ditch at the end of spring, got a start and he displayed all the growth we had seen glimpses of while he was in the pen waiting for McHugh to return and Fiers to fall to the bullpen. It would be great if he rests (from his 70 pitches and four plus shutout innings) and steps into the rotation and maintains his success. So we may actually have seen the solution to both of our problems in back to back days of four innings of shutout work. I doubt many people want to gamble the whole season on Peacock and Tolliver, but with Musgrove, Martes, and Kyle Tucker projected to fill so many slots in the future, you might think of it as tossing the dice now knowing you have success in the future in the bag. Recently we have traded for McCann, Giles, and Fiers; less recently for Gattis. We gave up talent at each point to get production. Each of these trades brought the expectation of multiple years of production. We all want to win the World Series and we all want to win every year. But we need to look at the path of the Phillies to know where we don’t want to be. 2008 World Series Champs 2009 Lost in World Series 2010 Lost in NLCS 2011 Lost in NLDS 2012 3rd in NL East 2013 4th in NL East 2014 Last in NL East 2015 Worst Record in MLB From 1991 to 2005, the Braves made the playoffs every year but one, but only won the World Series once. We actually had a run from 1994 to 2006 where we were second or better in the division every year except one. (The first year of Enron Field) So the two take aways from these three runs: Winning the World Series is different from competing and selling the future for a title has happened. After we lost the World Series, we took ten years to get back to the playoffs. Our goal going forward is to have a team that has the talent to get to the playoffs and the skill to win the whole thing. It is a high bar, but after three 100 loss seasons and another of 92, we feel we have paid the price. So now we will continually struggle with our belief in our talent, the reality of our talent, and the belief of others in our talent. I believe we have the talent, the question is whether our talent has the skill.

The rest of the 40-man roster – Part 2 – Hope now

Thu, 25 May 2017 04:21:29 +0000

Today we look at the guys on the 40-man roster who have already helped the Astros this year. James Hoyt, Teoscar Hernandez, Tony Kemp, and Dayan Diaz. James Hoyt as I stated before should have been on the team to start the season, but had to wait until Jandel Gustave went down with injury. Hoyt came to the Astros with Gattis for three Astros prospects. Most ignored Hoyt in the deal, but he is a tall right handed flame thrower. He debuted last year and had a decent start to his MLB career after a great AA season as a shutdown closer with 93 strikeouts in 55 innings and only 19 walks. Hoyt has been as good at the major league level this year as he was at AAA last year. He should stay in the pen all year and continue to develop into a late inning go to guy. Sticking with pitchers, Dayan Diaz was signed as a free agent with an invite to Spring Training over the winter. Diaz was originally signed as a 17 year old out of Columbia by the Astros and debuted last year with the Reds. I had his 2012 Bowman Chrome Superfractor, but sold it after he left the Astros and before he debuted, for a bunch of money to buy Carlos Correa 1/1s. Diaz has been up twice and pitched once this year. The results were horrific, but he did get two strikeouts and wasn’t helped much by the pen or the defense that half inning. He should still be able to contribute if the pen needs help before and definitely will come September. Teoscar Hernandez was signed in 2011 out of the Dominican Republic and made his debut last year. Teoscar has speed, he has power, he can play defense, and he has shown flashes of hitting for average. He basically looks like a long term major league starting waiting for his turn. In his one game while up for the injured Marisnick, he almost killed Altuve chasing a popup, but Altuve miraculously avoided injury while Hernandez only had a deep bruise. Since he can play all three outfield spots, he will again be called up for any short term needs and will be here for September. I am sure he will compete for the left field starting spot next season. He should have tremendous trade value, but I haven’t heard his name in talks at all. Tony Kemp came up to replace the injured Hernandez and played a little before Jake came back. Tony is the next guy up after Hernandez for short term help and will probably be on the team in September for his speed and defense as well. Tony debuted last year, but was no help at all. He was 5th round pick in 2013, but he is a typical lead off hitting second basemen that is not needed with Altuve around. He should have some trade value, but most likely will be only a depth piece on this team. So in Hoyt and Hernandez we have impactful players getting their feet wet. In Kemp and Diaz, we have tolls being used when needed. This is the depth every team needs for injuries, and hopefully we don’t need much else going forward.

The rest of the 40-man roster – Part 3 – Hope Pitching

Thu, 25 May 2017 14:37:25 +0000

So now we shift to the pitchers who haven’t yet helped this year, but who might (or might have). Ashur Toliver the lefty, David Paulino the previously injured started, Colin McHugh the continuously injured started, and Brady Rodgers the newly injured starter. Brady Rodgers was a potential starter for us after Fiers was proven a bust or someone else got hurt. It turns out Rodgers was the one to get hurt and is out for the season. He will start next year on the DL, so maybe late next year he makes it back. Colin McHugh is our wild card. He was expected to be in the rotation trying to show the Astros why they shouldn’t have taken him to arbitration. Instead he has just begun throwing this month and probably isn’t back until around the all star break. If he is back in form, he has dibs on the Fiers spot, but things could change between now and then. The seemingly biggest threat is a trade for a solid starter, but its not the only one. David Paulino made his debut last year after making a run up from low A at the beginning of 2015. He has shown good strike out and reasonable walk rates to go along with great ability to limit hits and runs scored. We got Paulino from the Tigers (tottally unrelated, on the same day the Astros made a roster change with JD Martinez). With only two starts this year, he needs a few more before he is ready to come up and replace Fiers, but he could be in the rotation come June 1 and make the case for keeping our talent and using McHugh to stretch everyone else out to be stronger come October. (I just saw that JD Martinez is back in action and has five home runs in 6 games. The man can get on streaks. He is a free agent this winter.) The last guy in this group is Ashur Toliver who debuted for the Orioles last year. He was a fifth round pick in the 2009 draft. He is a lefty we got off waivers. He has done pretty well moving slowly up the minors, but seems to be issuing a lot of walks at AAA and at the majors. As the team needs a lefty specialist, walks are the last thing we want from that role. I can see him coming up in September when rosters expand, but unless he gains control, I doubt he makes the 25-man roster. One option might be to trade Gregerson and bring him up, but I’m not sure Gregerson has much trade value right now. Side Note: Toliver came up and had a fantastic 4 inning Astros debut. He got sent back down to rest, but it was a good beginning. So these pitchers show why you need pitching depth with the injuries and how hard a lefty specialist is to find. The focus of the team should be to get a 25-man roster set for the short series in October and determine the need for someone beyond Keuchel, McCullers, Morton, Musgrove, McHugh, and Paulino starting and Giles, Hoyt, Harris, Devenski, Feliz, Peacock, Gregerson, Sipp, and Fiers in the pen. I don’t see a big need, so I don’t see the need to give up huge talent, but multiple years of huge talent as one of the top three starters or the lefty specialist might put us over the top.

The rest of the 40-man roster – Part 4 – Hope Hitting

Sat, 27 May 2017 02:44:49 +0000

So this last segment covers hitters who have made the majors, have not done so this year, and highlight the growth from contender to favorite. Preston Tucker is a player I really like. Drafted out of Florida in the seventh round of the 2012 draft, Tucker was destroying AAA in early 2015 and played the rest of 2015 in the majors. Tucker showed some skill and made the opening day roster in 2016. 2016 was a disaster and found him pushed off the roster with almost no hope of winning a job. Preston has done ok at AAA, but without a injury to the MLB roster, he is not likely to come up before September. And even then, there is a chance that Teoscar is give the chance or Derek Fisher is put on the 40-man roster and sent to give the majors a try. Tucker needs to play everyday and if the Astros can’t make him a spot, they should send him packing. Actually the same can be said for the other three on this list. Colin Moran, AJ Reed, and Tyler White. Moran was the 6th overall pick in the 2013 draft and came to the Astros in the haul for Cosart, E. Hernandez, and Austin Wates. Moran made his debut in 2016 and did almost nothing in limited action. He is doing better at AAA than ever before, but with Bregman, Gurriel, and Gonzalez in front of him, he has no value to our team now or in the future. Hopefully he builds his trade value and gets us a return by September. White came from the other end of the 2013 draft and has risen by throwing up ever improving numbers. He can play both first and third, and is learning the other spots to follow in Gonzalez’s steps. His hitting may be suffering as he spends time on fielding, but he is probably behind the same guys Moran is behind as well as being behind Moran and Reed. I like White and he has shown the flashes to contribute at the majors, but I just don’t think he will get there on the Astros. Reed was a high pick in the 2014 draft and has put up huge numbers in the minors to justify the high pick and high expectations. He was not good in the majors last year, but the umps did him no favors and he did need to learn the major league strike zone. He showed power, but looked out of shape and watched way too many pitches go through the strike zone early in the count while swing at ones out of it latter in the count. He too needs to play everyday and he should have every chance to replace Beltran next Spring if he can hit AAA like he did last year and show in September that he is no longer watching, but hitting MLB pitching. These four guys all have the talent to be starting in the major leagues and contributing to the teams success. They just aren’t yet good enough to play for these Astros. It is a good problem to have, but having so much talent floundering at AAA after their peak trade values is not the best situation. If Luhnow can somehow transform these four into a starter and a lefty specialist, then we will still have Hernandez and Fisher to replace Aoki and Beltran next year as well as $20,000,000 to spread to other roster spots.

Player to be Named Later – and the rest of the 40

Sat, 27 May 2017 23:44:55 +0000

We can still have hope that Andrew Aplin brought us something after he was traded for a PTBNL or cash. The last two PTBNL (for Tyler Heimeman and Pat Neshek) we traded for have yet to be named, so maybe we got cold hard cash in the other two deals. If not, maybe we can add three more talented pieces from these trades in the near future. Sometimes these trades are made prior to the draft and the players announced after the draft trade restrictions are removed. We can only wait and see. It does release the tension from earlier in the week. Since last fall, we have lost Kevin Chapman and Nolan Fontana to waivers while taking Ashur Toliver and Aoki off waivers. Some balance there, but really in our favor. We spent money saved from Neshek on Aoki, so little more overall balance in these low end deals so far. So overall, I would say that Luhnow is at least not losing value with every person coming off the 40-man roster as I felt was happening last year. That 40th guy on our roster now does have a lot more talent than some of those on it when we broke Spring camp in 2016. Also, something I didn’t mention the other day, but we started the season with only 38 guys on the 40-man roster. It allowed us to call up Diaz and Centeno without losing anyone. So with Centeno and now Jankowski on the 40-man and 25-man rosters, I should pass on some data on them. Jordan Jankowski has his debut this week and had three strikeouts in one inning. He also gave up a triple and a homer, but after Devenski gave up runs, it didn’t matter. It was good to see some success. We drafted Jankowski in the 34th round in 2008. He decided to go to college. In 2012, we drafted him again in the 34th round and he decided to play rather than retire. Five years later he has made the jump from AA to the majors: Not. He spent two fine seasons and part of a third waiting his turn at AAA. He has shown good results with some starts in the lower minors and saves all along the way. With only relief experience at AAA, he looks to be a solid right handed reliever to add to the pen. He may replace Sipp or Gregerson or Fiers as they work their way off the team. Centeno is a guy with half a season MLB experience spread out over five years. We signed him over the winter to give us a veteran backup at AAA. He is probably what made Heineman expendable when Heineman showed little in the Spring. Centeno has a decent average and on base percentage with little power or speed, despite of the bomb he hit earlier in the week. He was doing really well in AAA this year, but hopefully McCann pushes him back down soon.      

Earn it! – The Mission

Mon, 29 May 2017 00:32:11 +0000

The Astros are operating with the catch phrase: Earn it! The best thing about this phrase it that it applies all over the map. The worst thing about this phrase is that it may cause bad behavior. The sad thing about this phrase is that it used to be understood in everything we do. This spring, the phrase was used to tell the guys who had come up and not produced that they were going back to AAA again: Tucker, Moran, Reed, White, Paulino, Kemp, Hernandez, Rodgers, and Toliver. I think it led to the bad behavior of putting Gustave on the opening day roster ahead of Hoyt. Gustave didn’t pitch too bad, but got hurt and now things are as they should have been in this respect. When I was a kid in school, I assumed that if I didn’t get good grades, I would repeat a grade. It happened to my friends and it established the reality of consequences. I got a D once. It was from a teacher I didn’t like and I was happy to tell everyone what a poor job she did as the grade was based on my handwriting and not the content. I think she was trying to teach me a lesson, but I think it backfired. My handwriting still isn’t very good, and I apparently was impressionable. Too bad she made the wrong impression. So far this season, the Earn it! phrase has seemed to deliver a team that fights for every game through out the game no matter the score or opponent or anything else. I think this reflects the character of the team established by Biggio and Bagwell and reinvigorated by Altuve. Correa still needs to learn to sprint to first every time, but he seems to have earned his keep to this point. The sheer number of late inning come backs is amazing, but the effort in the losses has been there too. When I was a young adult transitioning from college to graduate school, I spent some time cleaning out all the stuff I had lugged around for four years. I didn’t really need the space as I was moving from one apartment to another, but apparently I needed a kick in the pants. I had just graduated with honors including an A I got for going to class every day. I was feeling pretty good. Then as I sat going through my files I saw the copious amount of notes I took when I went to class and listened every single day. I looked at the color coded highlighting all through the notes, the detailed summary sheets, and the color coded highlighting on them. I looked at all the home work I did and all the tests I took. I realized I didn’t get he degree because I was smart, I go the degree because I earned it. Going forward, the Astros are in a very similar spot as they were in 2015. They were out front, they had a good team, and they had a plan to get to the post season and have success. In 2015, they stumbled badly late int he season and barely made the playoffs. They played well, but they couldn’t finish off the other team late in a playoff series. If they are going to make the playoffs, they still have to earn it. If they are going to have success, they need to have a plan and then earn it. A team that is built to win has to be built to weather injuries and we have had Keuchel, Morton, McHugh, Rodgers, and Paulino on the DL already with Martes getting a late start to the season with no DL time. With Keuchel back, Peacock entering the rotation, McCullers continuing his progress, Musgrove getting some good games in, and Fiers continuing to throw the ball, we are 19 games over .500. If Morton or Paulino get ready before Fiers explodes, we should be able to give Musgrove and Peacock the chance to prove they belong in the rotation. I am sure that between Morton, Paulino, Musgrove, Peacock, and McHugh, we can reach the playoffs. Hopefully in the next two months, one can prove they belong in the playoff rotation with Keuchel and McCullers.

Emotional Explosions

Tue, 30 May 2017 15:34:56 +0000

So yesterday was a holiday with a baseball game on. I took the afternoon off from the rest of the world and watched and played with my baseball cards. It was the eighth inning, the Astros were “losing” 8-2 and I had just finished a task. I thought about doing something else and the announcers said something about having come from behind by 5, but not by 6. So intrigued, I sat down, started a new task, and got to watch one of the funnest half innings I have ever seen. This morning, I picked up big D from a sleepover to go to swim. She would have been happy to stay at the party, but swim is what she does. Apparently, she also cries and can do so for long periods. I have been warned that she is a teenager, but I only have so much patience. The best part about watching the Astros score those 11 runs was to see the emotion they shared in the dugout with the success. The were having fun at a game they love to play and having an unusual if not unique amount of success doing so. I am not sure if it was their high point in the season as September can be rewarding, but I’m sure it will be remembered. The worst part of watching big D’s meltdown was that today is just another day in the journey. There will be lots of things not go her way over the next five plus years she is under our care, but it was hard to watch her. We will be working one discipline over the summer and here on day one, I am already struggling to find out how much a lack of self discipline requires parental discipline. I am not sure how the afternoon will go, but I may be hiding in the media room come 7:10 to see if I can watch a positive emotional outburst rather than the other kind.

Why Him?

Thu, 01 Jun 2017 04:05:36 +0000

The Astros have made a couple unexpected moves recently. Obviously related to injury, but the names coming up haven’t matched expectations. Dyan Diaz came up when Feliz was unavailable. Diaz wasn’t on the 40 man roster, but we had an open spot, he was on fire, and it was a short term move as Feliz would be back real quick. Diaz didn’t even get in a game. I expected Toliver, as he was on the 40-man already and had more experience than Guduan. But Diaz it was. Diaz came back when we had a double header for the 26th man in the second game. Logic to bring him up the first time matched this second time. Mine and theirs. Keuchel went on the DL and they brought up Toliver. The unexpected here was to use him for so many innings and so many pitches. I didn’t know he had it in him, but he did great. They sent him back to AAA to rest. And he was forgotten about. Not really, but things that happen in AAA sometimes don’t get publicity. To send Toliver down, they chose to ditch Aplin, add Jankowski to the 40-man roster, and brought him up to pitch. I expected Diaz, as he was on the 40-man roster and had more experience than Guduan, but Diaz wasn’t ready and it showed when he was up. He showed ability, but needs some work. Jankowski was the best of the rest so up he came. When Morton went down, I expected Toliver to come back. However, Toliver pitched terribly in AAA after his rest and was on the DL. Hopefully this is not a career threatening injury resulting in using a reliever for too long, but… So this time up came Jankowski again. Jankowski, like Diaz, showed talent, but proved he too is not ready. Unexpectedly, they decided to send him down and bring up someone else on the 40-man roster. First we were notified that Pauilno was called up. I expected a reliever and not a starter, but it was either him or the inexperienced Guduan (or someone not on the 40-man roster). But quickly and more unexpectedly, we were told Musgrove was going to the DL and Paulino would start in his place. So in the end it was indeed Guduan that came up for Jankowski. I hope the team has decided that if Sipp can’t get out Castro, then he needs to not face lefties. Guduan is a lefty and maybe he can have success against them. So we have used everyone on the 40-man roster except Rodgers who is out for the year and McHugh who is still recovering. We have Musgrove, Morton, McHugh on the DL, Keuchel just off it, and Rodgers out for the year. Our starting five is Keuchel, McCullers, Fiers, Peacock, and Paulino. Not what we expected. I do need to learn about the 60-day DL as we may need to use it soon to bring Martes up, but hey a 17 run game and a spot 22 games over .500 sure make this secondary.    

New House of God

Sun, 04 Jun 2017 21:27:08 +0000

Our church, Houston’s First Baptist Cypress, is moving into a new building that will be open for normal services next week. We had a tour and a preparatory worship service this morning. I found myself thinking back to my church as a kid and how I felt about my church. When I was little, we went to the church my parents went to when I was born. Not counting our time on an air force base far away, it was the only church I knew until I moved from home. I remember so many things about that church building, that it almost seems like a second home. I knew that feeling today as we walked around this building. One of the verses from Psalm 84 that was used in the message today alluded to a doorholder. The idea is that being the guy that holds the door open so other can also get in heaven is better than the best life possible not leading to heaven. I think the background to the idea was that the doorholder was really low on the totem pole and it was a demeaning job that was on the outside, but never got to go in. I think the reality is that the work of getting others to come through the door is joyful. Each heart that is reached for Christ is a heart that God make His new house. When I visited churches during school, I knew they were temporary and I would move on to new frontiers. But I did make a home of the Aggie Awakening group that the Catholic church sponsored. I had a role and I did what I felt God calling me to do and I owned it. The church I first went to after school was a Methodist Church like the one I grew up in, but it felt more like a family members home than mine. I did meet little wife there, so it was a great place to be. After doing some searching, we began married church at Bear Creek Baptist, and it was here that I first felt like an adult at a church that could be my home. But it wasn’t. As much as I wanted it to be my church home, and as engaged as we were, it was never home. Big D and little d were both born while we were there and we spent many years there, but it was a stop along the way. This morning, all that changed. Houston’s First Baptist Church Cypress is my church home. I will continue to fall short, but this building and the people that use it will be where I strive to do what God calls me to do and in a manner that helps bring others to have God live in their heart. So if you read this before next Sunday, I invite you to join us for 9:30 and 11. There is stuff at 8, but I haven’t looked in that “room” yet. Feel free to go and explore then also. But whatever you do, take time to ask God where your church home is, then go out and find it, and then own it.    

The 11 man rotation?

Wed, 21 Jun 2017 23:07:50 +0000

So we seem to be n the midst of some issues with all five of our projected starting rotation having been on the disabled list (DL) and four still there. The very young guys are not going deep in games and the bullpen is working hard. Some think we should be in a panic to get another front line starter. Some think we should trade for any starter just to get innings. Some think others will look back and protest that the Astros were gaming the new 10 day DL rule. Once again, I think back to my fantasy baseball days. The idea was to pick the guys who others didn’t like so much and with luck, put together a team of statistics. The basics seemed simple, but winning was different. It started with knowing the rules and using them to your advantage. The same can probably be said of chess, but I never really learned how to win at that game. Something similar may be happening in the NBA now. Steve Kerr was a successful NBA player back when I watched. The game seemed to be based on the skills of one great player and some role players. One person who played college ball told me this morning that Steve Kerr (now a coach) had changed the game of basketball forever. My guess is he learned the rules and has found a way to exploit them to his advantage. I fouled a lot in backyard basketball. I was the shortest and the slowest, so using the rules was all I had to fall back on if I wasn’t “hot”. The old DL rule was a minimum of 15 days. You had to be really hurt or the team left you on the roster. It meant guys didn’t always heal before going back in the grind. It meant little aches and pains became big aches and pains. With hitters making up to $185,000 a game, relievers getting $315,000 a game, and starters getting close to $1,000,000 a start, the lost value due to an injury can have a real impact. The players fought to have a 10 day DL in an attempt to reduce injuries or their impact. The Astros can put a starter on the 10 day DL, and only miss him for one start. When a major concern is keeping your starters healthy through the end of October, missing one start in the season is no big deal over entire season. I think this is why they were so quick to put any of the starters on the DL with minor issues. Losing Keuchel and McCullers for so much time late last season taught them to not push through injures and the 10 day DL made it easy to do so. McHugh is still a mystery, but if he is healthy around the all-star break and has his stuff, he will still be strong come the end of the year. Morton has been diagnosed with an injury that will take some time to heal. Again, we all expected him to get injured, so hopefully he heals and is successful upon his return and strong late into the season. McCullers and Musgrove look like pure use the 10 day DL to get them a rest and keep them from injury. Keuchel is a fluke deal. Most of us have woken up with a stiff neck, but as a MLB pitcher, he can’t just throw on a funny looking neck brace and go back to work. I think the first 10 day DL was actually a hindrance as he probably who have healed if they had taken longer. All in all, I like how the team has responded to the need to have healthy starters in October and to keep rotating guys through accordingly. We have a great deal of talent, a good bit of skill, and internal options behind Keuchel and McCullers for a short series: Morton, Musgrove, Fiers, Martes, Paulino, Peacock. I still don’t think we need to trade for another starter, but I even more think we need to keep our top prospects if we do. Doug Fister anyone?

Post Harvey: The First Sunday

Sun, 03 Sep 2017 23:35:44 +0000

This morning our church pastor announced that at least for the month, our church’s mission was disaster response. I started this blog to see if I could do it (blogging) and how it would work. I want to pick it back up again to continue to give witness to Christ and to share my perspective as our area recovers from Harvey. If you read this and find it interesting, please share with your friends, family, and whoever God leads you to. I am not an expert on building up a blog following, but any help will be useful. Early in the year, I had dozens of ideas to write about and day by day I tried to hit the list, but many days the list was forgotten to talk about now. The same will be true going forward, I have many ideas to discuss from this storm and the Astros, but our lives are journeys with no earthly destination. Today I want to relate the stir of emotions from going to church. We missed last week as the building was closed due to the storm. The longing to be with my friends and co-believers was unusually strong. Being able to do something all the time we get numb to it. But after being prevented from doing something, the desire grows stronger. The first friend we saw was crying. Another friend is battling cancer and cancer is in the lead. Just seeing the friends condition brought many to tears. But our friend came to church to be in the House of God, to worship Him, to praise him, and to give Him all the Glory for what He has done in her life so far. As our pastor said today, it is okay to cry and to grieve over what has happened. Another friend shared with me his struggle to rest and the range of emotions and thoughts flowing through him during these times. I can’t ever remember having such a hard time falling asleep as these last ten days. I have had runaway scenarios run through my brain that I would never want to contemplate during the day. I am struggling to balance my pre-Harvey priorities with what I feel and want now. As the pastor said, our priorities have changed. What was important, is not. Race is not the national topic today; people rising up to help other is. God has allowed great suffering and devastation now. Those who have died, those who have lost loved ones, and those who have suffered loss will continue to suffer and we who have different experiences must be mindful of this fact, but make no mistake. This time is a time for the world to see what the Christian community can do. Not everyone who helps out is a Christian or even religious, but we who are are being watched and it is a time to rise up and show love for those around us. I am about to go watch the Aggie football game. I hope it is good entertainment. Tomorrow, Bid D and I will join friends to help those near us who have flooded. It will be another step out to be the hands and feet of Christ. I saw many friends at church today, I saw neighbors, I saw old co-workers, I saw new co-workers, I saw people I never saw before, but I saw my place in this world. I am here to use my talents and skills to provide for my family, but also to provide for those in need. I will learn more things about myself and my God as I follow this path before me. I will repeat lessons from when I was younger, and I will fail. But I will do so to Glorify God. Today, Sunday, the first one after Harvey, I get off my knees and I stand to do disaster recovery.  

Post Harvey: The Labor Day

Tue, 05 Sep 2017 16:25:30 +0000

Labor Day is a holiday from work that celebrates working. Yesterday we had a party to celebrate all our friends who had gone to help others recover from Harvey. We wanted to give a break to any who had been afflicted and to reward those who had helped. Little Wife and her friends had great food and beverages for everyone. It was a nice break. Earlier in the day, Bid D and I joined friends to go labor on behalf of others. We went to a local church none of us belong to and joined their efforts to help local neighbors who had flooded and needed help. We tore out baseboards, tore out sheet rock, tore out insulation, we put stuff in wheel barrows, we pushed wheel barrows, we swept, we sweated, and we wore ourselves out. It was refreshing to be able to help. As soon as the water stopped rising and I knew we were going to stay dry, I wanted to go out an help. It was so strange to be stuck in the neighborhood with no way to get out. I got a year’s worth of filing done and even went through all our retirement and tax records. I wanted to throw a lot of paper out, but I hesitated to make final decisions. The family we helped had a single story home and looked to have lost almost everything. The trash piles included their clothes, their photo albums, their furniture, their toys, and almost everything they owned. They found an old family bible totally soaked. I am sure it will have to be thrown out for their own safety. We have dozens of bibles gathered over my life from all kinds of events and periods when I wanted a different translation for study purposes. We grew up using the Revised American Standard version and I settled on the New King James as the version I like to read. But I have continually been amazed at the revealing of truth that can come from reading the same piece in multiple translations. The knowledge buried in words and their meanings as they stall or are changed by usage is incredible. Knowing the meaning of the “cock crows three times” brings new life to Peter’s denial of Christ. One of our neighbors is getting a new roof today as many in the area will from the tornado that went trough here. I drove the girls around to see more of the damage than our tree and the few things on our street. The wind gusts required to do the damage we saw were incredibly high. I feel blessed by God that our neighborhood does not look like Rockport. Houston has unprecedented flood damage, but Rockport looks like a kid demolished their leggo set to start over from scratch. Houston is a big city and will have lots of manpower to help each other. Rockport probably only has a few people not directly affected and had 10,000 people there before the storm. And that doesn’t count the surrounding area hit just as hard. Rebuilding Texas will happen. We know how we are. But I pray that as we labor to do so that we also labor to do so evenly. God loves ever single one of us, no matter our skin color or economic condition or where we live, so much that He gave His only Son to die for our sins. I pray that our love of Texans mirrors this.

One Week Later, I mean Two

Fri, 08 Sep 2017 02:22:47 +0000

One of the weirdest comments I saw about Harvey was how no one knew what day it was. Apparently, I still don’t know. I can’t believe it has been two weeks tomorrow that the rain started. The past week has been better than the one before. Cameron Maybin and Justin Verlander have been a huge part of the Astros winning seven straight. I remember Cameron Maybin from the 2004 Bowman Chrome Xfractor AFLAC set and his 2006 Bowman Autographs. I almost bought the red one earlier this year, but that was so 11 years ago. Justin Verlander was practically an unknown to me: American League and non-Astro and all. I do have a $60 Verlander auto rookie card. (I didn’t know that until right now.) Anyway, the distraction of baseball has been fun, but in tiny spurts amidst my changing life. (Amid is preferred to amidst, but …) We went to the viewing tonight of our friend who made it to church Sunday. It was indeed her last Sunday on earth and she spent it in the closet spot she could come to where she is now. Her husband now has three boys to raise without her help. Although I cannot imagine the pain she endured these past seven years, I have been overwhelmed with how she shared her love of Jesus with the world as she battled cancer. My last memory of her was how joyful she was when she came to pick up the dinner we made for her and the family. She was weak, she was tired, and she was sick, and she was full of joy. We live lives run by calendars and watches. When is this class? When is this meeting? When is this bill due? When is my doctor able to see me? The last two weeks have seen people live lives run by more. Trying to survive hurricane winds, tornadoes, storm surge, rising water; trying to figure out how to get out of the neighborhood to help; trying to remember when life wasn’t so simple. Every conversation starts with a question about the flood. They used to start with “How are you?” and “Fine.” But now we know that there is a story to tell and someone to listen. Tomorrow is Friday and Irma will be hours away from wreaking havoc on America as Harvey did two weeks ago. We have been Texas Strong, and Houston Strong, and soon we will be Southern Strong, Florida Strong, and maybe Miami Strong. But maybe tomorrow, we can just be joyful for all we have now. Ella was so joyful, and I pray that I can find a way to share some joy as well.  

Winning the Season – May

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 01:16:26 +0000

A fun thing happened today, the Astros clinched the division. I got to go and it was everything you could ask for: great starting pitching, homers, and a little drama (Thanks Ken Giles). In the beginning of the blog season, I started talking about wining on a month by month basis. By the end of April, we were playing baseball, playing it well, and winning real games. By the time I sat to write Winning the Season – April, it was mid-May and the wins were doing the talking. But I still want to write about winning the season month by month because come November 2, we start all over. In May we won 22 games, so clearly it was a win for the month overall. We had a big lead in the division, but our injuries had only started to blossom. Keuchel went down on the 20th, McCann on the 21st, Morton went down on the 28th, and Musgrove went down on the 30th. Three fifths of the rotation and the main catcher. It could have been the time for panic, but in reality it was time for the team to learn what they were made of and learn to overcome adversity. One topic that keeps repeating itself is how to make sure my kids can overcome adversity before they face it on their own. I want to be there to help, but they have to touch the hot pan at some point. On the one hand, I want to pay for my kids to go to A&M and get the boost they need to earn a living. On the other hand, I want them to experience having to find or make money to pay for college, to not always have enough to do everything, and sometimes not enough to do anything. I had three or four scholarships that paid for school, but they didn’t pay for dinner on Sunday, or doing the laundry, or going to the movies or anything else that my mom used to pay for. My $20 allowance she gave me only went so far. Kudos to her for paying for my car and insurance, too. Later in school when I had small jobs and co-oped, I learned what it was to earn money in the real world with no degree and trying to do more than the little I did those first two years. I used to not want the girls to take a job during high school or college so they could focus on success in school and learning. Now I look back at my first job at the lumber store, later washing telephone trucks, and even later in college washing test tubes as good lessons I learned about the difference between making money and earning a living. I think that last one I was up to $3.25 an hour or something great like that. The Astros at the end of May were looking forward to winning, but not in June. They were looking forward to winning in October. I want my girls to succeed in college, but I am looking forward to them succeeding at life. This team on May 20th wasn’t ready to win in October. It was a very talented team playing well, but they were not ready for the conditions in October when every game is a sell out, every game has unfriendly media asking the questions, and pressure like no other. But by the end of May, they were well on the way to doing so serious winning. Moses led His people to the promised land. However, the first time he asked Pharaoh to let His people go, he did not meet with success, but Pharaoh said “Who is your god and why should I let all you slaves go?” Pharaoh made the slaves lives even worse and everyone got mad at Moses. Some start to the Exodus. It took ten plagues to get Pharaoh to release the slaves and even then he tried to change his mind. It took forty years in the desert and the death of all but three people for the Jews to realize who God is. It even took a burning bush to convince Moses. So maybe I can find an easier way for the girls to appreciate the value of a dollar. Hopefully, winning May and the rest of the Astros season will prepare them for success in October.

Here, you have homework, Dad!

Sun, 01 Oct 2017 23:06:22 +0000

Big D made me super proud this week when she led her school’s “See You at the Pole”. I love that she has given her life to Christ and I love that that is part of who she is. Our friend posted this photo and I thought I’d share. This morning at Sunday School, otherwise known as Life Bible Study, the leader asked us how ready we were to follow God’s calling on a scale from 1 to 10. I wanted to pick a 5, but the next question was why did you pick that number. As I thought about it, I tried to picked that number because I already have things I am doing and wouldn’t be sure how a new thing would fit. Which is funny as I just volunteered to help our church’s financial counseling team to go along with the prayer team, helping with the kids worship once a month for kids little d’s age, and of course trying to raise the girls to be productive members of society, to be a helpmate to little wife, try to help her support our family, and to tithe and give, and … I once had high expectations thrust on me. I didn’t ask for them, and I chose not to pursue them. It rang hollow for someone else to pick my goals. Of course it was a person and not God, so I felt ok picking my path. Of course I have picked goals along the way for the wrong reasons and they have fallen flat as I struggled for some short term success. Big D has picked a couple lofty goals to shoot for this summer. They are only lofty if you take them out of context. When I was a kid, I was good for one B every semester (mostly in English or Spanish) and that trend followed me from junior high until it doubled in college and on to grad school. So continuing her trend is a good goal. My homework is to do all I can to help her succeed. Giving her some motivation for success and some comfort if it doesn’t come, are also tasks I have. Both goals will take work on her part, lots of work, but really just a little work each and everyday. The Astros regular season just ended a few minutes ago and they are off to prepare for more success. They played 162 games, but what they really did was played for like 50,000 pitches. So if you are like my friend Paul, remember that God is not calling you to succeed in some huge event in your own strength. He is calling you to follow Him in each of the hundreds or thousands of little things He has for you each day… to prepare for the next.    

Winning the season – June …Why the Astros won’t (didn’t) go all in

Mon, 02 Oct 2017 11:46:21 +0000

Sixteen Wins and the disabled list is our friend? Similar to May, we put Keuchel on the DL June 8th, McCullers on June 12th, and Josh Reddick on the 14th. Different from May, we activate Martes, Fisher, and Musgrove to replace the injured and we start to see the future. And as bright as those futures looked, and still look, the month of June was all about adding to the farm: The international signing period and the draft. In June, before I took the summer off, I started a spot like this…”The value of prospects is the hot topic of the summer. “Everyone” thinks the Astros need to trade some top prospects for a third starter and a lefty reliever. The term they use now is go all in. They want us to trade our future for now. I won’t go so far as to say we don’t need to make a trade to have the best possible chance to win it all, but the names thrown about in the rumors are giving me pause. I want to win this one, but I want to win the next one and the one after that and so on. The Astros have become who they are by a process. It started with draft picks, trades, waiver claims, free agent signings, and coaching before the current leaders showed up. Its the same process that other teams use. Its the same process the current leaders use. The difference is in the players being picked, traded, waived, claimed, signed, and coached, and in the coaching.” So now in October, we look back and see that we did trade for another reliever and another starter. Liriano and Verlander. Liriano was a weird one at the time as he was a struggling starter on a nowhere bound team. We gave up Teoscar Hernandez (who is playing well) to get Liriano and to dump Aoki and the cancer he is/was off our team. It seemed pretty steep, but Teoscar was buried in our minor leagues and short of trading Fisher, Marisnick, Preston Tucker, and Kyle Tucker, Teoscar was not going to play for us. And now we have a solid lefty reliever for the playoffs and speed and defense off the bench rather than a slap hitter who couldn’t run or field. Verlander was also a surprise to some in that no one expected us to take on a veteran with a large salary. He was the top of the rotation guy we wanted and we gave up solid talent for him. Perez, Cameron and Stubbs all were projected to succeed at the major league level. Perez was originally on our list of untouchables, but we got to keep McCullers, Musgrove, Martes, Paulino, and Whitley who are all young and ahead of Perez. Cameron was further below Teoscar on the outfield depth chart and his stock was high. Stubbs moving on will hurt our catcher depth, but we now have one of the best veteran starters in the majors for the post season and the next two seasons. All in all, I think June was a big win in that we boosted the minors enough to pull off these two trades to help us and still have the bulk of our future intact. As we shoot for 11 more wins in October, lets take breath and enjoy the 101 wins this regular season.

World Series Tickets For Sale

Tue, 24 Oct 2017 14:09:30 +0000

(Two Seats, Section 310, Row 6, Friday or Sunday. Contact me if interested.) It was late in the 2005 season when I realized that team was going to be special. I had been to at least one playoff game against the Braves years before, but I was young and didn’t get it. So the Astros had a deal where if you bought season tickets for 2006, you could buy tickets all the way through the playoffs for face value. I bought, and those two World Series Games are actually ones I can almost remember.. vividly, especially the painful parts. So in 2015, when it looked like we were going to beat the Royals, I repeated. That team wasn’t as special, but I had season tickets for 2016. I bought playoff tickets for 2016, but the team didn’t. And then I had season tickets for 2017, and I have tickets for me to see this years playoffs. Third time a charm, I bought season tickets for 2018 and I got to buy extra tickets for the 2017 playoffs. So a really long how did I get them. So my topic for today is money and the allure of easy money. I bought these tickets as a no risk investment. The intent was to sell them and pay for my post season tickets. There was little risk as the Astros would pay me back for any games not played and I was perfectly willing to sell the early rounds at face value if time ran short. All I really had to do was put them on stubhub, set a price and forget it. Except money doesn’t work that way. As much as I wanted to set and forget, I kept trying to get a little more. The ALCS tickets were $70 face value and I sold them as low as $120 each and as high as $225. So in the end of the ALCS, I was on target. Except a weird thing happened. The Astro-nomical price I had on the World Series Game 2 tickets wasn’t as Astro-nomical as I thought, and they sold before I got home from Game 7 of the ALCS. So now greed had an in and I was sad they sold for so “little”. I’ve had a couple people inquire on the others and I have set the price about what those sold, but no hits yet. But it got me looking into the Stubhub model and I was amazed. So when I sold on stubhub, I set a price and stubhub took 10% and gave me the rest. Only as I learned later, they also took an extra percentage from the buyer. In total, they take 25% of the total price or 33% over what the seller gets. So if I sell a ticket and get $100, it really sells for $133. During the regular season when selling tickets for $24, the $32 number isn’t too impressive. But when you sell a ticket for $1000, the sales price is really $1,333 and stubhub has made a tidy little sum of $333 for one ticket. That’s pretty impressive. Its also disheartening for the seller to final figure it out. So now, not only do I want to sell the tickets for a profit, I want to cut out the middle man. An age old game of economics. Ebay, Paypal, Amazon, and now Stubhub are the middle men with the market. And little ole me trying to get in on the game. In the end, it will be hard to find a wide enough market to sell for what I will get on stubhub with the same confidence in getting my money and having no issues. I have to wonder how to get the money, how to give the tickets, is the money real, will the check bounce, will they try to rob me, and on and on. On stubhub, I get my money and no one knows where they came from. Safe as can be. Similar to how the mob protected store owners from the mob. I read a free book on trading stocks. It was free so I took it with a grain of salt, but it reminded me of something I always new about making money. Set a target without emotion, and then follow the plan, without emotion. Money is not a game, it is not an emotional event. It is cold hard cash, and people are willing to steal and kill to get it. So take a risk, invest, but don’t let greed lead you to doing something that isn’t safe or is beyond your risk tolerance. The games begin again tonight, and I will put all this behind me, because in the end, the Astros are in the World Series and times are great.  

Winning the season July

Thu, 26 Oct 2017 16:45:38 +0000

I have only a couple days to finish up the months, so here is another. July started with David Paulino busted for performance enhancing drugs. He was our most likely trade bait, and he was out for the next 80 days, and was now tainted. It didn’t help our month. July did include the last of our international signings for the year, so the future was added to, but we will look at that in the offseason. Morton came off the DL healthy, so that was a big plus. Harris went on the DL, so that wasn’t. Musgrove came back as a reliever and that was a huge lift to the team with Harris out and others struggling. Tolliver was back for a day or so, but I think that 4 inning outing in May hurt him and I hope is recovers before next year and succeeds. That one in May was huge. Correa went down. This was a big blow to his MVP candidacy, but the team shock it off and moved forward. Moran took it to the face and showed us something new to be afraid of. I’m glad he made it back during the regular season. Not sure where he fits next year, but I like him. White came up and did all we could ask. Fisher came up. Springer went down. Keuchel came back, McCullers hurt his (back). And then we made a huge trade. Just kidding. We did get rid of Aoki and receive Liriano, but it cost us Hernandez. A price we can afford, but it left the team asking why not more. But with Paulion out, Springer and Correa hurt, it was good to hold out for a better deal. Fifteen wins wasn’t bad. A bunch of guys on the All Star team wasn’t bad. All in all July was a win, but just barely.    

Winning the Season: Rant!

Sun, 29 Oct 2017 05:14:37 +0000

So I have written just enough summaries to hit the rest of the season and I have a opportunity to talk about today. My pet peeve is AJ Hinch and his management of the bullpen in the post season. Don’t stop if you have heard this before. I have a new twist. My first issue today was leaving Morton in for the beginning of the seventh. Why? He hasn’t gone 6 innings in over a month and has blown up a the end of many games this year. Your entire bullpen outside Brad Peacock has rested two days and you have some all straightened out. So Morton gives up a double that any outfielder would have caught, except we have Marwin out there for his bat, the silent one. So now we bring in Harris with a runner on second up by only one. Harris gives up a hit and the entire night from Morton is wasted. And it was a great night on the biggest stage. Then Devenski comes in. The bases are empty and he succeeds. See there is a twist. Hinch got one right tonight. Actually Harris was probably a good move too, but I had flashbacks of 2015 and I would have used someone other than Harris. So the ninth inning comes. We do not have a lead, more on the offense after the Series is over, so who should we not use? The closer who has proven for years that he runs on adrenaline from the chance for a save. Who do we use? The closer who is not in line to get a save and has no adrenaline and has proven beyond all shadow of doubt that he can’t pitch without it. How many outs does he get? None. Single to the first guy. A fastball to a guy waiting on it. Not great, but no need to panic. Next a walk. And it is an ugly one with all the ugliness my stomach can take. If I could, I would leave now and try to avoid ever knowing what happened afterwards. So it gets worse. They leave him in. So after all that the team has suffered with Ken Giles the last two years, and all the overcoming that we have done to get to the World Series, and all the clues that this would end badly, AJ Hinch does the impossible and leaves his man out their to fail on the biggest stage. First pitch: slider in the dirt. After a walk, he puts one in the dirt? Shock.. We know he is lost out there and yet, AJ Hinch leaves him in to complete the failure. Second pitch: winning run scoring double. Ok, so it wasn’t really the winning run, but the actual (only to be known later) winning run got to third with no outs; with another runner just behind him on second with no outs. So who do we turn to. The almost rookie, never been a reliever before this fall, Joe Musgrove. I actually really like Joe. I think he will be a tremendous pitcher for us over the years. But I think we need a veteran to come in to the fire and try to mop up. Joe gets the strikeout, gets charged with the intentional walk, not the wrong move, but still charged to Joe, then gives up the run on a fly ball. I couldn’t see the pitch, but with no outs and a runner on third, you have to expect him to score. So now you have the World Series Game Four, you are down two runs, two runners on, two outs, a lefty is coming up. You traded a star prospect outfielder for a veteran lefty reliever. But he is not ready, because you did not warm him up. Your young gun has just given up another run, the game seems a loss. The lefty is one of the most potent hitters in the NL. He hit a homerun off your pen just the other day off your best right handed pitcher. I bring in the lefty expecting the best chance to keep it a two run game and hope we can duplicate magic to comeback and tie it. But AJ Hinch does not see it that way. The lefty hits a towering drive to make it a five run lead and people are sprinting for the gates. We score one, but lose by four. So now we have used our closer and he failed in a non-save situation, he warmed up the day before, and will be tired going into the third game in three days where you might have had him fresh and maybe used him for two innings as you had tried to do (with some failure) in recent history. We have two other relievers who feel failure even thought they pitched well, and at least two guys in the pen who feel the manager hates them and will be glad to leave this disaster of a bullpen in free agency in a few days. I wish I could pitch for AJ Hinch and be treated that way. I would fight back. But I am 49 and could never throw it over the plate with any movement, velocity, or knowing where it would be. I hope we can overcome the AJ Hinch factor and pull out the title, but it would be nice if someone could teach Hinch how to use a bullpen before 7:20 pm this evening.

Winning the Season: August & September and WS Game 5

Mon, 30 Oct 2017 06:46:33 +0000

What a great game. Maybe I can sleep. A late post for the run to the World Series. August can only be seen as a loss because of Harvey, but if you could put that aside, August was a huge win. Justin Verlander accepted a deal with 2 seconds to spare, Luhnow agreed to trade three good prospects, and the scene was set for a run to the pennant. Sipp and Feliz went down, as did McCann and Gattis (twice) and Stassi, and Jankowski and Diaz were lost to waivers. Not a great month for relievers or catchers. We did trade for Clippard and claimed Maybin, so the loses here didn’t have much impact. Beyond the Verlander trade, the month was about rest and rehabilitation. As pointed out earlier in the year, the team needed to be healthy and rested for October, not August. I am doubling up on months as so little stood out for August in the list above. September was the month of getting everyone off the DL that could be. Brady Rodgers was finally recalled to open a roster spot for Justin Verlander. And September callups happened. In the end, everyone was called up on the 40 man roster except AJ Reed who had been up earlier for a few days and Preston Tucker who toiled away at AAA all year. September saw 20 wins and was definitely just what the team needed rolling into October. Even the disaster that was a four game sweep to the A’s served its purpose at the team did not get over confident. The team clinched the division and a playoff spot on September 17 and the only question that remains was how great of a winning season it would be. One interesting thing that happened in October when the regular season was still under way is that David Paulino came off the restricted list. Potentially, it could have meant losing someone off the roster right at the end of the year. The team stuck him on the 60 day DL and all is well. But it sure does create a 40 man roster log jam come November.    

Winning the Season: ALDS

Tue, 31 Oct 2017 02:08:26 +0000

One very interesting thing about this series is that we played the Red Sox the last four games of the year coming out of the last Rangers series. We pounded out all of our Harvey frustrations on the Rangers for three days and followed up with another against the Red Sox. With the seasons best record on the line and knowing we were going to face them in the ALDS, planning for the last couple games was a balance between catching the Indians or giving the Red Sox a chance to see our best pitchers days before really important games. As it worked out, the Indians were not to be caught and the Yankees lost enough to give the Red Sox the East Title. We saved our pitchers and came into the ALDS rested, ready, and at an advantage having seen all their pitchers. We did beat the Red Sox for home field advantage in the ALDS and used it to build a commanding 2 game lead with 8-2 victories before the home crowd. Both of those games were everything you could want from the Astros with pitching, defense, and scoring. We laid an egg in game three and as I told little Wife, “At least if they lay an egg on the road you can turn off the TV.” Game four was described as one of the best playoff games ever by many. (Little did they know.) I missed almost all of it since since it was in the middle of the work day, but we pulled it out in an almost magic manner. This was a big win and everything went the way we hoped. I’ll probably fill in details over the winter when bored, but this was a good win.

Winning the Season: ALCS + Routine… Popup… Practice

Tue, 31 Oct 2017 14:44:36 +0000

I mistook a draft for a complete blog and ended up with a sentence. We won the ALCS with home field advantage. So I am adding this other blog that actually had content with it to post before Game 6. Here’s hoping….. Other than the two I am selling to friends, I listed all my extra playoff tickets this morning (when I wrote it). Beyond this first series, the prices for tickets are really high right now. I remember now why I got season tickets in the second place. From a personal financial standpoint, I hope the Astros get home field advantage for the World Series and it goes seven games. Too bad I see no way to know the outcome. A friend of mine calls his financial adviser his “Bookie”. I have thought it was funny every time he said it. I almost have a bookie. He is a friend who helps me with the paperwork and gets my name off his firm’s call lists. He gave me a clue as to why the stock market continues to go up and wow do I have something to pull for now. Too bad I see no way to know the outcome. Today starts swim season again and we will be fully into a routine with every hour from Monday at 6 am until Friday at 4:30 pm accounted for. Routine is good as it lets us know the outcome. My routine starts with a little bible reading, a little prayer request review, and some praying. As my 12-year old friend trapped in a 42-year old’s body said yesterday, “I can start the day at a 10 ready for whatever God calls me to do.” Of course that is before with interaction with the world and the number falls, but it is the same old routine. One of my favorite plays is the routine popup. No matter how routine it is, the balls is moving, the sky or roof is a difficult background, and the light source is not the fielders friend. I really like it when the opponent misses the routine popup and the hitter gets a double. It looks like a line drive in the box score, but it was supposed to be that same old routine. So how do we deal with the routine popup? We practice. Everyday is the opportunity for new opportunities, but how do we prepare ourselves for the new things that call us? We practice. The example from church yesterday was the lady who wanted to reach out to her neighbors. She could think of no way to bring up the topic of Christ, so she made them dinner and took it over. She kept asking God for the way to introduce the topic and got nothing. When her visit was over, she prepared to leave and at the last moment, the neighbor asked ” So why did you make us dinner anyway?” The perfect opening. She was speechless. The thing we sometimes forget living our lives is all that we lived as kids: We practiced. Swim practice, Piano practice, Soccer practice, Math practice, Spelling practice. We did things before they were “live” to make sure we were ready when they were. Now that we are older, we never practice and we never feel ready. So when the routine popup comes along, we drop it. Now that the kids are back in the swing of things, the baseball season is to the good part, and you are a day older and a day wiser, find the things you hold as priorities, and practice.  

Pre-Decision Game Thoughts

Sun, 19 Nov 2017 14:20:44 +0000

little d is home with the flu and I wanted to share some thoughts before tonight’s game and see how they hold up after the next couple days. We have a lot going on right now and the dominant piece is the Astros in the World Series. As a football fan, one can plan and have a Super Bowl party regardless of who is playing. As a temperamental one team fan with your team trying to win the World Series, you need to be at home alone away from anyone who could end up an ex-friend. Looking back at game 5, I realized that being in the crowd kept me calm, cool, and may have damaged my hearing. Looking back at game 1, I yelled, I screamed, I jumped up and down, and I missed some of the game while I was home “watching”. When I was a kid, I loved playing baseball, the games, the practices, the pickup games, throwing with friends, throwing against the side of the house, whatever. I read all the statistics, in the paper, in magazines, in books, on the backs of baseball cards. I watched on Saturday afternoon listening to Vin and Joe. It didn’t matter who, just so long as it was baseball. This week with a resounding thud, I realized that I have changed. I only like the Astros. Until I get my shoulder right, I can’t even throw. I don’t look at statistics except for Astros. I only watch the Astros. I have for most of the last 13 years focused on Astros baseball cards. I feel that I am not a baseball fan, but only an Astros fan. Kinda weird. But it has been intentional. I realized years ago that it wasn’t healthy to know everything about all of baseball. I knew nothing about college baseball, even the Aggies. In order to have some semblance of balance in my life, I have specialized my focus on baseball onto the Astros. I read an article about how one can chose a team to follow or a team can pick us. I realized that my living in Houston and little Wife telling me to route for the home team meant that my decision wasn’t totally mine anyway. I picked Houston for my career (and it was in Texas) and the fact the Astros were here was a bonus. The fact that the Astros have turned into what they are has to be some reflection of the fanbase. In the most positive sense, we are a young city trying to do the right thing in a world of old cities and we want to be successful while still being positive. When looking at the icons of this team, we have Nolan Ryan, Craig Biggio, Lance Berkman, and now Jose Altuve leading with uprightness and hard work. Others with them, and many others on other teams, are being a positive influence. So as I look forward to the possibilities that tonight and maybe tomorrow night hold for the Astros, I am thankful that my hometown team is the team I would pick to be my favorite if I could. I like that I have been intentional about my interests. I need to continue to be intention, focusing on the priorities that I have and spending my Attention, Resources, and Time on them. (A little plug for Gregg Matte’s sermon that week.) I am not yet who I want to be. I know I will never quite get there, but having the right intent, working to get there, and knowing God is helping, the me of any today will be the best me yet. So join me, have the intent to be a fan of the World Champion Houston Astros (and the best you you can be), and maybe God will grant us that wish tonight.

Winning 2018: Begin Again

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 12:54:02 +0000

Monday is the first deadline day towards building the 2018 roster. Everyone we want to protect from the Rule 5 draft has to be on the 40-man roster by the deadline today. With all the injuries and ineffectiveness we had this season, we already have 38 spots on the roster filled and we still need to add at least one left-handed reliever and maybe another veteran reliever before the season starts. So anyone we protect now is in danger of being removed from the roster as it changes over the offseason. The same goes for those 38 already on the roster. As discussed much earlier in the year, the magic of having a talented team year after year is not losing anyone to the rule 5 draft, or at least no one important. In 2016 we “lost” Mike Hauschild. He was so bad, we got him back. In 2014, we lost Delino Deshields (he stuck in the majors and is an everyday player), Jandel Gustave (he came back), and David Rollins (he stuck but has been terrible). This year we have three guys who look worth keeping: Cionel Perez (a 21-year old lefty from Cuba who has to be added or released), Dean Deetz (a 23-year old starter), and my favorite Jason Martin (a 22-year stud outfielder). Any of the three would stick with a picking team in my opinion. We have 34 other players eligible for the Rule 5 draft. One is our #11 prospect and might be taken, but he won’t make our team this year and was terrible in 2017. The other are outside our top 30, but there might be a diamond in the rough. When the team was really bad, we only kept a couple nearly worthless rule five picks we picked, but we got Marwin this way. My guess is we keep Martin and Perez. I could see dumping Centeno to keep Deetz, but Deetz struggled at AAA and I would rather lose him than dump anyone besides Centeno. Then with 40 spots filled, we are forced to maneuver to add relief help. I see a trade coming, but not sure of the impact. The world is expecting little roster turn over from us, but we have 38 major league ready players and only 25 spots for them to play from. I hope we make some decisions and use the extra 13 and our minor leaguers to improve the quality of the depth over quantity.  

Winning the Season: Complete!

Wed, 22 Nov 2017 13:31:56 +0000

I start this at 1:51 am (Nov 2) hoping I can sleep before helping to put the girls on the bus. Not sure it will happen as I am still too keyed up from the Astros victory. Back in March I predicted 95 wins and 911 runs. We got a few more wins and a few less runs, but overall I had a pretty good feel for the outcome. I didn’t go out and predict a World Series Victory in 2014, but I knew it was possible. After George’s double I was pretty sure. After George’s homer, I was sure. But I am a Houston fan, and as Reid Ryan hinted at this evening, we kind of expect to lose. My first feeling was relief that it finally happened. As a t-shirt I saw said, “You never forget your first”. This season will always be special for that alone, but it has been a journey to get here. The journey for Houston didn’t start earlier this year when I started this blog. It didn’t start when Jeff Luhnow took over, it didn’t start when Jim Crane took over, it didn’t start when we signed Jose Altuve. This journey started before the Astros took that name, before the Colt 45s started playing, and before the franchise was awarded. It started when people got together to bring major league baseball to Houston. My next blog will be my 100th blog. I had no idea what I was doing when I started and I have no idea what I have accomplished. The Astros however know what they have done. The leaders in charge now know what they did to get there. They even had a plan and followed it. But they all know that despite the comfort that was game 7, final victory was many, many times influenced by things totally out of their hands. I do not know God had the Astros win specifically for me, but I know He had a hand in it. I do know though that God sent His Son specifically for me and my sins. I thanked Him for letting the Astros win and I thank Him for victory of the penalty of sin.

Improve your life by reading this one blog…

Thu, 23 Nov 2017 14:03:48 +0000

…and the Bible. Or maybe just the Bible. One of my favorite shows as a kid was MLB Game of the Week. Another was This Week in Baseball. It was an opportunity for a kid living in the middle of nowhere to learn more than could be found in the box scores. The General Manager’s meeting ended last week along with Awards Week. The GM meetings only led to the Mariners making trades, but they make more trades than everyone else combined it seems. The highlight of the week was of course Altuve winning MVP, but an Astros game I was at led to another award: Best Fan Catch. It was a funny turn of events that you simply couldn’t see from my seat and its perspective. So I watched it later and it reminded me of the things I used to learn on This Week in Baseball. One of the things I do often is read the Bible. When I used to teach Bible Studies, I would pull out my references and read those too. It always amazed me how diverse the points could be coming out of the same verses. The neatest for me were always when an expert would discuss how the meanings of events in the every day lives of the Old Testament Israelites impacted the terms used in the New Testament. I’m not ready to sit in a class to learn details of the languages the Bible was written in and the customs of the day, but I like reading what others who have write. So the Best Fan Catch was on a Dodgers homerun at Mminute Maid park during the World Series. The lady involved caught a ball from Puig who alienated Astros fans by his behavior. The catch was not news worthy until her brother-in-law took the ball from her and threw it back onto the field to show his disgust with Puig. It was priceless. Of course when everyone first saw it, it was the man one seat over who ripped it from her hand. The brother-in-law part only came out later during their 15 seconds of fame. The casual observer never would have picked up on the weird custom of throwing an opponents homerun back, the impact of throwing a World Series homerun ball back (sentiment and $ involved), and the huge negativity building around Puig. So I encourage you to read your Bible and let the Holy Spirit guide your understanding for you that day. But I also encourage you to then read a study guide and see how wonderful the details God put in the Bible are. And today be Thankful for the gift He gave us of His Son Jesus Christ.  

ASTROS 101: Winning 2018: The two step

Fri, 08 Dec 2017 14:22:03 +0000

The two step is my favorite kind of dancing as it only has two steps and I can keep up with it about 99% of a song. The Astros took two more steps along the path of 2018 by waiving Juan Centeno and non-tendering Mike Fiers. Juan Centeno looked like superman when he was first added to the roster during a concussion DL trip for McCann. Centeno hit a HR in each of those two games he played and everything seemed ok. We lost Andrew Aplin through a trade for a player to be named later in that week’s maneuvers, but Andrew never looked good. It will be interesting if we ever find out what we got for him. Centeno came back for a week in August for another DL trip this time for Gattis, and had two more great games. When Gattis moved to the 10-day DL and McCann got there the next day, Centeno’s success ended, but he did get to play quite a bit the rest of the year, even making the playoff roster all three rounds. So for a minor league free agent, he was useful for the 2017 title. How bad must the Rangers be to take him? Mike Fiers was a huge boost to the rotation when everyone else went down. He was terrible before that and terrible after that, and didn’t pitch again after he hit someone on September 13 (or make any postseason rosters). It was Luis Valbuena, and there may be bad blood between the two to go along with the bat flip by Luis, but Fiers is a talented mess. He really helped us when we really needed it, and that is what you need when one goes for it all. We go no return on Fiers, but we don’t have to deal with his mental issues either. Hopefully he finds himself for someone outside the AL West next year. After the Rangers signed Doug Fister, they have the inside reach to Fiers also. I am still surprised the Astros didn’t make one of these moves and put Jason Martin on the 40-man roster, but I can only assume the two slots are needed for relievers and they would have had to waive Martin later in the offseason. At least this way, he has a chance to stick on the Astros through the rule 5 draft or be returned during the season next year. Assuming we make no moves, we have McCann and Stassi catching, Gurriel, Altuve, Correa, and Bregman on the infield with Gonzalez to back them up, and Fisher, Reddick, Springer, and Marisnick in the outfield with Gattis as DH. Gattis should be a big step up over Beltran, Fisher should be a big step up over Aoki, and Stassi should be a better catcher than Gattis and should hit as his bat warrants. This leaves Preston Tucker, JD Davis, Tony Kemp, Colin Moran, AJ Reed, and Tyler White headed back to AAA again. That is a lot of talent and I would like one of the lefties to force the team to take 13 hitters and only 12 pitchers this year. But the team surely feels it needs to keep this talent in reserve in case of injury rather than trading it for a veteran starter or a lefty who can shut down lefties. The rotation looks like Verlander, Keuchel, Morton, McCullers, and McHugh with Giles, Devenski, Harris, Musgrove, Peacock, Hoyt, Feliz, and Sipp in the pen. Musgrove and Peacock would be available to extend out of the pen, with Devenski and Feliz in reserve. Any of these four could go back to a starter if needed, but would have to be stretched out. Martes will be at AAA and should get any spot starts being stretched out already. Paulino will be coming off suspension and some kind of injury, so we know not what to expect. Rodgers will be coming back from surgery and might be ready come later in the season. Gustave is unlikely to make it back in time to play in the majors. Deetz and Perez are new to the 40-man roster and should not play unless we need a deep bullpen again. It will be good to get a veteran reliever to lead the bullpen and a lefty who can get out lefties. All of our guys struggled at times and we assume it came from being pushed to do more for so long during the long season. Every one we have is talented and if used with a healthy rotation can be the best in the league.  

Snow or Winning the World Series? Which is better…

Sat, 09 Dec 2017 23:52:43 +0000

I was thrilled that the snow stuck and the girls got to see it and touch it this morning. I was thrilled to see it fall and catch it in my mouth last night while they slept. I felt like a kid at Christmas. I even made a snow man. On the way back from the bus stop I thought of the World Series and now snow: Highlights of the year around us. I had a brief flash of which was better. This week the Astros apparently lost out on two ways to update the team. The first was missing out on the two-way Japanese star Ohtani. Our only hope here was that he wanted to be on a winner. Oh well, at least we get to get him out and hammer him more than otherwise. The second was missing out on NL MVP Stanton. I had hoped he would stay in the NL, but after he dumped on the Cards and Giants, it was leaked that his list was Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, Astros. Weird that no Red Sox. Anyway, the Dodgers had already said they couldn’t get him and stay under salary desires. Cubs would have been the preference, but somehow that never felt like they were interested. So if it came down to Astros and Yankees, a new thought comes to mind. It goes back to employees. If you have an employee, there is a delineating question: Do you fear them working for your competitor. They Astros should have expected the Yankees to be interested. The Astros should have been interested in Stanton as he was in theory the best NL player last year. So when lining up how important it would be to have Stanton in the Astros lineup, part of the equation would be that he was not in a competitors lineup. Ohtani is now with the Angels, and they are in our division, but we don’t really fear him there. They are not a bad team, but Pujols is old and we just expect to beat them. The Yankees are not in our division, so our only fear for Stanton is in the playoffs. The playoffs is a crap shoot, so not as big a concern as if he went with an AL West team. All in all, I can’t believe the Astros didn’t offer enough to get Stanton from Miami. Therefore, it must be an evil conspiracy with Jeter to get the Yankees better and not help the Astros. Just kidding. Miami’s last owner was the worst, but I’m not sure these guys didn’t just make a huge mistake. The best player around, on your team, to build around for the next ten years? and you trade him? Maybe losing is now fashionable. Nope, losing sucks. The Astros sold me a blue shirt that on the front says PROCESS in orange. On the Back it says: What’s Important Now The W, I, and N are in white with the rest in orange, like process in the front. So the WIN in white stands out as what is important now: Winning. Miami fans must be hating the near future, but they have a few World Series trophies to remember, so I don’t feel sorry for them. I’ve traditionally not liked the Yankees. My friend Matt always did. Some of my favorite players have been Yankees at one point or another. Now with Boone as the manager and Stanton on the team, I have to admit that, especially with Judge being such a nice kid, I don’t dislike them as much as I have. Beating them in a game seven on the way to a World Series title helped I imagine. Hopefully Stanton doesn’t give them an edge over us. But this coming week we look forward to some activity by the front office to prepare us or Winning 2018 while a the Winter Meetings. We really only need a lefty who gets out lefties, rest to heal our players, and time to learn how to make our players better. So which was better my team winning the World Series for the first time in my life or my house being covered in snow for the first time in my life? I certainly can’t control either and therefore I can’t pick.      

Choking Game leads to death of someone I know

Sat, 16 Dec 2017 13:52:28 +0000

I heard the Bee Gees singing tragedy the other day. I liked that song when I was younger. As I listened I remembered that the term applied to some kind of Greek play. I then wondered what the tragedy the Bee Gees were singing about. I have never been one to understand lyrics very well. I assumed it was about a losing a girl and went on with my day. Last night I learned of a real personal tragedy. One of our family friend’s young son died. He died from participating in the Choking Game. I immediately thought of Big D and hoped nothing like that happens to her as she goes through her teen years. little d too, but she has a ways to go to get there. Two issues lead to deaths like this. One is ignorance. Some people die from things they simply did not know could kill them. The other is feeling it won’t happen to them. Statistically, not many people die from a lot of different things, so we assume it won’t happen to us. Tragedy is an event causing great suffering and distress. Our friend’s family and a lot of us around them are suffering right now. The suffering for some will be intense for a really long time. My first memory of dealing with someone’s death was in high school. A friend of mine died doing something he knew could kill him, but he figured it wouldn’t happen to him. I still feel that loss intensely. So the boy’s aunt has asked us to get the word out that this game does kill, it does happen, and it can happen to you. This is only one danger in life. As parent’s we need to protect our kids and we need to include in that the information needed to protect themselves. So I ask all you parent’s to ensure your kids know not to play the choking game and to be diligent about teaching them to protect themselves from dangerous activities. Especially the ones all their friends play. <a href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choking_game”>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choking_game</a>

Designated for Assignment

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 01:40:09 +0000

My facebook page now has a cover page with a signed Preston Tucker rookie card on it. I guess I need to change that. Tucker was the only person on the 40-man roster not to play for the Astros this year and he has now been removed from the roster to make room for bullpen help. The team has a week to try and trade him. Then he would go through waivers if not traded. If not taken by someone else, he would be eligible for sending down to Triple A. He might get an option to be a free agent rather than go back to AAA, but I didn’t read that far today. Hopefully, he gets traded. My pet peeve is losing guys to waivers at points like this. We have lost a number of guys to waivers over the years and I hope it doesn’t happen again here. Like JD Martinez before him, Preston Tucker has had chances at the major league level with the Astros and has not performed. In 2016 he was injured and the team took a flyer with Aoki to begin 2017. I would have much preferred that the team give Tucker a chance out of Spring Training, but it didn’t happen. Probably why I don’t like Aoki as much as I do. The week did have some big happenings for the Astros (relatively of course). We signed a backup catcher to replace Centeno. We signed a 28-year old minor league pitcher (that’s old for a minor leaguer) to replace some of the AAA depth we lost. We signed a solid reliever to replace Gregerson. We took a rule 5 draft pick for a 27-year old minor league pitcher with less than a season of professional pitching experience. And we signed another solid reliever to replace young guys who should be in AAA. The biggest boost was getting the second solid reliever. Our bullpen last year had talent, but it didn’t have experience and the manager blew it up trying to replace innings from the injured starters. I am now concerned that we have added to our logjam of talented players who will not be able to develop. I’ll leave that discussion to another time. The biggest risk we took was the rule 5 pick. In essence it drove Tucker off the roster and it has a great chance to bring no reward. The player picker is actually a left handed reliever who can hit 100 mph with his fastball, so the upside is huge if we can develop him and have a lefty reliever in the pen. I’m guessing he is battling Sipp for a spot on the team. I can’t see them keeping both with the sheer number of pitchers we now have. He just started pitching last year and ended up with a sore elbow. As a rule 5 pick, he will have to be kept on the 25-man roster all year or go back to where we got him. Hopefully he makes it, but it doesn’t look easy. So now we have the team with the same weakness of no strong left handed reliever. But we have everything else and a bunch of talent waiting in the wings. The rest of the winter will be waiting for a trade to tweak the roster. The AL West has gotten better so far this off season and repeats are always harder than the first one. So keep enjoying this first offseason as World Series Champions.

New Year’s Resolution

Tue, 02 Jan 2018 18:20:42 +0000

Over the last few days, I have been preparing to make some changes without actually making New Year’s Resolutions. I see New Year’s Resolutions as goals that I will fail to meet. The idea came to me that I need to change my perspective to align any goals with my ability to achieve them and make the journey the goal and not the task. By a less than random process, I thought of March 2067 as a good point to use for setting my perspective. My first step was to project myself to that point and ask what would be important to a 99-year old man. Still being alive, still being self-reliant, still being impactful for Christ on those around me, and still having people around that would come to my funeral. One exercise I recently completed was thinking about what others would say about me at my funeral. My first thought was that I might outlive all my friends. Then I remembered that while that might not really happen, I should look at my life going forward as opportunities to enjoy current friendships, but also to cultivate new ones (and maybe some old ones). I know I will never be the outgoing one in my family, but I can be more outgoing than the old me. I recently read a short biography on Ben Franklin. It was terrible (the book), but it reminded me of the breadth that was the life of the face on the $100 bill and that while I do not want to be famous in France, I do want to be involved in more than one thing. I have a list of areas I need to work on, but the one I call fun needs to have more than Astros and 911 in it. I did make one goal that I will keep (as it is well aligned with my priorities): Read 1st Corinthians next. I have been cycling through the Gospels for a while now, and today I read about fruits that led me to Galatians that led me to Corinthians. (sort of a mind trick in that I forgot the fruits really were detailed in Galatians.) So today I resolve to be a better me than yesterday and to continue to do so everyday I can going forward. I am sure I will have many days of failure ahead, but at least I am not sick riding in the freezing rain trying to make a dumb goal I set in college.  

Betting on Christmas

Wed, 03 Jan 2018 14:34:40 +0000

As I was scouring the internet looking for baseball cards I wanted, I found a post by some guy who had $230,000 riding on the Astros to win the World Series. The post was from back in July. I can only imagine the guy had a heart attack during the World Series. He probably bet $10,000 and had 23 to 1 odds. I looked today and the Astros are 6 to 1 odds now to win in 2018. I’d have to have a lot more cash to bet $10,000 on the Astros winning again, even if the odds were still 23 to 1. The interesting thing I go back to again and again is how part of my like for baseball cards is the gambling aspect. Every pack has a chance at a high dollar card. Traditionally, I like opening packs in the hopes that I get that one Astros card that I want. I once opened a pack and got a Ryan Howard 1/1 autograph card that I sold for about $150. I was pumped. I also once got a 1/1 Bowman chrome Superfractor. I sold it for about $150 too. But like gambling, the baseball card pack system is a zero sum game. I spent about $240 to get the boxes I pulled the superfractor from. And I doubt I have sold the rest to make up the $90 difference. I have spent untold amounts of money on boxes from target that got me Ryan Howard 1/1. I bought some Frank Thomas rookie cards back in 1991 hoping they would become more valuable. He is in the hall of fame now 27 years later, I still have all 100 of the ones I bought and they are all worth $200 together. $100 unrealized profit over 27 years is a still $100 loss. I told myself that next year that I would stop doing that and I kept the Thomas’s to help remind me, but every so often I forget. Last week I went to the local card shop and saw a pack for $40 that had an auto in it. The auto could be a $2 dud or a $1,000 stud. They also had an old Lance Berkman card numbered to 10 for $40. In a discussion with another customer I told him buying packs was about over for me. I wouldn’t spend $40 on the Lance Berkman card, but the “thrill” of opening a $40 pack and getting that same Lance Berkman card would have seemed worth $40. Of course, buying the $40 pack and walking away with a $2 autograph is not worth $2. So hopefully, I will leave my gambling on baseball card packs in the past and focus my attempts to be lucky on making other people feel better or happy. We spent money and time on Christmas hoping it would be something that Big D and little d would enjoy and maybe even recall fondly as they age. We bet on Christmas and I think we won. God knowing the outcome didn’t exactly bet on Christmas, but by sending His Son, we sure did win.  

We Preach Christ Crucified

Thu, 04 Jan 2018 16:12:33 +0000

As I read through 1st Corinthians, this phrase jumped out at me. Four words stuffed full of meaning. We: Paul was trying to unite the church and we is the simplest form of unity. Our society is full of difficulties brought on by a formless them. If they would only… They did this to me…and on and on. Their is only one important distinguishing characteristic between people. One group has accepted Christ as their Savior and is united with one goal. The other group needs Christ as their Savior. All other distinguishing characteristics pass at death. Preach: Our one united goal as Christians is to do everything we can to get as many people to recognize Christ as their Savior. No matter what are daily activities are, they can all be used for the purpose of showing Christ to others. Very few people as a percentage are going into churches and small Bible studies to find the solution for the longing in their souls that God put there to be filled by Christ. We must recognize this and make efforts to find the needy where they are and bring the love of God to them. Christ: Paul consistently encountered people who followed the leader. History is full of people who have followed the charismatic leader who was leading the wrong direction from ignorance or with evil intent. I even saw a quote on this from Ralph Waldo Emerson that reinforced people look for a leader. Paul insisted that not even Paul was the correct leader, but that we should all be following the example and teachings of Christ. Crucified: Crucifixion is a most horrible way to die. Christ came to earth knowing it was His fate to die that way. The common view of many Jews that the Messiah would come as a conquering king to let the Jews rule over everyone else, especially those who had treated the Jews so poorly in the past. Christ came to conquer sin, the sin where people put themselves before God. The penalty for sin is death and Christ paid that sin so that we could live. Not live as kings to rule over others, but as slaves to do the will of Christ on earth and to worship God in heaven. I am a person and therefore have fallen short of the glory of God. I look for leadership from Christ and know that I am not worthy, but am I hoping that I learn to follow Him more closely every day.

Something for nothing Part One

Fri, 05 Jan 2018 13:36:07 +0000

Losing a free agent and trading for a player to be named later or cash have for years been synonymous with losing for me. I know it is part of the game, but having played fantasy baseball, I always wanted to maximize value. So I wanted to look at the two a little closer. Today: Free Agents. Last year we lost Luis Valbuena, Colby Rasmus, Doug Fister, and Jason Castro to free agency. This year we lost Carlos Beltran, Cameron Maybin, Luke Gregerson, Fransico Liriano, and Tyler Clippard. Next year we will lose Dallas Keuchel, Charlie Morton, Evan Gattis, Brian McCann, Marwin Gonzalez , and Tony Sipp unless something changes. Valbuena, Rasmus, Fister, and Castro were all coming off poor performances and were replaced with much better options. Beltran, Maybin, and Liriano were coming off somewhat poor performances and will be replaced by Gattis, Marisnick (injured), and Sipp who they displaced (unless something else happens). I expect an improvement. Gregerson and Clippard have been replaced by much better options. We fully hope that Keuchel, Morton, Gattis, McCann, Marwin, and Sipp are coming off good seasons next winter. That’s 25% of our team. Sipp should be easy to replace, Marwin can be replaced by White or the flexibility of Bregman and Gurriel and Kemp, but the others? Keuchel and Morton are two starters. To replace them don’t we need to do something? As of right now our 2019 rotation would be Verlander, McHugh, Peacock, Musgrove, and McCullers. So maybe we don’t need to do anything. Gattis and McCann are two of the nine everyday players. To replace them don’t we need to do something? As of right now we would have Stassi and Stubbs to replace McCann and any of Moran, Reed, White, Davis, Kemp, and others to replace Gattis. So maybe we don’t need to do anything there either. One of the things that losing teams always have the luxury to do is play young players to get them into the swing of things. It took years for Altuve to develop his game. It is taking years for Springer to develop his game. Correa still hasn’t shown what we expect of him. Bregman is still developing. Gurriel is still learning the big leagues. Even Reddick is still getting better. Our next wave of young guys who will get to play is limited to Derek Fisher. The others will have another year to flounder at AAA. We have the talent for 2019 to backfill these roles, but will they still have the drive and will they be ready to go to that next level? I want Stassi to be the backup and see if he can become the man, but I know the team is looking at someone from the outside who already has that ability on his resume. I want Fisher to get to play everyday, but I know the team is looking for an established player. I want a 2019 rotation of guys we already have, but I know the team is looking at a top of the rotation guy to replace Keuchel for 2019. I can see us trading any of these guys Keuchel, Morton, Gattis, McCann, and Fisher (you didn’t think I was going to include Sipp did you – Mr. No Trade Value Sipp?). But I doubt we do as they represent 25% of the team we expect to compete for the World Series in 2018 with. And as we saw in 2017, that is worth having extra bullets for.  

Must be Nice…

Wed, 17 Jan 2018 00:36:55 +0000

I wanted to write about my negative feelings on trading Joe Musgrove. In the end, I decided to drop the negativity and pick it up later. An interesting comment I made was that we traded our seventh best starter and more for a guy whose recent history would make him our seventh best starter. In reality, we traded future potential for immediate potential. Gerrit Cole is expected to be competing for the Cy Young award next year, with Verlander and Keuchel. He is expected to be better than McCullers, Morton, McHugh, Peacock, and Musgrove. If you look at the numbers, those are pretty lofty expectations. Baseball fandom has hammered the return the Pirates got, but the knowledgeable Astros fan knows we gave up huge potential in all four players to get just one. The best thing about it for us is that we gave up an infielder that most likely would not make the team in the next three years, a starter that would not make the rotation until next year at the earliest, a starter would would not make the rotation for at least two years, and an outfielder who would not crack the lineup for four years. We gave up potential with little value for us. It must be nice to have that much talent. One of the big triggers this provides was freeing up spots on the 40-man roster. In a world of must be nice, I would fill the two spots with Tony Watson, the lefthanded reliever, and Jonathon Lucroy, the catcher. It would fill the bullpen spot Musgrove left with a lefty we need, push Gattis to DH all the time, and give us a catcher for the next few years after McCann leaves us. It only costs us money, and most likely we sign Watson for two years to match the now window. In reality it pushes Stassi off the 40-man roster so we could add a veteran outfielder like Carlos Gonzalez, who could rebound and push Derek Fisher to the bench for another year. For the long term health of the club, I want to give playing time to Fisher, Stassi, and others to develop, but for the short term chance to win now, having experienced veterans in these roles could give a huge boost to the team. We paid Beltran $16,000,000 last year to provide leadership and while he didn’t play well, his impact on the team was invaluable. I would hope for better production or less playing time for Lucroy and Gonzalez, but the two have shown signs for optimism for bounce back seasons. They also would come with no loss of prospects or draft picks. That would deliver another “Must be Nice”. One last “Must be Nice” potential”: Yu Darvish. I know we just got Cole, and we have seven starters, but we lose Morton and Keuchel this year, Verlander and Cole next year, and wouldn’t it be nice to swoop in and get the best free agent on the market. Darvish does not come with the draft pick loss that most big ticket free agents do and in theory his leverage to get a huge contract had to drop even further with the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants all trying to drop below the tax cap, the Red Sox saving it all for JD, and now the Astros trading for Cole. Few other teams have the money to spend and few other teams are looking to contend consistently. If Yu wants to win, Houston would seem to be a great place. I think the team is in a great spot already. I think it will make a couple moves to try and fill the lefty void and either the catching void or the veteran leader opportunity. I doubt we go for Darvish, but I think we have the money and if we look at the seventh month it takes to win the series, having a six man rotation may be a sabermatric dream come true. Either way, the rest of the league will continue to say, It must be nice…

That’s funny right there

Thu, 08 Mar 2018 00:36:19 +0000

Tow Mater is by far my favorite character in the Cars Movie Empire. He has phrases that even I can remember. It been almost a month since anything happened worth talking about on the Astros. So I am left with little to pass my opinion on. Another of Mater’s phrases (although not as funny as most I like) is “I don’t need to know where I’m going, I just need to know where I’ve been.” In the scene, Mater is driving backwards as if it is the most natural thing in the world. I never really thought too deeply about this phrase, but I have been working on being more intentional and this phrase resonates with some thoughts I have been having. One of the areas in which my mind does not seem to work the same as for other people is in remembering events with a timeline attached. I can remember going on a scout trip to the Davis Mountains, but I can’t remember if it was in my high school or junior high school years. When I am talking with my friend Mike, I can remember tidbits of every conversation we ever had (especially when he tells the same story I already heard), but I couldn’t tell you if he told me the story last fall or back when we met about twenty years ago. In trying to be intentional, I have realized that I have friends that I haven’t interacted with in a long time. I used to see people at work everyday and made new friends and allowed the old relationships to continue (or not) in absencia. (My dictionary says I misspelled that, but …) Now that I mostly work from home, I only see the other three Dices that live here with any regularity and interacting with friends takes effort. So now I see where I have been. As I try to figure out where I am going I have realized two things. One is that I don’t need to know where I am going. I have given my life over to Christ and if I daily look to Him for guidance, I will end up where I need to be. Two is that if I do take the time to see where I have been, I will be better able to see where I am being led. One of the topics in Pastor Gregg’s lesson this week was that men will not find an appropriate friendship with a woman that is not there wife. Not that men can’t be friendly or even friends with women, but I now have more of an appreciation for the difference between a Christian male being a friend to men and women differently. So as I seek the path that God has before me, I see that opportunities lie before me in the friendships I have taken for granted as well as the friendships that are yet to come. So as I go forward telling the funny story of how hanging upside down by my foot led me to wearing a size 16 shoe for a day, I will remember the friends who picked me up off the fence and pray I can be a friend to those in need.  

An apology…from the left?

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 17:32:00 +0000

A friend asked me if I ever thought about getting involved in politics. I gave the traditional response of “Not only No, but…” and thought of the potential damage to Big D and little d’s futures, and was once again happy not to be a politician. I didn’t even vote in the recent primary. I hadn’t done enough research to know the difference between candidates, so I left it to others. After a discussion about the lieutenant governor spot, I realized I probably need to take the time to know enough to not make that mistake again. I equate the media with the left as I only see articles praising stuff I wouldn’t and condemning things I would approve of. I know there are balanced reports of the facts or both sides, but those articles are harder to find. This week the firestorm was around the Astros visiting the White House after winning the World Series. George Springer got hammered for his expression. Josh Reddick got hammered for being proud to visit and meet the President. I admit, I would not have gone out of my way to meet Donald Trump before he became President. As it stands now, I would not have gone out of my way to meet any of the Presidents before they were President except for Reagan as he was in an old baseball movie I loved as a kid. I was so little I don’t remember it. George W. Bush would have been a maybe, but only while Nolan Ryan was a Ranger. However, in spite of the shame that some have brought to the office of President, I still have respect for the office and believe we should all treat the office holder with the respect the office deserves as long as they are in it. After they leave office, I believe the should be shown the respect they deserve as an individual, be in none or a lot. I believe the media has a role to play in politics: Reporting the facts. I believe the media has over reached. For a sportscaster to weigh in on a player or team accepting an invite to the White House for winning their championship is out of bounds. For a media person to interject on Altuve’s motives based on his facial expression while he is visiting the White House and listening to the President is the worst level of journalism I can imagine. The person who did this was so in the wrong, they came out and apologized. It was funny to see Altuve respond on twitter with a photo of the same expression while looking at the World Series trophy. I am glad the offender apologized, but I believe they need to be fired and have to work their way up from the bottom again. I do not think the Astros are political. Everyone should love this team for their positive response to the challenges of the seasons and the challenges Houston faced as well. I have stopped watching news on tv. I cut back the paper to two days a week. I was debating about cutting out facebook and twitter. I have considered doing so due to the media focus on: bad news that gets ratings, the slanted reporting that aids the owners of media outlets, and to avoid the clutter of the damned on social media. More recently, I have realized that I am not here to avoid the media or social media, but to use them for the tool that they are to achieve the goals I have. Just as a gun can be used for good or evil intent, social media is just a tool to be utilized. I intend to use it to support the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. The damned on social media are just the kind of people that Christ came to save. It is not in our power to change them. It is not necessarily our call to debate with them. But we are called to show the love of Christ to all and to pray for our enemies. Paul was one of Christ’s greatest enemies before he appeared to him and saved him. If Christ can save Paul, how easy it must be for him to save others. I still need to learn more about how to use websites and social media, but I now know, I have a great tool to utilize for His purpose.

Something for Nothing Part Two, or not

Fri, 16 Mar 2018 20:32:05 +0000

With two weeks to go to Opening Day, I figured it was time to issue my prediction. I predict the Astros win the division. Seems like a safe bet. Last year we were coming off a winning season without a trip to the playoffs. It was a letdown from the year before, but it was competitive and being competitive is nice when you haven’t been. After winning the World Series, the only acceptable outcome is to make the World Series again. We all know a five game series or even a seven game series can go to the weaker team, the lucky team, or the hot team. Unlike other sports, even the worst teams win one out of three. This team was built to win the World Series and anything else will be a failure in the eyes of the team. In 2015, the team was built to get a winning record. The team had great early success, but no one really expected the playoffs at the outset, and the moves made were a grasp at the unexpected. In 2016, the team was built to repeat and while the playoffs were the goal, the future was still out front and the required desperate measures, were not made. For 2017, the team was built to succeed in the playoffs, and the dash for success was finally made in very late August. Now we have improved the team that won the World Series and everyone expects it to come down to the same kind of Titan battles as 2017 did: Yankees, Indians, Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, Nationals. So far this winter we have lost the following players for nothing: Ramon Laureano, Juan Centeno, Preston Tucker, and Anthony Gose. We actually got Brandon Bailey for Laueano, but we will have to wait for any value from that. We lost Centeno on waivers, but he had no value. We gave Gose back to the Rangers as he wasn’t ready for prime time. We traded Tucker for a player to be named later. I have rarely seen the other side of the Player to be named later the last few years, so once again I assume Tucker is one for nothing. In essence, we hung onto these guys until there value was negligible. But we look back at the offseason and the biggest impact is from the confidence instilled in the team through the Cole trade. We gave up Moran, Feliz, Musgrove, and Martin. As discussed before, the four have huge potential, but Cole does too and he has it for the next two years while we will be trying to win the World Series. I could see all of these four having ended up traded for the player to be named later. This time the team did not wait too long.

Rotation 2018, 2019, 2020, …

Sat, 24 Mar 2018 12:34:41 +0000

This year we have seven starters looking for work. Verlander, Keuchel, Cole, Morton, and McCullers will get the most, but Peacock and McHugh will help the team be ready for the playoffs and winning when it counts more. Keuchel and Morton are scheduled to leave via free agency next season. Some see this as potential for the playoff window to close and for others to take over the lead for pre-season favorites. I don’t dismiss the talent that Keuchel has nor the boost that Morton has given us. I do however see the future, and the future is bright. If nothing changes right now we have the following seven guys who will be competing for the five main spots next year: Verlander, Cole, McCullers, McHugh, Peacock, Martes, and Paulino. We know McHugh can win 19 games. We know Peacock can twirl an ERA of 3.00. We see supreme talent in Martes and Paulino, and some project them to both be top of the rotation guys. The teams goal will be to get Martes and Paulino ready to be the long arms in the pen for 2019. I predict they are more likely to beat McHugh and Peacock out for the last two spots than be the guys in the pen. So for 2020, we will lose Verlander, Cole, and McHugh if nothing else happens. I find it hard to believe we would not add a veteran starter over two offseasons, but it might happen due to the talent we have. That would leave the starters battling for a job in 2020 as McCullers, Peacock, Martes, Paulino, Dean Deetz, Brady Rodgers, Rogelio Armenteros, and (no I didn’t forget) Forest Whitley. Armenteros will be ready by September 2018, but may not pass Martes and Paulino, much less the five in front of them for 2019. Forest Whitley should be ready by September of 2019, but he still has to get past all these other guys. So we have to look at the goals of the front office and the way they have gotten here. The want to win the World Series every year and they want to make money. How do you compete every year and still make money? On the backs of talent that hasn’t hit free agency yet or guys who provide more value than you pay them. The best of the first are Correa and Bregman as we pay them little to fight with Altuve and Springer to be the best players on the planet. The best of the second are Verlander and McCann. Verlander gets paid $28 million a year, but we only pay him $20 million. McCann is as still being paid by the Yankees for a lot of his salary. Morton and his $7 million a year is a great value as well. As we go forward as a team we need to leave behind the market contracts of Reddick and Gurriel to focus on the value from players like Tucker and Whitley. Our 2020 rotation may not have the historical depth we do for 2018, but we won the World Series in 2017, and by 2020, it may be a team of 25 superstars. Lots of baseball in this one, but a lesson we can apply to our own lives. Expect change. No matter how we cling to anything, change happens and battling change is a losing proposition. We need to embrace change, push toward changes for the better, and realize God brings change to improve us for His purpose. <h3></h3>

So now all we need is a catcher

Mon, 26 Mar 2018 01:09:42 +0000

The other day I discussed the potential for complete turnover of the rotation over the next three seasons. I looked at the lineup, and we don’t have the same issue there. Tucker will take over for Gattis, probably pushing Reddick to DH, and then we coast until Springer and Reddick are scheduled to be off the payroll. Except, after 2018, we have no catcher. I spent a few weeks at catcher as a 12 year old. Turns out I couldn’t keep my eyes open when someone took a swing, and I couldn’t catch with my eyes closed. So seeing as how I would be 51 with no experience beyond that, I’m probably not the guy. The Marlins have a good catcher they might trade. We can’t really use him until 2019, so the big hope will be he has a down year and we can trade for him using talent we can’t use. At one point this winter, people were trying to trade Tucker for him. I think the Spring has shown the folly in that. One thing last year taught us is that every player does not have to be a superstar for the team to lead the league in offense. Beltran hit poorly, McCann hit portly (yes, portly), Gattis did little, Aoki did nothing, and the young guys contributed little. I think we can get what we need from a good catcher who hits a little and still be World Series favorites for years to come. Stassi has the inside track at starting in 2019 and Stubbs should be ready to back him up. They should be better catchers than we need, and any offense they give should be a bonus. I’m not sure what the Astros will do, but I assume them have a plan and a backup. I have no backup plan myself. I am trusting in Jesus Christ to have a place ready for me in heaven when I die. If I am right then I will live with Him forever in heaven. The best part of my plan is that everyone else can use it if they want to.

The Impact of Altuve’s new pact

Mon, 26 Mar 2018 15:48:03 +0000

Just Friday I was planning for the time when the Astros let Keuchel, Marwin, Altuve, Springer, Correa, and Bregman leave to allow the next cycle of stars to hold the top spots in our hearts. I saw the plan of a homegrown rotation with top of the rotation potential. I saw the turn over of youth in the lineup across the early twenties, 2020s that is. But I have been watching the next great thing fail since Dwight Gooden. I know that not every prospect turns out. All we have to do is look at the Astros top picks between Correa and Bregman to know that even the Astros front office doesn’t get them all right. We have one spot in the lineup for Derek Fisher and one for either Tyler White, A.J. Reef, or JD Davis. All of these guys have shown flashes of brilliance and have the highest of expectations. Any one or all four could go on to have a great major league career. At the most it seems only one will get the chance as an Astro. What the new deal with Altuve shows us is that the leadership knows we have something special. I think they tried hard with Springer and he just doesn’t think he has peaked yet. I think they have tried with Keuchel, Correa, and Bregman already and I think all three are following Springer in thinking they can play better and get more. I think they would all love to play here forever, but the cost may be prohibitive. My guess is that Keuchel is a risky investment for everyone based on his injury history and relatively shallow basis of success. If he is healthy and successful this season, teams (including the Astros) will be ready to pay him more than right now. The tight market this offseason would apply to him now, and there is little gain for him to take what he can get now. Correa and Bregman have no real incentive to take a deal now as they are immensely talented and young and can recover from most any injury before hitting free agency. The Astros have Altuve and years of control over these two before anyone can take them away. All the talent in the minors may prove to be the better business decision than to pay numerous high salary guys at the same time. The Collective Bargaining Agreement will have to be redone before they reach free agency and the entire pay scale may have sung a different route by then. I expect the Astros will make a good run at Keuchel, but I expect he will leave for obscene money. I expect Springer will be open to an extension, but not sure the Astros will go high enough to prevent free agency especially if there is a threat of a work stoppage. Correa and Bregman will get their’s and may take a slight discount to stay, but that is way in the future. For now, we enjoy the fruits of our team’s labor and let the front office worry. This is the next to last issue of the blog as it has been known. Wednesday I have a birthday and the 2018 season starts Thursday. I will be more mature and I hope I can bring a little more forethought to the table. I will at least try.    

Projecting the Stats

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 02:49:03 +0000

Many people like to think about how great their favorite player may play in the upcoming year. A whole industry has developed around the science of projecting baseball player stats. The biggest driver has always been past performance. Science has been used to track everyone and remove the unknowns. The problem with this science is that most variables used in the projects are not variables, but past outcomes. Aaron Judge and Cody Berlinger hit more home runs that any Rookie’s in their leagues ever. There past history didn’t project that. Marwin leading the team in rbis did not fit the projections across the team. The games are played in an environment by people against people and the outcome of every pitch is the confluence of unpredictable events. A perfectly pitched pitch can be hit perfectly. Just ask anyone who faced Vladimir Guerrero and gave up a hit in a ball 6 inches off the plate. Projecting is an art, and as engineers are really artists, I will now give you my projections: Springer – 600 AB, .300, 40 HR, 100 RBI, 10 SB, 120 Runs, .380 OBP, .520 SLG Altuve – 600 AB, .340, 30 HR, 110 RBI, 30 SB, 130 Runs, .420 OBP, .550 SLG Correa – 600 AB, .320, 40 HR, 140 RBI, 10 SB, 120 Runs, .400 OBP, .550 SLG Bregman – 600 AB, .320, 30 HR, 130 RBI, 30 SB, 120 Runs, .380 OBP, .520 SLG Reddick – 500 AB, .300, 15 HR, 80 RBI, 5 SB, 80 Runs, .360 OBP, .480 SLG Gattis – 500 AB, .285, 34 HR, 100 RBI, 0 SB, 60 Runs, .333 OBP, .520 SLG McCann – 300 AB, .240, 10 HR, 40 RBI, 0 SB, 30 Runs, .320 OBP, .420 SLG Fisher – 450 AB, .280, 20 HR, 60 RBI, 20 SB, 60 Runs, .370 OBP, .500 SLG Gurriel – 500 AB, .300, 20 HR, 80 RBI, 0 SB, 70 Runs, .333 OBP, .500 SLG Gonzalez – 300 AB, .300, 20 HR, 60 RBI, 10 SB, 50 Runs, .380 OBP, .520 SLG Marisnick – 300 AB, .250, 10 HR, 30 RBI, 20 SB, 50 Runs, .300 OBP, .460 SLG Stassi – 300 AB, .270, 10 HR, 30 RBI, 1 SB, 30 Runs, .333 OBP, .470 SLG I predict Correa to win MVP, but I could see Trout edging him out and one of these guys getting third. Others 150 AB – not much for even J D Davis. Kemp, White, and Reed will only get time for injuries. I can’t predict injuries, but I think JD Davis will get most of the remaining at bats. If Gattis, Reddick, Gonzalez, or Gurriel have any trade market they will probably be gone if they struggle too much. Especially if Davis, Kemp, White, or Reed are on fire. Gattis is probably most likely to struggle. Reddick and Gurriel have fat contracts and are least likely to get traded. Gonzalez would have to be really bad, but he should have huge trade value, especially if Fisher puts it together. Overall, team will be better hitting than last year and lead the league in almost everything. Verlander – 200 IP, 2.63 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 20 WIns, His second best season ever Keuchel – 200 IP, 2.89 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 20 WIns, His second best season ever Cole – 200 IP, 2.99 ERA, 1.1 WHIP, 20 WIns, His second best season ever McCullers – 180 IP, 2.99 ERA, 1.1 WHIP, 18 Wins, His best season ever Morton – 180 IP, 2.99 ERA, 1.1 WHIP, 18 Wins, His best season ever I think one of these guys will win the Cy Young, but don’t know who will step up. Bullpen – who cares? Certainly not me this year. The quality across the eight slots is tremendous. I can see a lot of time with only 12 pitchers later in the season to allow another guy off the bench. I think the rotation will easily be the best. The pen will get 500 innings across the pen and the guys that rotate through. They will not have the best numbers in the league, but they will be among the top 3 in most categories. Our pitching will be right at the top of the league. We will win at least 103 games, the division, and as discussed previously, I fully expect them to win it all. I certainly wouldn’t predict anyone else to win it all. So I relied on past performance to make all my predictions. I will be off on almost ever individual number, but I think the team predictions will be close enough. The more I look at it, the more I think Gattis could end up gone with JD Davis getting a lot of ABs with Gurriel and Reddick getting DH time. Hard to predict based ont he spring, but Gattis wasn’t good in the spring or last year. $6 million is a lot of money for him, Sipp, and Gonzalez, but the money is already gone and now the team needs to be prepared to cut bait with each of them.  

Arguing, Praying, Living, who is the difference

Fri, 30 Mar 2018 15:12:50 +0000

So I started reading Galatians 3 the other day. I really like the way Paul argues his point. I had a friend growing up and we would debate all kinds of topics. The best part was knowing that we could argue points that weren’t our own without fear of upsetting the relationship. Paul was confronted by an argument (Jesus was the Christ) that did not sit well with his fervent pursuit of a Jewish relationship with God, and he came out the other side a changed man. God still loved Paul, and Paul still loved God, but Paul had a much better understanding of who God was and who he needed to be based on that knowledge. One of the areas that I serve in for our church is the prayer ministry. When people leave their prayer requests with the church, I am one of the people who pray for those specific requests. Some times the requests are from people I don’t know about topics I don’t understand, and sometimes the requests are from people I know well about topics to which I can relate. We had a specific prayer related series leading up to Easter and a very large number of requests came in all at once. There was a lot of duplication, and lots from “anonymous”, but I found a few themes running through them. The first theme was “I need that.” As one pretend character in my future autobiography will state, “Just because you can add doesn’t mean you can do anything else right.” I struggle with a ton of things from praying enough and reading the bible enough to being a good husband, father, son, brother, friend, etc. I lump all this in to my goal of being more intentional, listing my priorities, and then aligning my life to match. Its a journey, and some days I make more progress than others and apparently a lot of people at my church are feeling the same needs. The second theme was ” I don’t need that,” because I already have it. There is a humorous phrase along the lines of “God put me on this earth to accomplish a number of things, and I am so far behind I will never die.” I’m going to use that if I ever get invited to give a bible lesson to people older than me. Behind this theme is the concept that we already know that God wins the battle with sin and death. Once we accept this victory that Christ has provided, all of our lives need to change from a focus on ourselves to a focus on others. This is where we get back to Galatians 3. Paul tells us “The righteous will live by faith.” He is quoting from the old testament. If we believe in Christ, then we have righteousness. If we have righteousness, then we are to live accordingly. We are to behave as if we have been saved from the power of sin and obey Christ’s commandments to love: to love fellow Christians, to love our neighbors, and to pray for our enemies. Our goal is for everything we do to be impacted by our faith and to rely on God to provide success. If we could do it of ourselves, then why do we need God? The final theme was “despair.” I have seen despair. In people I know. In news stories from around the world. In prayer requests at my church. It is heartbreaking to see the despair in those around me. In my view, the only solution for despair is turning to God. In our study at Sunday school, we recently looked at Paul’s boldness as he spread the Word on his third missionary journey. Paul faced death over and over as did those around him. They had a recipe for despair. The difference was that Paul knew that God had called him to preach in Rome and that nothing on earth nor in the spiritual realms would prevent God from delivering Paul to preach in Rome. God has called us all to salvation. Christ paid the penalty for my sin on that cross, but He also paid the penalty for every sin ever committed by anyone who ever lived or who will ever live. If God has called you to do something, He will deliver you to do so. Our earthly bodies will experience pain, damage, and death, but God has called us to life. If we follow God, we may experience life on earth, but we will experience life with God.

Astros Rant – Has the Hinch-Giles Feud broken the Astros?

Thu, 03 May 2018 22:08:22 +0000

When I was a kid Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter, and Dave Smith were heroes among castaways. The bullpen was always where the guys who weren’t good enough to start ended up on their way out of the game. Sorta like the guys who couldn’t play shortstop has to play somewhere else from third, to second, to center, to right, to left, to first, to catcher to pinch hitter, to mechanic or engineer. Now the best pitcher on the team might be the closer. No one wanted to see Lee Smith come in with a lead as the game was most likely over. These guys changed the game. They haven’t and might not make the hall of fame in large numbers, but their usage changed the game and how people are picked for the bullpen. As last season wore on, we saw the bullpen get worn out trying to pick up for the starters not doing very well. In the end, the “closer” didn’t even get two innings in, much less to a save opportunity in the last series. Over the winter many were clamoring for a new closer and some “options” were added, but Giles was still expected to be the closer. Giles had an era in the fours before he got his first one out save opportunity this year. He actually has converted every save opportunity and set a team record for consecutive games without allowing a base runner. Everything could have seemed like all was well. But along the way, Hinch made a media comment about Giles getting his confidence back (I think after the one out save). Giles fired back to the media that he didn’t have a confidence issue and then we all knew not everything was great inside the doors. The issue as I may have pointed out before is that Giles thrives on the adrenaline provide by going for a save. Outside save situations, he is generally the worst pitcher on the team. His streak this year withstanding. As we saw on Monday, with a lead, he is on fire. As we saw on Tuesday, without the lead, he stinks. We lost today with Giles not on the mound and a save situation at hand. From the outside, it looks like Hinch is being a megalomaniac and beating Giles down by not using him in save situations. Last year, it could be forgiven that Hinch was trying to make Giles a better pitcher. He failed. He needs to admit Giles has one use on this team and use him in only those spots. He does not need to pitch in game otherwise because the adrenaline is not there and it is just a waste. Giles gave up runs Tuesday and we haven’t won since. I blame Hinch. I only hope someone steps in to put Hinch in his place or send Giles packing. This team is too good to let this ruin the season. Gattis, Marisnick, and Fisher aren’t doing so well either. Marwin looks lost a times too. Something needs to change. The brilliance of Hinch and the tremendous talent on the team not withstanding.    

Aug 30, 18: Feed my sheep: Vote

As noted, I had some computer issues and some posts were “lost”. Waiting on the unexpected finding, I am going to re-post with the original date so that I can eventually have all the ones posted and maybe only lose the drafts. So here is the first missing: Jesus said “Do you love me? Feed my Sheep”. He was speaking to Peter who was to be the leader of the Church. This encounter was included in the bible for us to learn how the church got started, but also for us to learn how to lead our own lives and follow our Savior. Some friends of mine and I started talking about the election this past weekend (bonds for flood issues), and none of us took the time to vote. As a civil engineer, I have some background in water resources and probably know enough to at least attempt to understand the technical issues, but I don’t understand any of the politics, and fully expected the bond to pass based on emotion from Hurricane Harvey. I made the statement that my one vote wouldn’t matter and until it did, I was unlikely to get too worked up about voting. When I was a kid, our culture made being President the highest honor and goal for anyone. Based on the people winning and the way they are treated, there seems to have been a tectonic shift in our culture. I had a pretty good idea when Hillary stepped back to allow Obama to get the nomination, that Hillary would end up the Democratic candidate soon thereafter. It gave me hope that the “other” party would put a God loving man in office. It seemed the attempt to come at it as an outsider had given one man great hope. In the end, we got a real outsider as President and I thank God that Hillary didn’t win more and more every time I see the news. So that one man who was sort of an outsider is our Senator. He is running for reelection and he has traits that put many people off. But as with the Hillary vs. Trump election, this year our state senate seat is not so much a battle of one flawed man against another, so much as a battle between philosophies. The liberal left against the conservative right. I only have one vote and my vote was decided back in the primaries. But I had a conversation with a friend and I wondered if God wasn’t asking me to become more involved. I am not a politician. I am a sinner, stained by sin, and I do not want my family impacted by what happens to sinners in politics today, but I am forgiven by God through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ, and I live for Him. And being involved in politics doesn’t always mean running for office. Jesus asked “Do you love me?” Well, I do. Therefore, I need to do my part to feed His lambs. I don’t know what this means. But I start with this post asking you to take the time to be informed and vote for someone for Texas Senator this fall. Christ asked Peter three times in this encounter whether Peter loved Him. He responses to Peter (out of sequence) “Feed my sheep”, “Feed my lambs” and “Take care of my sheep”. The same question, the same basic response, the same basic direction. It must be an important concept. For me, right now, it means voting, and asking you to. P.S. Astros won yesterday. Tyler “Great” White (think Jaws intro music) with the walkoff. I hope you are enjoying the play of the Astros right now; I certainly am.

Sep 3, 18: Satan’s at Work; Are you?

Today is a holiday, Labor Day, where we celebrate working by not. I read an article where some group was trying to force the government to force employers to give every employee time off for various issues. I always wondered if Labor Day was caving for a day like that. Banker’s have lots of holidays. Why aren’t we all bankers? Last blog, I took on the topic of voting. This week, I saw a tweet Trump was going to rally in Texas for Cruz, a video that Trump warned Christian leaders to unite behind Republicans, and an article in the paper that Cruz wanted all Republicans to go out and vote. The motivator here is the belief that Democrats and other non-Republicans will rise up in a fury against Trump and vote out the Republican majority. I don’t like Trump, and I don’t like everything Cruz says, but these are details. Our battle is against spiritual forces and requires a spiritual frame of reference. Trump was the nominated candidate and with all his flaws, he was a much more Godly choice than Hillary, her flaws, and the godless liberal agenda she follows. I know good and smart people that support Trump and I know good and smart people that supported Hillary. This is not about trying to be good or trying to be smart. This is about following the will of God for your life. In Galatians, Paul confronts Peter about shunning the Gentiles and eating with the Jews. For the Jews before Christ came, they were supposed to keep themselves holy and clean and generally not eat with Gentiles. The difference was Christ. Christ came to Peter and showed him that only God could determine what was clean and that Christ had declared all foods clean. The point behind this was not really food or being clean, but that the only difference in people that mattered going forward was whether they were a Christian or not. If people were Christians, our duty was to fellowship with them and walk together in an attempt to be more Christ like. If people were not Christians, our duty was to love them and show them that Christ loved them too. Dividing Christians because they used to be Gentiles or they used to be Jews was not Christlike and has no place in the Church. Every one has biases developed by the life they lived, but we are to set them aside. Peter was to reach out to the Jews and Paul was to reach out to the Gentiles, but once they became Christians, the divisions were to end. Our country was settled by Christians, our government was founded by Christians, and the success of our country has come from the underlying love that Christians are to show the world. One of the ways we can show love to the world is by defending the values this country was founded on, hence the need to vote. But their is more. The world preaches that all paths lead to heaven and that we are not to hinder people from going down their own path. This is wrong. Christ says the only path to the Father is through Him. God wants everyone to come to Him through Christ. If a person does not come to know Christ, they will spend eternity in hell. If we believe this, then the love of the Holy Spirit in us calls us to action. We are to love our enemy so much that we pray for them and then we are to show the love of Christ to them so that they too might believe. Satan is at work in the media, in politics, in quaint phrases like “Live and let live.” Satan is a liar. Let and let live really means “Live and let die, eternally.” If Christ lives in you, then vote, love others, and follow His will for you. If not, then know that Christ loves you and wants you to spend eternity in Heaven with the Father.

Sep 24, 18: How to prevent a victim?

Repost from before the data loss. At yesterday’s game, the big board showed highlights from the eighth inning Saturday night when the Angles made an error that led to a loss for them and a win for the Astros. I wondered if the guy who made the error watched or looked away. One of the biggest political issues facing our nation right now is the selection of a new Supreme Court Justice. The man being nominated has been accused of sinning against a woman back when they were in school some thirty years ago. It seems the whole future of our country, and maybe the human race, rest on the believability of this woman telling a story of a single moment at a party long, long ago. So maybe that is stretching the importance a bit, but who of us don’t remember that one fleeting moment that affected the rest of our lives, or a long series of them. I am a man, and was once a teenage boy, so I know things personally only from that perspective. I am sure my wife, my sisters, and every other woman on the planet has a perspective on an event that I just can’t identify with. Rumor has it that no two eye witnesses to any event ever told the same story. We all have our own perspective on what we experience and filter things through those lenses. The pictures from Aretha Franklin’s funeral show an incident that could be interpreted as a man knowingly taking advantage of a situation or as a man totally clueless to the impact of a touch. I remember an SMU football game we went to one year in Dallas. Walking along a ramp somewhere a girl grabbed my rear. I was shocked since that was what boys did to girls. But there is the problem, it was what one person did to another. I think the plan is for us to do good for one another. One of the key aspects to all of the mentioned situations is that someone feels like a victim. The Angels were playing a sport and almost no one is going to worry about how that guy felt throwing an inning ending double play ball into right field and causing his team to lose. And probably none of you are going to feel sorry for me for what happened to me (I know I don’t). But in these other two highly publicized events and countless others going on across our country, there are victims. One of the hot button questions is whether the Supreme Court nominee actually offended this lady or if she is making it up. One of the problems with situations like this is when there is only one witness: He said vs. she said. It is a problem that can’t be undone. I don’t want either of my girls ever alone with someone who might make them a victim. Those things can’t be undone. As a boy, I always thought of the issue as one in which the victim needed to say something immediately or forever be quiet. I didn’t understand the fear and other emotional responses that victims experience much less if the perpetrator threatens them or their loved ones. I know I would do a lot to protect my girls including those that have long jail terms associated with them. Anyway, I don’t know how the Supreme Court thing will go or how it should go. We are a country full of sinners and a whole lot of them that will cast the first stone in an attempt to make themselves feel better about their own failings. I believe everyone of our Supreme Court Justices have done something that someone would find offensive. The question I have is whether the actions of this man on one night many years ago when he was probably under the influence of alcohol will really impact the decisions he would make going forward as a Supreme Court Justice. I seriously doubt it, but I know God has forgiven him all his sins. For pure discussion purposes, I am more interested in the actions of this preacher at the funeral. As we all know, people with power have abused that power for as long as there have been people. Has this preacher led a life of putting his hands where they shouldn’t be or is this a mistake with no intent? I’m sure if he has never done anything like this before, it will never happen again. If he has done it before, obviously we have or will have other victims stand up and confirm that he has an issue. We should all learn to be careful when and where we touch others. We all acknowledge that a man should not force himself upon a woman. We probably all acknowledge that a man should not touch a woman where that preacher touched that young person. The question I have been plagued with over all this is who cares? Who really cares? These two men should never be in a position to create a victim again, but what about all the other women and girls in the world, and all the little boys who will be victims today, tomorrow, and every other day after that. Who really cares for them? My little girl read Jude last night and this shortest book in the Bible includes references to sensuality and depravity. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to explain what all that meant to her at an early age. But for all the “attention” going to speaking out right now, wouldn’t it make sense to put that effort towards prevention? I am not an expert in this area and therefore I don’t know how to help the elimination of these situations, but it sure does seem like there is something that can be done to protect the innocent. I care, but I am not sure what to do about it. I’m not sure this helped any, but I pray that God will indeed care for the innocent and that I will be open to following when He leads me to a task that helps prevent victims.

Oct 10, 18: Doing some sweeping

Repost from before the data loss. The Astros swept the Indians and now all is right with the world, right? Back when Jim Crane took over the team, there was a promise that the team would be built to win in an enduring fashion. August 2016 was not a good looking month with Kuechel and McCullers injured, and after no trade for a front line starter, the team ending up missing the playoffs. Even August 1, 2017 showed that not everyone was happy with the progress as we still had not traded for a front line starter. Two years later (or one if you look from August 2017), we have traded for two front line starters, (signed another as a free agent), won the World Series, and are getting ready for the ALCS. Oh, and we have a rookie starter that threw 100 mph and made the ALDS roster over a number of ~$6,000,000 relievers. The Astros are in good shape, but is the rest of the world? Apparently we need more than a good sweeping. A friend of mine from growing up went missing in the floods in West Texas this week. I hope he is found, but we fear the worst. I heard from an old friend for the first time in two years. Not the best topic to catch up on, but it was good to talk to him. I used to trade baseball cards with a guy for years. Then he turned 50 and asked me if I wanted to buy all his cards. No way I could pay what they were worth, and he didn’t have many I wanted. I’m sure he had some nice cards, but he was bitter when he found out his collection was worth so little. Since I am now 50, I can identify with the desire to move on, but I always assumed the cards I had would have no value by the time I got tired of them and that I won’t be in any hurry to ditch them like he seemed. Why is something fun at 49 and not at 50? My old friend and I of course talked about cars, and he acquired a little two seater not long ago. I am sad that my little car is in the shop, but will be happy to get it back, and will drive it like it was meant to be. I’ve always said I would keep this car as long as I could drive it, but I’ve learned my mind can be changed. Think the old phrase about a wise person having climbed the ladder and learning they had it against the wrong wall the whole time. I went to an interview last week about a potential project. They dangled the carrot of a full time job, but I realized that the longer I work for myself, the harder it will be to work for someone else. Make no mistake, I have worked long hours, given up holidays, and worked while on vacation this year, but I have done so knowing the work ladder was only a short one to get to the next opportunity, and not a long, slow climb to see what might be possible. In the working world, your security is in your skill set and network. In the real world, your security is totally in the hands of God. I’ve assumed my friend was living in an RV park in Junction trying to make money to support his family.No flaw in that, but when God is ready to call you home, nothing will get in His way. I used to have a friend who I assumed could help my wife sell the baseball cards if I died while I still had them. After he left the picture, I assumed the guy at the card store down the street could help her. Now that he is dead, I have another friend that could help her. But now all that seems silly. I collect the cards to enjoy now and if they all got damaged in a water heater failure tomorrow, life would go on basically the same. I’ll never be an adventurous dare devil, but every day I will try to sweep the past behind me, look to God for direction for today, and pray that I can enjoy what I have without worrying about what I could have. So Astros fans, enjoy the ALCS. Nothing is promised beyond that and to always look toward tomorrow is to miss today.

Dec 12, 18: My own personal Fossil?

Repost from before data loss: Some friends invited us to a Texans game and we ended up with a new spelling and definition for “fossil”. On a much more practical note, I bought a new Fossil and I really like it. I also bought some Fossil stock; but if I were a day trader, my returns would look like a fossil. When I started this blog, I hadn’t really worked in a while, and looking back, was probably trying to find an outlet for not talking to anyone on a consistent basis. Since then, I realized a few things about myself and am probably not quite the same person I was before. Even since my last blog, I have been finding out a lot more about who I was and who I want to be. So now the question I face is what about my past needs to remain a fossil and what needs to be brought back to life. <img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-613″ src=”http://just2059.temp.domains/~jdicecon/ohandtheastros//wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_4353-300×215.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”215″ /><img class=”yiv6921674080wp-image-554″ src=”https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=http%3A%2F%2Fohandtheastros.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F12%2FIMG_4353-2-1024×734.jpg&t=1562864482&ymreqid=dc01c267-0cd8-0ccd-1cf9-900006010300&sig=Q58MHqSRZI8ge2W6Naj1uQ–~C” alt=”” border=”0″ /> So this is an image of my first Fossil. It has always been my favorite watch. Right now the band has been replaced many times and I can’t find one that matches the original. The crystal is scratched, the shiny gold parts are rubbed down to base material, and just recently I found that it doesn’t work as a watch anymore. My Fossil is a fossil. I want to get it fixed good as new, but I am not sure it is possible or even cost effective. I’m using my watch as a symbol for old relationships. I have some that are broken and not working. I didn’t treat them as well as I could have and now am suffering the consequences. I have one that I know is beyond repair and has been for about 13 years. I’d still like to fix it, but am moving forward assuming I can’t. I have another watch, just as old. It works fine, as I hardly used it and could pick it up and go on using it as if nothing happened. I have relationships like that too. <img class=”yiv6921674080wp-image-553″ src=”https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=http%3A%2F%2Fohandtheastros.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F12%2FIMG_4354-1-1024×766.jpg&t=1562864482&ymreqid=dc01c267-0cd8-0ccd-1cf9-900006010300&sig=pa4qpZsKv95pZKKDGXcEPg–~C” alt=”” border=”0″ /><img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-614″ src=”http://just2059.temp.domains/~jdicecon/ohandtheastros//wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_4354-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> So this is my newest Fossil watch. It is actually a lot like my old working watch mentioned above except it has more functions, is bigger, and just plain old looks better. If you look close, it still has the plastic cover across the crystal. I’m sure I will wear it soon and begin wearing it out too. But life is different now. I have a number of watches and I don’t treat them as poorly as I used to treat my first Fossil when it was the only one I had. So over the last couple weeks, a number of people have died. A former President, a former Astro, and a family member. So many things I have seen and read have pointed to how George H. W. Bush was a man of God seeking to do His will here on earth. I never met the man, but ever since visiting his library at A&M, I have held him in high regard as an example. Luis Valbuena also passed away. Its not often an active major league player passes away, but there has been a preponderance of witnesses to how Luis was a smiling happy teammate. And finally was my cousin Bonnie. She wasn’t really my cousin as she married my mom’s cousin, but I got to live with her and her husband and their youngest son for a semester when I was in school. Bonnie treated me like one of the family and it was bitter sweet going to the funeral and introducing myself to second cousins, once removed who were now in their late twenties and thirties. I could be described as a shy, introverted nerd. I know other people who aren’t. But I have recently rediscovered that a casual statement with no ill intent can ruin long standing, supposedly steadfast relationships. I could also probably be describe as cold-hearted as my outward response has been to let it go. (It being the relationship.) I have been shown that to forgive is divine. I try to apply that to my relationships, and I hope that with time, I too can be forgiven and have continuing relationships. So I picture myself in a field of Fossils trying to decide which to wear, and in a field of old, broken relationships trying to figure out which to work on and which to move on from. I’ve spent a lot of time on big D and little d over the past 15 years and will continue to do so moving forward, but hopefully I can rebuild some old relationships along the way. So what does all this have to do with my new definition for fossil? Almost nothing, but it got this started. So the new fossil is actually FASL for Fun, Awesome, Short, Ladies (see image below). There was mention of another adjective, but as the author and editor, I left it off. <img class=”yiv6921674080wp-image-555″ src=”https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=http%3A%2F%2Fohandtheastros.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F12%2Ffasl-1024×768.jpg&t=1562864482&ymreqid=dc01c267-0cd8-0ccd-1cf9-900006010300&sig=otYWhOlEF.kGICSQeNYSHQ–~C” alt=”” border=”0″ /><img class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-612″ src=”http://just2059.temp.domains/~jdicecon/ohandtheastros//wp-content/uploads/2019/08/fasl-300×225.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”225″ /> We had fun with our friends and I hope we can continue to do so before we are all old fossils.

2018/12/13/

Astros: 1) Morton gone – Check (FYI: If the title starts with Astros, then that’s all I’m talking about.)

Two winters ago, the Astros signed Charlie Morton to a two year contract. Other teams thought we were nuts as Morton hadn’t done much and was still coming back from injury. Today, the Rays signed Charlie Morton for two years with an option for a third. I’m wondering if the Astros think they are nuts as Morton is coming off an injury. A month ago, the Astros had the chance to get Morton for a year for about a 20% premium over what the Rays paid him. If Morton rejected the deal and signed elsewhere, then the Astros would have gotten a draft pick. My thoughts were that the Astros were convinced the risk of Morton at a 20% premium was not worth the potential draft pick. I am glad that Morton got a two year deal. He was great for us and he showed himself to be a great guy, but I am glad he isn’t on our team anymore. Why? The biggest scare with starting pitchers is that they break down and miss a year or more. We have had that. McCullers right now. 2019 looks like more of a challenge after that. Keuchel in 2016 when he actually pitched, but did so injured, and poorly, probably costing us a long run in the playoffs. Morton had issues each of the last two years, had issues before he came, and ended up lame before the end of the season. I assumed and I assume the Astros felt that Morton would be injured and miss a lot of time in 2019. That’s hard to spend $18,000,000 on. Also, one of the issues we expected to have this offseason was to replace two starters (Keuchel and Morton). Next year we assume we have to replace both Verlander and Cole. Tying up cash with Morton and then having to replace three starters two years in a row right in the middle of a great window was overwhelming. Especially with the difficulty in getting top starters for good value. The Astros did reportedly offer Morton a one year deal with a second year option, but I doubt the money was very good and the were sure he wouldn’t take it. The may have even publicized the offer to help him in negotiations. So for now, we have Verlander, Cole, McHugh, James, and Valdez in the rotation with Perez, Peacock, Rogers, Armenteros, and Whitley in the wings and maybe even Deetz or Devenski as options. Then in 2020, we have McCullers and Martes coming off injuries and the next wave of Abreu, Martin, and Bukauskas behind them. I would not mind James or Valdez spending time at AAA getting ready while a talented, established starter filled the fifth slot. But it needs to be someone good enough to beat out James for a playoff spot and I just don’t think Morton would be up for that come October.

Mar 5, 19: Peter: Part 1 of an X part Series

Repost from before data loss. A friend of mine asked me if I was still doing my blog. I hadn’t really given up; I had just stopped. I know this is something I should do, but a lot has happened the last year and I’ve been trying to put all the new stuff into my box. Sometimes, we must remember that not everything is supposed to go in a box. I started a study of Peter with some friends. The first study guide I saw had 60 parts. I think it was for a daily study because 60 weeks seemed like a long time. The next guide had questions and answers, but no real direction. So off we began with a totally made up plan, one lesson at a time. Lesson One Questions 1) What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Peter? 2) If you could ask Peter a question, what would it be? 3) Why is the world hostile to Christians? 4) Why is their conflict within the church? 5) What do you doubt? 6) What do you believe about the Bible? After answering the questions, read John 1:35-51, Matt 4:18-22, Mark 1:14-20, and Luke 5:1-11. 7) Reread your answers. Want to make any changes? Outcome We didn’t make it to Question 5 and Question 6 came up during discussion of Question 3. I think of Peter as the foundation of the church. I would ask him to describe to me how he perceived things different after the Holy Spirit was given. I assumed hostility was from the work of Satan and lies about what the church should be, both inside and outside the church. I believe the Bible is our individual guide to bringing Glory to God. For completeness sake, my doubt was that peace would occur in the world before Christ’s return. The best part was the interaction we had discussing each other’s answers. I actually wanted to use the X part in the title of a series about how statistics is killing baseball. It flows with the concept above that sometimes, we can’t wait to finish before moving on. I hope to add to the series on Peter each week or so until our little group moves on. I hope it helps someone but living our lives should not be about completing a certain number of steps, but about taking the next step and taking it toward your goal. My overarching goal is to become more Christ-like, but that is a huge ever-changing target. As the lady in weight watchers said this morning, huge goals are great, but let’s break them into small chunks we can complete. The weight target isn’t the goal, but the improvement of available options that comes from being in better physical condition is the goal. A 185-pound man doing nothing for God is just as worthless as a 200-pound man doing nothing for God. I have a new goal in life. Make a goal, take a step towards it, and then before taking another, make sure it is still the goal I want. The lessons we learn along the way may, and probably should, change the way we journey. The are big bad issues all around us. They might not all be solved in our lifetimes, but will a little want to and a good first step, maybe we can make progress.

Mar 6, 19: Astros: 2) McCann gone – Check, 2b) Herman gone – Check

I am behind. Proverbially. Not sure what that really means, but it’s what my brain tells me is true. Take this series for instance. I started with Charlie Morton even though Brian McCann signed with the Braves before Morton signed with the Rays. Heck, even Chris Herrman signed with the A’s before Morton signed. I probably will never really catch up with everything, but maybe with this two for one I can tell my really feelings on Marwin before the next free agents signs or the season starts. A topic for another day is why that isn’t funny (the free agent signing after the season starts part). Anyway, years ago the Astros realized Jason Castro was a myth and let him go. To some degree they panicked and trade two flame throwers for a washed up has been. But as with any team, its part talent, part chemistry, and part luck. McCann was part of the chemistry that led to better pitching, clutch hitting, and a World Series title in 2017. Whatever we traded and whatever we were saddled with for 2018 was worth it. McCann in 2018 was part of the problem and not the solution. He was worn out, he was injured, and he just couldn’t help the team. It seemed the plan was to not let him play enough to reach his option and it succeeded. Max Stassi got some time, and we brought in a complementary guy to shoulder some of the load. Max did ok, the complementary guy earned a place next to Carlos Lee as less than wonderful or maybe Carlos Gomez, who likes to remember either. McCann was a great guy and he helped, but there was no way the front office was going to let an old man play poorly twice. McCann should help the Braves as a back up with experience and isn’t making much anymore. Chris Herrman was a waiver claim that didn’t survive the rule 5 protection plan and elected free agency when no one else claimed him. He lasted at least a few days on the roster during the offseason. He looked like a decent backup, but my guess is the team realized it wasn’t getting a good starting catcher for 2019 from trade nor free agency and moved on. Neither one of these moves was big news, but they cleared the roster spots for our first splash into free agency. Apparently, that happened between when these two guys signed elsewhere, so maybe that it a whole other topic set I need to get to “The New Guys” or something. So next time, the Astros will focus on Marwin and why I am glad he is gone.

Mar 8, 19: Astros 3) – Marwin Gone – Check

Once many months ago, I was a huge Marwin Gonzalez fan. And then came Derek Fisher. And then came Tony Kemp. And then came J.D. Davis. And then came Miles Straw. And of course Reddick spent some time there, but so did Bregman, Springer, and Marisnick. But then came Kyle Tucker too. Fisher didn’t even get to start Opening Day. He didn’t play the whole game the second day. And he never had two days with four at bats back to back all year. In 2017, we claimed an expensive waiver guy to play left field. He was terrible and a cancer on the team that we ended up having to trade a stud outfielder just to get rid of him, and get a lefty reliever (sorta). The gaping hole that Aoki was became the path that led to Marwin’s heroic feats and why we all loved him. The front office was trying to let a slap hitter hold the spot until someone was ready. It didn’t work. Marwin did great work in 2017, but him doing it in left field put a strain on the team that could be felt in 2018. Yuli, Bregman, Correa, Altuve: they needed a chance to rest and instead Marwin was playing all the time in left. Yuli, Correa, and Altuve all suffered in 2018 and I think some of it was left over from 2017. Bregman filled the gap, but that brings us back to left field. For 2018, the front office knew Marwin should not be an everyday left fielder, so they prayed Derek Fisher was ready to hold down the job. Instead, Hinch did his thing and let the rookie rot on the bench. Maybe someday we will look and see Fisher, Kemp, Davis, Straw, and Tucker as all stars. But in 2018, their highlight was Kemp being the best 9th hitter in the league. Not very impressive. 2017 was victory. 2018 was to be a repeat. Someone forgot the lesson that every offense needs some lagniappe. In 2017, Marwin was our little extra and it worked well. In 2018, Marwin was our plug and we had not enough hitting once the real games started. Everyone knew we were going to be in the playoffs and knew we needed to build a team for the playoffs, but we showed up with one too few hitters and it was because Marwin was thought of as the left fielder. Now to be honest, they did almost fill the gap with Bryce Harper (and maybe someone else), but in the end they came up short. I blame Marwin. Marwin didn’t hit early and he didn’t figure out how to play the outfield. (Of course, I could blame Evan Gattis who was such a bad catcher we acquired Maldonado, and such a bad designated hitter that he might as well have not made the playoff roster.) I don’t really blame Marwin, its just a fact that we were one man down all year due to some combination of health or bad hitting or just dumb luck. At least, we won’t start out with that problem this year. That’s a hint for the New Guys series I am hoping for next. I wish Marwin well, but I am glad the team has moved on.

Mar 10, 19: Peter: Part 2 of an X part Series

So this week, I doubt we need to be reminded that we didn’t have doubt last time, so we can start there now. As hinted in a post I haven’t posted and briefly pointed out in the last post, doubt was a key part of Peter’s actions before he had the Holy Spirit and in my brief from last week, my big doubt was that we will have peace before Christ’s return or “Peace in our time”. That to me is a key phrase in the Avengers movie Avengers: Age of Ultron and is to me a common misguided goal of people in movies and such. Without Christ, there can be no true peace. So week two readings are: Mark 1:29-39 and Luke 4:38-44 Question 1: What do we learn about Peter’s family? 2: What do we learn about following Jesus vs family? Luke 5:1-11 3: What do we learn about obedience? 4: What do we learn about following Jesus vs work? Luke 6:12-16 and Mark 3:13-19 and 6b-13 5: What do we learn about becoming disciples? 6: What do we learn about Jesus vs stuff? 7: read Matt 10 and how it grapples with the entire life of a Christian looking for what key issues you identify with. Matthew 10:1-42 My key point with Peter in question one was that he did indeed have a family. An impression given in general Christian circles is ignoring the fact that these were men with families and not just teenagers hanging around with nothing else to do. These men left their families to follow Jesus. Jesus asked them to do so and they followed. I find it hard to imagine leaving my family, but I know if I felt it was the call of God, I would do so. And the second question is that Jesus should always win out over our family. This is not an excuse to lead the family, but it is a command to put Jesus ahead of any worldly influence. The point on obedience really follows this discussion on the overwhelming need to follow the call of Christ. To further clarify, this is not about strictly feelings as mentioned above, but it is about testing the call against the word of God and that the direction is from Him or His messenger and not a lie from Satan and his forces. In the point here, we find that we are not to let a worldly job or career be an excuse not to follow the call of Christ. If He can create everything and send His Son to die for our sins, how much more can he provide for our daily needs. The third topic follow the pattern and shows we are to put Jesus above family, jobs, and now stuff. He sends us into the world and we are not to be of the world, only in it. Our drive should not be such that we put aside the call of Christ to have more worldly stuff. If God blesses us with resources, we should enjoy them, but we should not put enjoying them above enjoying relationship with Him. I like Matthew 10 in that before He has provided the Holy Spirit, He send the Apostles to do His work in the world having complete reliance on Him. They didn’t have mom’s credit card or even the tools of their own trade. He put them at the mercy of the world, except He didn’t. He was and is God and He gave them not only the protection of His Father to overcome the dangers of the world, he gave them the power to overcome the work of evil. This chapter is a window into may facets of the mission of Christ and issues along the path. So in all this, we saw Peter leave his family, leave his job, and left every earthly thing to do the work of Christ. Peter followed based on his belief in Christ and that is the beginning of how we are to view Peter. Christ is our perfect example of how we are to strive to be. Peter is the flawed example of how a sinner full of doubt can be transformed into a church leader in striving to follow Christ. I look forward to the deep dive coming and hope it helps.

Mar 11, 19: Astros: The New Guys – Part B B as in Brantley.

Let’s not mince words, the rest of the league is pissed that the Astros filled the Bryce Harper gap with a tremendous player for two years for less than anyone expected Harper to get for one. Every team expects us to score runs like we did in 2017. We might not pitch as well as in 2018, but we might pitch better. Statistically speaking, Brantley will be predicted to be worth two wins over replacement or some such hogwash. I almost finished an article on how statistics is killing baseball and this guy is the perfect example. He will probably end up with 2 WAR stats, but when he comes up in the lineup every couple of innings he will be another lethal hitter for the pitchers to worry about. And that is where the statistics miss on team chemistry and such. The Astros fate will rest with the core four, but Brantley, Reddick, and Yuli will provide a confidence that Fisher, and Kemp, and the rest do not. There is a great chance that Kyle Tucker learns what Tyler White learned to do and a chance that Tyler White just keeps on hitting. Then those two will steal at-bats from this trio (and my baseball cards grow in value). But I digress. The key to Carlos Beltran on the Astros in 2017 was that he made everyone better. It will be the same with Michael Brantley. No Michael Brantley is not a hall of Famer like Beltran, but in 2017 the needs of the team were different than they are in 2019. In 2017, we had kids playing a grownup game. The 2017 team needed a teacher and they got one in Beltran. In 2019, we have young men trying to maintain the productivity they had when younger. Brantley has been that guy who had success at a younger age, then struggled to reproduce it. He has knowledge he can pass on to this team and it recognizes him as someone who has overcome. Brantley comes to the team the same age as Reddick and three ears younger than Yuli, but he comes not as a contributor like Reddick and Yuli; he comes as a leader. Brantley will be the leader that will take the stress of George and Jose and allows them to focus on their own issues. Brantley will be the leader that will allow Bregman and Correa to mash without having to carry a franchise. Brantley will be the leader than will allow Reddick and Yuli to play a young mans’ game. Brantley will be the leader that allows White and Tucker to grow outside the limelight. All of these things will have a greater impact than the 2 wins the statistics say. And we don’t really need two wins. We should win the division going away. What we need are confident hitters ready to pounce in the playoffs. And that is why I think we got Brantley and where I think we get those two wins, in the playoffs. B as in Brantley. B as is back. As in Take it Back.

Mar 12, 19: Life: Movies

Repost from before data loss. I saw two movies. One was a really terrible movie in the carnal presentation of material, but it had a decent story line and the cars were great. The other was just starting, but it had a scene where they talked about Newton and how he left room for God. I really just want to talk about “Peace in our time” and why it drove the plot in Avengers: Age of Ultron or about Captain Marvel coming out today (yep, I waited a while to post), but maybe next time. The first movie was a joy for me in one respect. The main character (protagonist) drove a convertible 993. It was cool in an airy sense to hear the engine turn to life and see the pavement be chewed up as it flew through traffic. Ok, so yes, it was a movie and the traffic was a setup, but it was a 911 and the look and feel were so familiar. It was great in another respect as the bad guy (antagonist) drove a 993 turbo. (It may have even been a GT2 or a modified variant, but I didn’t go back and research.) The turbo was always my favorite until my money was on the line. Now it is the normally aspirated that I love to drive. I am sure I will forget the details of the movie one day, but I will always remember they a made a movie with 993s. The other movie is the blessing for my day. I used to think of myself as a mathematician and a scientist, so Eddington and Einstein as a title grabbed my attention and I watched. I stopped to look up Einstein’s first book, I stopped to see who Eddington was. I stopped to see what the question on gravity was, and I stopped to see what the final theories meant. In the end, I realized I am happy to be an engineer and not a mathematician or a theoretical physicist. I am happy I don’t try to make God and His creation fit in a little box I can understand. I like math, I like physics, and to some degree, I use them everyday in my life as an engineer. But I use God every moment in my life as a Christian. So where does this leave us today in a world where science and carnal desires battle for attention? It leaves us looking for God and His place in our lives. Based on these movies I conclude: Remember to leave room in your everyday life for God. He is there. He blesses us with the prospect of eternal life with Him in heaven. But He also blesses us with little things in every moment of every day. We need only pay attention and we have stories of blessings to share. We are to give God the glory. It helps if we watch for the blessings to glorify Him for.

2019/03/13/

Astros: The New Guys – Part C

C for catcher. C for Chirinos or whatever his name is. As long as it is not Maldanado, I’ll keep my tickets. Chirinos was our first free agent pick up of the winter and it happened in the wake of us trading for a real catcher. Of course that never happened so the big yeah for a new catcher kind of fell flat. Rumor had it that we offered Maldanado two years at $6 million each. I stopped right there and thanked God that he didn’t accept. Later rumor confirms that that offer never was made, but it made me appreciate Chirinos all the same. Whatever terms were discussed with Maldanado, we moved right on to Chirinos and got our needs met as fast as possible. Chirinos will make no one stop wishing for last years all start catcher since his last recognition for his play came in the minors in 2010. But he has played in the majors seven of the eight last years and has hit 9 or more homeruns five years running. He hit 17 homers in ’17 and 18 in ’18, so odds are looking at 19 in ’19 which would be fantastic. He is more of a hitter first than Chirinos, but he is not Maldanado, so an improvement. In reality, Chirinos is a solid fill in if Stassi doesn’t get better, but not so good that Stassi can’t assert himself for the bulk of the at bats quite easily. But more than likely, he is just like what we might expect from Stassi only more experienced. I don’t really expect great things from either, but between the two of them, I expect league average production for the catchers spot and solid enough defense to allow the pitchers to pitch. So C for Chirinos, but C for catcher, and C for the worst production on a team of super stars. I think we can win with that.

Mar 15, 19: Astros: The New Guys – Part D

For all the media, D is for Marwin’s replacement. He is not Marwin’s replacement. He is a talented player we traded a not needed relief pitcher for. The guy is a shortstop who played a little third and stood other places in the field. That does not make him Marwin. Aledmys Diaz has actually been a starter in the majors, started at shortstop (the hardest position on the field), and was an All-star. All things Marwin has not done. He also isn’t playing with a chip on his shoulder from being the utility guy. Marwin became arrogant as he experienced success and I think it was why he struggled early last year. He was not chosen to be an all-star since he didn’t deserve it and I think he woke up the last half of the season and played like he could. But this is about the new guy. He comes in humble looking to help the team succeed any way he can and he comes with tremendous talent. He has struggled in the past with being in baseball shape (after defecting from Cuba) and some injuries, but looks healthy and ready to contribute. Diaz won’t make us forget the contributions of Marwin, but he will give us confidence to rest anyone who needs it or replace anyone who gets injured. For that we can save a spot on the roster.

Mar 17, 19: Astros: The New Guys – Part A

A has nothing to do with Wade Miley as far as I know, but for a team trying to win the World Series, he was a great pick up. The big thing here is that his acquisition in theory puts 4/5’s of our rotation becoming free agents at the end of the season. It means we can go with new guys or go with new guys. 2020 should be fun. Wade Miley is a veteran starter whose second best record of 11-11 was as mediocre as they come. The greatness of the signing is not that he is an ace, but that he is not. He is willing to start, he is willing to relieve, and he is prepared to be beat out. Except he does not want to get beat out. He wants to start and he wants to win. Wade Miley is friends with Will Harris and partially comes here to pitch with his friend, but he also comes to be on a winner. He was in the playoffs last year and he wants more. In 2012 he was a 16 game winner with a 3.33 era and a 1.18 whip. Solid numbers. In 2018 he recovered from injury to start 16 games, win 5, and had a 2.57 era and a 1.21 whip. Really nice numbers. So he knows winning, he knows successful pitching, and he has been challenged to pitch well enough to keep his spot over the highest rating pitching prospect in the game. He has been challenged to earn a spot along side Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. He has been challenged to have a contract year. He has been challenged to out pitch his friend Will. I’m not expecting Wade Miley to do what Charlie Morton did the last two years, but maybe he will step up to the challenge.

Mar 19, 19: Astros: The slow death of the shift and my respect for the game

I hate the shift. But it has a fundamental place in the game. Kind of like the I-formation or the Quarterback not under center in football or zone defense and trapping in basketball. Playing the game smart has always been part of the game. When I was a kid, we brought the infielders in every time a girl came up to bat. It wasn’t nice, but it was what your coach told you to do if he wanted to win. I doubt female coaches did that back then, but I’m sure there weren’t many. We had a lady coach one year and it seemed normal to me. The Astros use the shift a ton. They use it to help them win. The rules say you have to have a pitcher, a catcher, and seven other players between the foul lines. nothing says you have to play them anywhere specific, but people gravitated to the traditions spots through basic assessment of where the ball needed to be or was. The shift has moved this from a traditional what people think to what the numbers actually say. And I think the powers that be in baseball are tired of people who use numbers using the shift to make their offensive stars modify their game. As an Astros fan, I had great dread of Brian McCann coming up. The other team would put the second basemen in shot right, McCann would hit it to that spot that was a hit for over a hundred years, and get thrown out by a mile everytime. Yes, McCann was slow and injured, but couldn’t he at least try to adjust? And here is my issue. It is the less talented players who can’t hit to all fields that are hurt by the shift. No one ever would try a shift against Tony Gwynn or Wade Boggs. But Brian McCann and Kyle Tucker are automatic shifts by everyone past little league. The whole point is hit it where they ain’t. So back in my fantasy baseball days, they made rules to even the playing field. It made me put in more effort to win. The problem wasn’t the rules, it was that I put in the effort to win by them. It is the same with the shift. If the league changes the rule, the winners will put in the effort to win by the new rules and the others will not and the others will continue to lose. As with a main stream church falling to pressure from the heathens, I am sure baseball will cave and the shift will die (along with pitchers hitting) and the game will not be the one I grew up to love on Saturday afternoons in the heat. Every game will be in the AC during prime time and focus on getting new people to come and spend money. I will eventually be doing something else that doesn’t betray its roots.

Mar 20, 19: Astros: Stats are killing baseball

When I was a kid, one of the fun things we did was memorize the stats on the back of baseball cards. In those days stats were pretty much limited to counting stats, batting average, and ERA. Most people can count, many people can divide hits by at bats, and some people can multiply earned runs by nine and divide by innings pitched. It was all so simple. Tim Raines stealing bases, George Brett chasing Ted Williams, and Nolan Ryan striking out everyone. Watching the stars play to the calls of Vin and Joe. That was baseball the way I grew to love it. But along came APBA. A game based on stats. (It started before me, but…) It was cold. It was calculating. My team of nobodies won time after time, and it wasn’t much fun. Really it was fun, but it wasn’t baseball. It was statistics. Focus on Under Valued Statistics Years later we had the A’s learn to build teams around a new statistic: on base percentage. It wasn’t new, it was just not prized. They did great, until everyone caught on. Focus on Losing Then we had the Astros and Cubs use losing to get higher draft picks and new higher level statistics to win. It was great, until everyone caught on. Not really. Losing sucks. Ask any Pirates fan (if you can find one). The Pirates had high draft picks for years and they never really seemed to win. Sure the Cubs got Kris Bryant and the Astros got Carlos Correa as high picks from losing, but Bryant was not the first overall pick to the Cubs and the Astros took Correa first not because he was the consensus number one player, but so they could get him cheap and still nab McCullers. The Cubs got good because they hired a winner and gave him the chance to rebuild the entire franchise. The losing was because the previous leaders were so bad. The Astros got good because they hired a winner and gave him the chance to rebuild the entire franchise. The Cubs and the Astros are now winners because they got good players, trained them, paid them more as they got better, and paid for talent to fill in the gaps. They are paying among the highest payrolls in the league just a few years after bottoming out. Every team looking in from the outside is trying to do the same thing. They are stealing the younger management level guys trying to figure out how to repeat the process. The Astros aren’t afraid. They understand the key thing about baseball. It’s about failing, learning, and trying again. Its about guys with talent who can listen and move beyond past failures. Focus on the New Stat Mookie Betts won the MVP because the media fell in love with a new statistic: WAR or Wins Above Replacement. This stat (that I can’t calculate by myself) tells whoever will listen that Mookie’s season was better than Mike Trout’s and that it was more valuable that JD Martinez’s. I’m biased for Martinez since he was an Astro. But I think the impact he had on the Red Sox was more significant that the impact Mookie had. Mookie also had his great season on one of the greatest teams ever. Trout play for a flawed team with replacement level players chasing one of the greatest teams of all time (Astros) and one of the luckiest (A’s). WAR is used by a bunch of nerds to calculate who is the better team based on statistics. It is so complicated, the nerds can’t even agree on how to calculate it. As I alluded to earlier, baseball is a game that people play and statistics are an after the fact representation of what happened on the field. The players on the field and the plans the managers and coaches give them are the inputs to the system. Charlie Morton didn’t tell himself to spin the ball at a certain rpm to have a good curve. He told himself to snap it off so it breaks later and harder and practiced doing so until he could repeat it over and over. JD Martinez didn’t tell himself he needed a triple crown to win the MVP (although the media did). He told himself he needed to do all he could to help his team win, and he did, and they did. Paying for the New Stat And now we come to the real problem. As the media has fallen in love with WAR and statistics, so have the general managers and owners. They have learned to go after WAR, not talent nor the ability to learn from failure. This means “Give me WAR or I’ll pay a replacement level player.” The funny part about this is guys like Dallas Keuchel. Dallas threw well enough to win a Cy Young and he wanted to get rich. The Astros offered to make him rich and he and his agent decided they wanted more and waited. So now Keuchel is without a job and the season feels days away. Whatever he gets paid this season will pale compared to what the Astros offered. The old theory was pay a player based on past production and hope it works out. It rarely did. The new theory is pay for expected future performance. You give me an expectation of two WAR and I will give you what the stat guys tell me two WAR is worth. Dallas isn’t projected to produce $100,000,000 in WAR. Next Focus paying less for WAR The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the players union and the owners spells out how the rules of paying players for playing baseball. The terms of this last one have coincided with the change to paying for future projected value and the players are not happy with the results. They expected inflation as before and they were wrong. The next CBA isn’t for three more years and already the players are talking strike if something doesn’t change. But things are already changing and probably faster than the CBA can cope with. The owners have basically build the majors on the backs of the players forever. They have a monopoly and use it. Minor league players are paid nothing for up to six years once they sign. Then they are paid a small fraction of their value while establishing themselves as major league players. The owners want to protect this system as otherwise the team who pays the most wins everytime. The new CBA has a tax on salary above certain level. This was to keep the Yankees and such from paying for titles. In the end, it hasn’t helped the poor teams. Right now the highest paying teams win the most regular season games. Lower paying teams sometimes catch fire (on the backs of their underpaid players) and compete, but that is unsubstainable. And if that system goes away, so do their chances. Right now, WAR is projected to be worth $8 million each. Pay Michael Brantley $16,000,000 because you expect 2 more wins. If the system is changed, the cheap teams will consist of all replacement level players, win 60ish games, and take all income over that $13,000,000 and spend it on fast cars and…. That is not what the owners want and not what the players want and especially not what the fans want. How baseball pays its players needs to change to be balanced between value delivered, but if baseball is to survive, the distribution of income among owners will have to change to create a competitive league or the fans will leave…for wrestling.

Mar 25, 19: Peter: Part 3 in a series of X

Repost from before the data loss. Readings: Matthew 14:22-36 Mark 5:21-43 Luke 8:40-56 Matthew 15:1-20 Questions: <ol> <li>“Why do you doubt?”</li> <li>Why did Jesus ask how touched Him?</li> <li>Why Peter, James, and John?</li> <li>Why was Peter called dull?</li> <li>Why are our doubts and dullness different from Peter’s?</li> <li>Why are we like Peter, James, and John?</li> <li>How can we apply the principles in the unclean woman’s story?</li> <li>What does unclean mean to you?</li> </ol> This week we cover Peter walking on water, the women healed who touched Jesus, the transfiguration, and Peter called dull. I didn’t ever really think of Peter being called dull a story of prominence, but that is one of the many wonderful things about the bible; every time you read it, you are different, and it speaks to you where you are, and sometimes you learn something for the first time. Peter walking on water is one of the highlights when people recall Peter. He had such faith in Christ that he could walk on water; at least for a moment before he became afraid and started to doubt. Christ asked, “Why did you doubt?” We sometimes think, how could Peter doubt when Christ was holding his hand? But we have more than that, Christ living in us through the Holy Spirit, and oh how we doubt. We are made to crave intimacy with God and anything that distracts us from that creates fear and doubt. Doubt is natural, we will all experience it over and over, but God is supernatural and residing with Him overcomes all doubt. Christ asking who touched Him, in the midst of a big crowd gathering around to see and touch Him, seemed foolish to the Apostles. How could anyone know? We on the other hand have a similar belief in that since Christ was God, of course he knew who touched Him. Christ asked who touched Him not for Him to know, but to use this woman as a vessel to glorify His Father in Heaven. Her private faith became a public example of how faith can heal and have huge impact. Christ asked only Peter, James, and John to see the little girl healed. Why? I personally think this helped them in the future as their roles were to lead the church and this special treatment and the story gave them a leg up when future leadership issues arose. Also, it was probably a small room. Think of thirteen men in a little girl’s room? With no AC! Peter was called dull, or at least in one translation I read. This is a similar comment that occurs several times as Christ wants to reinforce the concept that without Him, we simply cannot understand God and the call that He and His word have on our life. Peter doesn’t understand the parable, and neither will anyone not relying on God to speak to their heart. Peter, James, and John had future roles as church leaders. We also have roles to fill within the church for Christ and not independent from the lives we live every day. God has provided us with the skill set, experiences, and inclinations to serve Him in some way that is revealed to us only in His timing. We cannot know what tomorrow holds, but we can prepare for it through prayer and study of the scriptures. Self-reflection as a Christian is not for our own benefit, but as an opportunity for God to reveal his will for the next day to us. As mentioned in other posts many times, the goal of the events in our lives are to glorify God and it is up to us to pay attention to what is happening in order to do so. Unclean. It is a term used often in the Bible to describe several circumstances. The ones I always remember are touching a dead body, when women have that time of the month, and eating a bacon cheese burger. Ok, so my eating a bacon cheeseburger doesn’t make me unclean, but it would have made my roommate in college unclean if he had eaten one since he is Jewish. In this description from Christ, being unclean doesn’t come from touching things, natural functions, or what we eat. Being unclean comes from our sinful actions, our sinful words, our sinful thoughts. From a big picture view, being unclean is being separated from right relationship with God because of sin. Sin comes not from outside of us, but inside of us, and it is from the sins we commit that we become unclean and need washing in the blood of Christ.

Mar 26, 19: Astros 4) Sipp gone – Check

The roster was set over the weekend and the last checkmark for the roster was who would replace Sipp. Sipp pitched well before the three year extension and pitched well the last year to get a new contract. However, he apparently wore out his welcome with the two terrible ears in between and the team decided to move on. Sipp was one of my favorite pitchers in 2015 as he did ok against the odd lefty they sent him in to face and even better against the righties they brought in to replace the lefty. He was a tremendous find with this ability and looked like a great three year investment, even at $6,000,000 a year. But of course no one really thinks a lefty specialist is worth that and people were surprised. Then in 2016 when the team started to have expectations, Sipp’s abilities disappeared. He was not the same and nothing the team did and nothing Sipp did helped. He was part of the reason we didn’t make it to the playoffs, and except for the $12,000,000 investment, the team would have ditched him. The team was good enough in 2017 to suffer through bad Sipp round two, but once again in the offseason, the $6,000,000 commitment kept Sipp around. One of the weird aspects of baseball has been this focus on lefty relievers to face lefties late in the game. Statistics show that righties hit lefties better and lefties hit righties better. My issue was that every statistic was built with a pool of hitters and pitchers that might not represent the individuals in play. They also may not account for the actions after the switch is made. Putting in a weak lefty reliever to face a weak lefty hitter often results in the weak lefty pitcher facing the best right hander bat on the bench. So rather than a better righty facing a weak lefty hitter, the weak lefty pitcher is facing the good righty hitter. This turn made me mad every time my team pulled it off. As stated, when Sipp was at his best, he did great against righties. At his worst, every lefty got a hit off him. The team learned to get the best individual pitcher against any individual hitter and got away from the pool statistics and started thinking beyond the one hitter. It made the bullpen look better than it really was by using strengths against weakness as much as possible. The team did not pick up Sipp and tried hard to find an inhouse lefty who could be expected to succeed against lefties and righties. Quietly we dropped Jandel Gustave as he had been passed by so many others. If he had been a lefty, he would have been in the mix. Reymin Guduan, Cionel Perez, and Framber Valdez were the main contenders. Perez was terrible and never stood a chance. Guduan has traditionally struggled with control and had a fantastic spring with nice control. Valdez did nice late last year on the big club and was shooting for the fifth spot in the rotation this spring. Valdez came up short for the fifth slot and didn’t seem to have a good spring at all, but the worst of that was yesterday and the decision was already made. It looks like Valdez made the team to be the lefty and to be able to give innings if any of the starters blow up early. Part of this was driven by Kemp, White and Marisnick being out of options and at least early, the team keeping only seven relievers instead of eight. I hope yesterday was an aberration from Valdez, but I am sure Guduan will come up quickly if Framber struggles. Either way, Sipp is gone, the Astros are better, and hopefully Hinch lets Valdez have good opportunities and not be abused at the end of the pen. (Unrelated, but Maldanado signed with the Royals and I’m not going to cover it more as I had so much about him in other spots.)

Mar 27, 19: Astros: 2018 – Where are they now?

One of the interesting tasks at this point each year is to see what happens to those guys that the Astros traded away during the past year. Most of the guys we traded the last year were far from the majors and have no expected MLB impact this season. So this leaves me the small effort to look at four guys who might. The first is James Hoyt who we received with Gattis years ago for Foltynewicz and others. I throw in Foltynewicz to show that we gave up something really good in that trade. We won a World Series eventually, so all is good even if Foltynewicz is an All-Star and will lead the Braves staff. Hoyt didn’t do much for us and he hasn’t done much since the trade. The Indians may use him, but he isn’t expected to have much impact. The next two are Jon Kemmer and David Paulino and neither look ready to provide support to their new teams. Kemmer is projected to max out as a fourth infielder and was traded for next to nothing. Paulino was in the trash trade of Giles for Osuna and got rid of a lazy head case with drug and injury histories. He has huge talent, but until he gets his head straight, he is worthless. Finally we come to the man most impacted by the pick of Alex Bregman:JD Davis. Davis was ready to be our third basemen, but was blocked by the new face of the franchise. We tried Davis at first and he could not beat out Yuli. We tried him in left and he could not beat out anyone. So we traded him for prospects and his future is with the Mets. The Mets have old, hurt guys in front of Davis and so he is expected to be the everyday third baseman for a bit. Here is to hoping that he hits, defends, and makes us regret trading him. We won’t really regret it as we got more than we did for JD Martinez, but I wish him all the best.

Mar 28,19: Astros: The ones who got away – 2019 impact

Since 2004, I have collected Astros rookie and first year baseball cards. Many times, these guys get on my radar years before they reach the cusp of the majors, and some times guys get to this level without baseball cards and I think “Who is that?” Those sometimes are fewer these days, but sometimes I watch guys that got cards move on and impact the majors for other teams. For fun, I wanted to see where some of these guys I followed are now. JD Martinez – Red Sox – MVP Candidate – Well paid, but more than worth it. Biggest miss by Astros to date Teoscar Hernandez – Blue Jays – Starting Outfielder – Chance to have some impact in second full season. Might still be in minors here. Rio Ruiz – Orioles – Competing for Third base slot – After three seasons with a few at bats in Atlanta, Ruiz is on one of the worst teams in the league trying to get over the hump for playing time. He had a nice spring, so maybe he is ready. Would still be in minors here. Jonathan Villar – Orioles – Starter at Second – An average hitter and fielder with great speed and more potential, he’ll be looking to improve before hitting free agency. Traded once we had too much talent on the infield for him to be useful. Jason Castro – Twins – Catcher – Worthless. Twins are probably hoping he gets hurt again. Marwin Gonzalez – Twins – Utility – For the Astros, not worth the money the Twins paid. Nick Tropeano – Angels – Starter – Injured Robbie Grossman – A’s – Outfielder – Trying to make the push from part time starter to full time. Domingo Santana – Mariners – Outfielder – Huge 2017, trying to reestablish himself after time in AAA in 2018. Had a huge spring. Can be an All Star. Delino Deshields – Rangers – Outfielder – Rule 5 pick not making us regret leaving him exposed. I am always surprised how many of the guys we pass on look like they should be in the majors, but stall at AAA. Not sure if it is the stronger coaching in our system or just validation that our front office knows their stuff. I know I missed some who are hurt or are free agents, but then again I have skipped the NL totally so far. Jordan Lyles – Pirates – Pitcher – After years of struggling, trying to pull it together in a new low key environment. Joe Musgrove – Pirates – Pitcher – Trying to make good on huge promise that anchored trade for Cole. Colin Moran – Pirates – 3rd base – Solid first year of playing trying to make good on even more promise key to trade for Cole. Vincent Velasquez – Phillies – Starter – Trying to make Astros pay for trade for Giles. Failing miserably. Matt Albers – Brewers – Reliever – Crafty old guy has had a long career. Josh Hader – Brewers – Pitcher – All Star with huge talent constantly reminding us of the dud that was Carlos Gomez on the Astros. Enrique Hernandez – Dodgers – Utility – Seems like a Marwin like tool who everyone loves, but doesn’t produce at that same level. Xavier Cedeno – Cubs – Pitcher – Decent lefty who pitched his way off our 2013 team. Think that through. Mike Foltynewicz – Braves – Starter – All-Star, Staff Leader who continues to pay dividends for the Braves from the Gattis trade. So I pause to note that Foltynewicz was an ace that took three years before he really pitched that way. If we expect Whitley, Martin, Bukauskas, Josh James, Valdez, etc to be the heart of our rotation, we need to remember starters generally aren’t stars the first year. Al the more hoopla that should surround the Verlander extension. Hunter Pence – Rangers – Outfielder – Old guy trying to regain form. Wish him the best. In my Ryan, Biggio, Bagwell, Berkman, Oswalt stream of Astro heroes. Someone once made a comment about how well I did getting my Altuve rookie, but it was one of many that I got along the way and one of only a handful that have any value to others. This list of players has a superstar and all stars, but the Astros have many, many more guys that were total flops. It should help us understand just how specially 2017 was and how lucky we are to have the team we have now.

June 23, 19: Spiritual Gifts: Know Yours?

Repost from before data loss Years ago, I led a Sunday School class and received great joy from it. Leading that class stretched me in ways I wasn’t expecting. The class had a unique mission buried in its name: Couples without Kids. It made it obvious when it was time to move on. Many years later, I have participated in a number of other roles and activities and began to wonder if my path to joy had changed. Indeed I have been helping with kids worship, performed service after Harvey, been to a men’s bible study, was on the prayer team, and a number of other little things. Finally back to a starting point, I wanted to reassess what my Spiritual gifts were and see if I had changed. The assessment I took was one I found going through my mom’s stuff. It was about 20 years old, but since God never changes, I figure its still good. The book breaks down the assessment for 32 Spiritual Gifts. I had no idea there were so many. A detail I didn’t remember from ever having done this before was to assume you had the opportunity, the time, and the resources to do what needed to be done and then ask yourself how inclined your were towards each question. None, Little, Some, and Much were the options, and of course I knew to pray and ask God for His guidance. As no surprise, my three lowest scores of zero were for Singleness, Praying in Tongues, and Interpreting Tongues. There were about nine others that ranked pretty low and again no surprise for most such as Craftsmanship (since I have no dexterity), Spirit Music (since I am tone deaf), and Missionary (since I am afraid of speaking to anyone I don’t know). Another 12 looked like things that I wouldn’t be terrible at, but that probably wouldn’t bring me the joy of service. Intercessory Prayer, Administration, and Miracles are examples of things I have done, thought I could do, and doubted I could do that didn’t make the list. So my previously high ranking gift of Teaching was joined in the maximum scores by Faith (Faith here being believing strongly enough to take action). Other gifts include: Humor, Suffering, Knowledge, Prophecy, Pastor, and Wisdom. Each of these has its own definition in the book I am using, but I wanted to start with the picture of the number of these gifts and how they give me direction. Of course, if you are still reading, you might be wondering why I go to all this effort to talk about me and my gifts. My goal with this post is to inspire you to seek to know your own gifts, to understand that God has equipped you with a specific set of gifts to meet the needs of what He is calling you to do, and that understanding your gifts helps you to hear when He is calling you. So several months after I started this blog, I finish by asking two things. Are you using your Spiritual Gifts? Will you please pray for me to see clearly to use mine?

June 24, 19: Life: Rest, Vacation, and Retirement

Repost from before Data loss “I need to rest.” Is that something you have ever told your boss? “You need a vacation.” Is that something your boss ever told you? “I can’t wait until retirement.” Is that something you ever thought to yourself? How about this one: “I am so tired of vacations!” I started this when I was in Mexico on vacation. I had the impression that I have been on vacation so much I haven’t been home. In reality, being at home and working have driven me to want to vacation as much as I can. So now, six months later, I see one more example of the mysterious ways of God. Right when I got back from the above vacation, we found my father-in-law near death in the hospital and the next day my mother passed away. My how being all vacationed up came in handy in a big way. I never would have survived those next few weeks had I not been rested and sure of my position in relationship to God. Many things have been experienced in the last six months and a big one for me was for the first time “the proximity of death”. I had a friend die in high school and another in college, and even my father a few years ago, but for the first time death touched me in a way that was more emotional that logical. My two favorite songs from this time dealing with death are ” I can only imagine” by MercyMe and “We Believe” by Newsboys. I’ve never been good at listening to words in songs, but these two helped me a lot during the first weeks of January. So back in December I needed a rest and I needed a vacation. Fortunately, I got them right when they were needed. I have also found that I can definitely wait for retirement. I have a lot I can do and it seems its taken forever to get to where I can start back down the path of doing more. I am also so over being tired of vacations. Time away with the family will be so much more precious going forward. One of the great things I have learned through this process is that you can not live a productive life for Christ if you are always tired, always doing too much, or looking too far in the future. We need time to rest each day and if needs to involve God. We occasionally need vacations, and we needs to be diligent to listen to God during these times away. And we need to keep working as long as possible. Retirement should not be seen as a God given right for working hard, but it should be a reward for being a good steward of what God has given you so you can devote all of your day to serving Him. A friend copied me on a passage that discussed death and how it doesn’t have to be this big scary fear that hangs over our joy. It should be an expected end that encourages us to live each day for God.

June 25, 19: Peter Part 4

Repost from before data loss. All right so back in March we were on Peter part 3 and now in late May we are on Peter part 4. Once I turned 51 in late March, I have neglected to do this. I apologize for anybody waiting desperately to hear more about Peter but I’m just a weak human with issues to address. Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 8:27-30, Luke 9:18-27, John 6:60-71 The first question: Declaration of Christ – What does that mean to you? Peter made this declaration before Christ and before the other Apostles. His opinion mattered to Jesus and it matters to us. The question is why does it matter to us and what difference does it make for you individually? For me it was this overriding summation of all you believed in, that you had put your existence into the Hands of Christ, acknowledged him as the reason why you were alive and why you continue to be alive, and aligning your goals with His as you continue to live. . Matthew 16:21-28, Mark 8:31-9:1 The second: Jesus predicts his death – Describe your stumbling blocks to following. One of the many things that we are called to do is follow Jesus. Everybody has a different call on their life, but generically, it’s being good to your neighbor, good to yourself, good to your family, good to your friends and basically producing the fruits of the spirit in your life. One of the the issues for me is that I don’t like conflict and my not liking conflict may have impact on how I interface with people about Jesus. My former neighbors are Muslim, but I didn’t really want to talk to them about Jesus. Not that I didn’t want them to accept Christ as their savior, I just didn’t want to be the mechanism for that in order to avoid conflict. That’s one of my stumbling blocks. Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-12, Luke 9:28-36 Third Question: Transfiguration – What is important in this event? This is one of those Supernatural events that God participates in and tells us about afterwards. Initially I questioned why this was included. Christ was God. Moses and Elijah had a relationship with God when they were alive and they had and will have some kind of roll to play after their death in interacting with God. God allowed these three Apostles to see this event. Peter was there; he saw Christ transfigured. This was different; it’s not everyday life; this is something Supernatural; God is involved here. It was something for him and these other two Apostles to know, to have in common, and then to use. If you really really believe in something, you act accordingly. If you have a mechanism that you can tell people about what you believe in, you can use it as leverage to display the Love Of Christ and to share it with others. We are not sure how often they used it, but we know it made it into the gospels, and it’s there for us to contemplate, to see an example of what they encountered in their lives, and how we can too. Matthew 17:24-27 Fourth Question: Temple tax – What important concept is here for the church? Jesus had the apostle pay the temple tax for the disciple and for Jesus even though as God he was not subject to the temple tax. But He had the tax be paid to the earthly authority that was implementing the tax anyway. For me, in spite of us being “in the world but not of the world”, we still need to participate in those governmental activities that impact us. Whether it’s paying taxes on houses, paying taxes on cars, working in the government, or even being an elected official, we are not to pull away from the world and be external. We are to be in the world interfacing with people, letting the ideals that Christ puts in us play their part in the world in which we live in. If every Christian held out, our world would be so much worse than it is now. It’s unimaginable, but if we all put forward what we could, it would be so much better than it is now. Obviously there’s evil in the world and Satan is active in the world, and peace is not coming to the world until Christ returns, but it’s our duty to use what God gives us for God’s glory in the world. Luke 12:35-48 Fifth Question: Watchfulness – What does it mean to you? I have a memory of watching a movie that I think was called “Rapture” starring a Hollywood person that I had seen in several movies. I was very interested to see how it played out. It was a terrible, terrible story because of course it happens in the end times, so the world’s a terrible place to be. The characters in this movie were watching for God to come; they knew things were going on in the world that were following Revelations; and they were being watchful. One of the warnings that Christ gave was don’t follow others to go see Christ because when Christ returns, every one will know. So naturally these characters had run out to the desert to see if Christ it was in the desert and of course He wasn’t because it was an antichrist. When Christ comes back, life will be different. So we are not to get bogged down into petty little details that keep us from doing God’s work here. We need to make our efforts while they can be made for His Kingdom, looking at the Eternal. We are not supposed to be lazy and just sit around waiting. One of the things that some of the early church did was they sold all their stuff and they sat in groups waiting for Christ to come back. They weren’t working, there mooching off each other, eating what they had. And then at some point, they ran out of food, they ran out of assets, they had not been working, and then Christ didn’t come while they waited. We’re supposed to move forward the work that God has for us, but be anticipating Christ coming. Peter is a great example for us to learn from and he has many stories in which he played a part. Many of these stories took place over a few minutes or hours. How many minutes and hours do we have in our life to be an example to others? Especially when we are weak and He is strong.

Jun 26, 19: Astros: The Salary Cap</h1> Did you know the Astros have a salary cap? There is no real salary cap in baseball like in the other professional sports, but each owner is allowed to spend as much or as little as they want. There are of course consequences to spending too little and the biggest one is losing. There are also now consequences to spending too much beyond just not having it to spend on something else. The last collective bargaining agreement between the players and the owners added what are called luxury taxes. If you as the owner choose to spend too much, then you agree to give back a little extra to the other owners to make up for winning a little more. This has worked well in the past for the Red Sox, to a second degree for the Dodgers, and to some degree for the Yankees. However, the owners put a little extra bite in for those owners that just keep doing it. Hence the Yankees and Dodgers got below the threshold and avoided the stiffer penalties. But for all those that have come to love the Astros owner and his recent winning ways, the truth for all to see is well documented. The owner wanted to win, but he wanted to go about it in a financially responsible way. We lost for years with super low salaries to help get us better. We have won for years on the backs of players not yet to free agency and providing huge bang for little bucks. Eventually the bill comes due. For us it begins in earnest in 2020, but it really begins now as we seek to improve the team for the pennant run in 2019. The owner has come out and acknowledged that he will not pass the luxury tax threshhold. The firstbase playing AL homerun leader came up for trade and the Yankees won the bidding as they were able to take on more payroll than the Astros were. The player the Yankees gave up was inconsequential compared to the salary relief they gave up. The Astros need a first baseman, just not enough to pay for one. Everyone talks about getting a third starter for the playoff run and typically it means a high price short term rental. The Astros kept some space for another starter, but they are probably happy with Wade Miley and his small one year contract and having a ton of relievers available for each third We already have more great relievers than we can fit on a 25 man roster. Our biggest problem right now is two fold. We have two cheap players Kemp and White that have talent. We have two expensive players Reddick and Gurriel that are contracted through next season. We have two tremendously talented hitters that have no spot in Alvarez and Tucker. In a salary capless world we would trade Kemp and White and whatever else to bring in a cheap third starter and bring up Tucker and let the kids get ready for October. In a perfect salary constrained world, we would trade Reddick and Gurriel for a third cheap starter and bring up Tucker and let the kids get ready for October. In the actual world where everyone knows our situation, we will cut Kemp or White for no return to let Alvarez play, let Tucker sit in AAA, not get another starter, lose Reddick and Gurriel next year while still having to pay them, and have to pay the luxury tax anyway. Here is the rub, we don’t need another firstbasemen to make the playoffs, but we may need one to win them if we do nothing else. We don’t need a third starter to make the playoffs, but we may need one to win them if we do nothing else. In 2015, we made a big trade and we got into the playoffs and had some success. In 2016, we did nothing and fell out of the playoffs. In 2017, we made a late trade and won it all. In 2018, we made no in season upgrade and we fell just short. (Yes, the front office almost got Harper, but didn’t.) Its now 2019. We know we are good. But our competition is good too and they know we are good and they are making moves to get better. Will 2019 be the year the luxury tax salary limit the owner has chosen keeps us from winning it all? I certainly hope not, but all the evidence is pointing that way. And if we can’t steal another Cole or another Osuna, it might just keep happening.
June 27, 19: Jesus: His tool kit for us – Prayer

Last non-astros post lost from the data loss era. I had a thought and now I am putting it into action. We all have Spiritual Gifts whether we have taken time to learn them or not. But regardless of our gifts, we are humans with innate abilities that we all share. My thought was that I actually view this blog as an opportunity to use my Spiritual gifts and be consistent sharing my thoughts on Christ. My next task will be to incorporate a series of blogs on the simple things that every Christian can participate in to improve their walk with Him. I am going to call it His tool kit and share what I feel led to. In a men’s bible study on Monday, our table spoke about prayer and triggers and I thought prayer should be the first tool I covered. In our discussion, one man shared his struggles to pray, to pray consistently, and to pray with conviction. I told him that I used the Lord’s prayer to trigger my prayer life for the day, and this gentleman keyed in on the term trigger. God made each of us with a deep seated thirst to relate to Him. Sin has broken this relationship, but Christ died to cover our sins and be the intercessory for us to have a relationship with the Father. Just as in any relationship, there is a need to spend time with the other party to further the relationship. Prayer is simply the opportunity to speak with God and to listen to Him respond. Many times when I have had or others have related having issues with prayer, it sometimes comes from over complicating the topic. God is our creator, our father, our Lord, but He created us to relate to Him. Jesus is our Lord, our savior, our King, but He gave His life so that we might be His friend and His sibling. Through Christ, we have relationship to God the Father and we can pray to Him without ceasing. We can start everyday by using the trigger of the Lord’s Prayer and spend the rest of the day speaking with God and asking Him direction for everything. When we accepted Christ as our savior, the Holy Spirit took up residence in our hearts, and we have a direct line for following the will of God in everything we do. Prayer can be used for many other goals including teaching, leading others to Christ, etc., but it starts out as a conversation between a child and their father. Its a tool in our tool kit and I encourage you to get yours out and get familiar with it.

Swirling in disaster

Thu, 11 Jul 2019 14:30:54 +0000

So my website went down about two weeks ago and I currently have lost over a year of posts. Attempts at recovery are hopeful for the past month and possible for the whole period, but it doesn’t feel right. At least I know they weren’t banned by some man in a hat thousands of miles away because he didn’t like them. Martin Luther is well known (partially I am sure due to Martin Luther King, Jr,), but never the less many people know of Martin Luther’s attempt to reform the Catholic Church resulting in a new Lutheran Church and the whole realm of Protestant Churches around today. Yesterday, we went to the Dunham Bible Museum at Houston Baptist University and learned more about bibles than I ever expected. My favorite part was a single bible/book of the Psalms with four different languages (Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, and Aramaic) including three different Latin translations as well as notes on the translations. I once learned to read Latin, but I could never quite get enough meaning to understand it. The highlight though for me was afterwards when I did a little research on John WyCliffe. John WyCliffe is known for the WyCliffe Bible that was pretty much the first complete translation of the Bible into English. He lived in the 1300’s (or the 14th century as they are known) about 200 years before Martin Luther and about 200 years before anyone in the church wanted a bible in English. WyCliffe was eventually thrown out of the church, his body dug up and burned, with the ashes thrown in a river. Nice people running the church at that point. WyCliffe was some kind of leader in the church with a PhD in theology, known for his writings on logic and such, consulted by the king, and pretty much an impressive person. WyCliffe had the same opinion as Martin Luther that the Catholic Church was filled with people not following the teachings of Christ and wrote about it to whoever would listen. One of the key ideas that WyCliffe supported, and is highly regarded for now, was his strong belief that the bible tells us how God wants us to live and we need to avoid adding anything to it and seek to follow Christ’s instructions. I’ve always enjoyed reading the bible, studying it, and I am glad to know that someone was willing to stand up to those doing wrong and simply point to scripture. I think it is something we need more of in the world in which we now live even more so than 700 years ago.  

Jesus: Tool Kit Part 2 – Reading

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 19:34:57 +0000

Robin Hood came out in 1973 and impacted me in ways I never understood. Of course I was five and it was a Disney cartoon, but it set the basis for what Robin Hood was for me. Just last week I saw a newer version from 2018 and it was watched with an eye towards how it met my understanding of the characters. Needless to say it was a little different. Learning about John WyCliffe this week has put a little bit new breadth to my questions around Robin Hood as the typical setting for Robin Hood is not far off from the times of John WyCliffe. The Kings of Richard and John in typical Robin Hood tellings coming from 1199 and John WyCliffe coming along about a hundred years later. Of course, 2019 and 1919 seem a world apart, but there is nothing new under the sun and people were little different last week, in 1919, 1399, 1199, or at the time of Christ. On of the key differences in life have been the availability of scripture. At the time of Christ, the Old Testament was being written in scrolls and read in Hebrew to Jews in the temples. In 1199, the New Testament was being read in Latin to everyone in the Catholic Church. In 1399, people were beginning to hear the Bible in their native tongue and the rich could have a copy in Latin to display at home. In 1919, the world was recovering from the first world war and the White Sox were cheating. In 2019 more people have more bibles in more languages than ever before, many sitting unused. The tie between Robin Hood and religion is minimal in my 1973 cartoon, but overarching in the live action 2018 version. The common denominator is that bad men exist eve in the church and that was the same in the 12th century, in the 14th century, and now. The biggest difference is that we now have personal access to the scripture to hear what God has to say to us personally. Having been exposed to the myriad of different ideas of what the scriptures mean to highly trained men reading from the original Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and such, I have learned that trusting others to tell us the meaning of God’s Word is not sufficient. We each need to read the Word of God ourselves, and using our first tool in the tool kit, pray that Christ will reveal the meanings in our lives. One interesting debate about the bible I noticed was the differences of opinion whether the wine and bread used in communion actually turned into the blood and flesh of Christ or not. Both sides will argue and pleased their case using scripture and everything thing else they can to prove the point. My opinion, “Who cares?” The act of communion is about relating to Christ and whether He meant this literally or not does not impact the spiritual aspect of worship that should be in our lives nor the love that we should share with those around us. I’ll probably never learn Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic or Latin or any other languages, but I know that when I ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the Word of God the Father and its meanings in my life of following Christ, that it will be the message God has for me for that day. God has given us prayer and His Word to relate to Him and they are key tools in interacting with the world that surrounds us. As Robin Hood had his bow and arrows, we have the Bible as our two edged sword.  

Locally, Globally, and Cosmically – Our Tool Kit – The Local Church

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 22:14:33 +0000

Yesterday, I heard some of the details occurring in our main campus pastors’s life. As I listened, I thought about how to not use everything he said in a blog. I also read some of the writing of John WyCliffe yesterday and I concluded I wasn’t going to use any of that either. So I wondered how exactly am I going to help this week. With a thread of an idea, I opened the local paper on line and had my topic: Locally, Globally, and Cosmically was an ad that combined the goal of the paper with the historical remembrances going on these days. One of the many things that people who have latched on to a personal relationship with Christ experience is frustration with others. In John WyCliffe’s writing, he mentions the perfection of Christ, the perfection of God’s Word, and the perfection of our relationship with Christ when we read and experience it directly as opposed to the error induced when men get between men and the scriptures. In his time, the only church was the Catholic Church and it had issues. Today there seem to be countless churches and they all have issues, even the one I go to. In the vernacular of those talking about it, people relating to Christ on their own have been called lone wolves. Its an odd and disturbingly negative connotation as we are called to see ourselves as sheep in need of the Shepard, Christ. Wolves eat sheep. But maybe it is the destruction of the flock that they are alluding to and not the actual eating of the sheep. Either way, the meaning is that we should not try to do life alone as individuals. Even wolves live in packs. When I went to the paper’s website, I wanted to pull together a list of topics that are impacting our world that we as individuals cannot impact. I found Hurricanes, murder, money laundering, the census, AIDS, adult-only pool parties, stocks, Obamacare, Trump, the environment, and people who drive worse than me. These are the top ten I saw and one I added for fun. Each of these topics is too big for us to handle on our own. But within this list are issues that can and will impact each of us directly in some form or fashion. The current phrase at our church is to be a difference maker. Biblical references include loving our neighbor, being a light to the world, and a host of other terms that all really call us to do good and do the work of Christ on earth. The first two tools I mentioned were praying and reading, and both are very personal, but this next tool is both personal and impersonal as it has benefits for each of us individually while also holding benefits for the collective we among which we live. As individuals, many of us went and helped others after hurricane Harvey, but few of us will help after Barry hit to our East. It isn’t that we don’t care, it just hit further away and it is harder to help away. Our church as an organization helped tremendously with Hurricane Harvey and I am sure it will help with Barry as the sum of the parts are larger than the individuals. Our church helps a number of local groups that impact sex trafficking and other touchy subjects as well. Our church may not have much impact on creating a better driving environment, but we as individuals have a part to play in that and in improving the environment in general. But the local church can be a place of like minded people getting together to do a small part in a larger effort to tackle some of the bigger issues around us. Higher education like at Baylor, health care like within the Memorial Hermann Health System, and aid to the needy like Star of Hope Mission are all areas one church has helped start from here in Houston. Christ has a mission for us, to spread the gospel to the world and to love the world as we do it. Sometimes that means being active to make little things better for individuals. Sometimes it means being active with others in a huge undertaking to make life better for large people groups. So whether it is sending books to the UN or working to make the lives of sex trafficking victims better, there is a place for your local church to make an impact and a place for you to chip in. Pray for God to show you a need; read His Word to give you strength to act on that need; and look for a place to meet that need with others from your church. Locally, Globally, or Cosmically, Christ has work for you to do.

Astros: Starters – Is the development system broke or is Hinch a problem?

Tue, 16 Jul 2019 16:51:10 +0000

Back in October when the big dance went on without us, a clamor went up for action. Get more starting pitching! The Astros did get another starting pitcher (Wade Miley), but it looks like they needed more. I predicted Verlander, Cole, McHugh, James, and Valdez in the rotation (before Miley) with Perez, Peacock, Rogers, Amenteros, and Whitley in the wings (maybe even Deetz or Devenski) with the next wave of Abreu, Martin, and Bukauskas behind them. It looks like 16 starters wasn’t enough. I also warned that we need to remember starters generally aren’t stars the first year, but that was more for next year, not this. As it turns out Peacock beat out James and/or Valdez with Miley pushing out the other. Peacock and McHugh looked like good options with experience, but both got hurt. Not totally unexpected, but they were veterans, and we weren’t expecting them to break down at the same time. James made the team in the pen and Valdez for some unknown reason was given the job as the bullpen lefty with no reason to believe he could do it. He failed and was sent out to get stretched out into a starter again. That failed too as the team just can’t seem to understand the difference between the two in a development sense. Perez has blown up in two of his three games, Rogers blew up in his last game, Amenteros did not do great in his last game, Whitley blew up in the minors, Deetz blew up in the minors, Devenski blew up in the pen, Abreu hasn’t made it out of AA, Martin was not good his last few games (and blew out his elbow), and Bukauskas has blown up in AAA. We even brought up Urquidy who blew up, and Cy Sneed who did not. Did you see a pattern? and an outlier? Everyone we brought up blew up. I don’t think all of our pitchers are that bad. I think our management team does not know how to protect young players. They also do not know when to play who. Cy Sneed did very well in both of his long outings and he was sent to the minors and can’t help now when really needed. He was buried and only played when the starter bombed, but why was he not the starter? I don’t understand. Part of why I think Hinch is good, but not great. In the end, this team is expected to compete for the World Series. It is time to play the spare parts and future chips into a couple innings eaters to get to October. Of all of our pitchers, none are ready to be the fourth man in the rotation in the ALCS. We have to get that person. If we can get someone cheap who can fill the fifth spot until September roster expansion, then we need to do it. We lose Cole next year. We might not be able to afford Miley next year. That would give us four open spots for 2020. We are about to tap out against the salary cap next year. Something has to give. It may be that we go into the playoffs a flawed team. I can’t believe the pressure to do something will end with nothing as in 2016, but I don’t trust Luhnow to give up nothing for something again. I predict we lose someone of value. The window is open, how bright is the future in comparison? Trade Correa and do it quick! Just kidding. Trade someone else now and trade Correa over the winter for a cost controlled starter. Please.

150 feels like more work to do

Wed, 17 Jul 2019 21:22:24 +0000

I had two conflicting topics to try and bang out for my 150th blog. One was killing diabetes and the other was the unsportsmanlike play of the Angels last night following baseballs unwritten rules. They both seem to be things that everybody knows, but no one really understands or communicates. Back when I was a kid we talked about Pete Rose bowling over a catcher, maybe Ray Fosse. (Yes, I was right.) Then a few years back it was Buster Posey getting bowled over. Posey was a big star, suffered a long term injury and they made a rule to try and prevent reoccurances. (apparently reoccurances is not a word.) The problem with the rule is that is nice to think about, but when you are going 30 fps and the catcher moves, its hard to adjust your path to the base twice in fractions of a second. If they really didn’t want issues, they would create a rule the catcher cannot be in foul territory and the runner cannot be in fair territory, thereby forcing the runner to one side and the catcher to the other. Of course it means the catcher will miss a lot of errant throws, but we won’t have collisions. The unwritten rule was if the catcher has the ball between you and the plate, smash him. But the collision was one thing and the dirty play of the Angels is another. An unwritten rule in baseball is if someone does somehting wrong, you bean them. Its a stupid rule, but it exists and it sorta works. The problem is the Angels threw near the head of Marisnick. As people said, “If you want to throw at someone, that’s fine, but don’t throw near someones head.” Dickie Thon was my favorite Astro until he got beaned. Then I was just mad at whoever hit him. I have forgotten the pitchers name to help me continue to forgive him. When the Angles threw near Marisnick’s head, they crossed the line. When Albert Pujols crossed the foul line to yell at the Astros, he crossed the line. Albert is a great person and a great player, but he needed to hold his ground. Marisnick was being gracious, the Angels were not. Not sure what exactly the unwritten rules are for throwing near someone’s head or crossing the foul line to yell at someone, but I’m sure they exist. The real piece that got me was the slide by some (cuss words removed) Angel who slide out of the base path at Jose Altuve. The umps did nothing. Hinch did nothing, but I know Hinch was raising a huge stink about that one after the game. Missing a little on a pitch is one thing. Going out of your way to hit a second basemen who is an MVP is down right unacceptable. I’d say unforgivable, but…I am trying to not remember who that was. I assume if things are not handled right, Justin Verlander will plunk Albert Pujols in the rear with a 100 mph fastball tonight or the next time they face each other, or the Astros will bean whoever did the sliding, or both. (Doubt they would like it if we slide out of the base path into Trout.) Not sure benches will clear, but I’m supposing their are high emotions on the Angels and the Astros are madder than hornets. Hopefully it plays out well. The Astros definitely do not need a bunch of suspensions between now and September. On to the killer, Diabetes. Its always been a bad word, but I never knew what it meant. A friend of mine gave me a book on it and now I understand it. What I don’t understand is how the bulk of the medical industry has not done anything about it. Diabetes is not an illness, especially not one that can be treated with drugs. It is your bodies response to you eating like a pig your whole life. When you body has taken all it can take, you get diabetes. It will kill you, unless you kill it. The good thing is that it is easy to kill. Trying to put it as simply as I can, diabetes is when every cell in your body has too much sugar in it and leaves any new sugar in the blood stream. When all your cells are full of sugar, they start not doing their jobs and things go wrong. Every bad thing that happens in a person is greatly impacted in a negative way by diabetes. All we have to do is get rid of all the excess sugar. The problem has been that not everyone wanted the solution. The drug companies can’t sell drugs to well people. The sugar, flour, and processed food people can’t sell anything to people who aren’t eating sugar, flour, and processed foods. And people don’t want to give up cokes, bread, and nacho cheese. So how do we kill diabetes, we eat a low carbohydrate diet, (not go on a diet), we fast (skipping meals), and we exercise. Simple three step plan. The powers that be have not accepted this, push fat people onto low fat diets and drugs. Even my doctor gave me drugs to treat the extra blood in my sugar. I went on a low carb diet about 10 years ago and lost all the weight I wanted and was ready to be a small daddy for Darby. I went off the diet and and right back where I started. I have actually tried diets, exercising more, and on and on to get the weight off. I just never got that eating a low carb diet was a long term option, I never go that fasting was good for your body. And its hard to exercise when you feel like crap from eating the wrong foods and having too much sugar in your system. So I am not on a diet, I have changed the way I eat. Short terms results are good as I lost some weight and had a good nights sleep. Now I need to make sure and do my part to get the word out and see how baseball deals with application of the unwritten rules in the Astros Angels feud going forward.

Peter Part 5 – A Winning Future

Sat, 20 Jul 2019 17:41:19 +0000

Looks like we will be half way done with Peter after this one. The injuries of McHugh and Peacock finally caught up to the hopes that he Astros could hang onto Tyler White until he had trade value. It didn’t help White’s case that Yordan Alvarez got the chance and did something with it. His 474′ blast last night was majestic. In Peter we reach passover and the Apostles lose one of their own. Apparently Judas was not meant to be united with God in eternity. Much more important than being an Astro your whole career, but neither is something anyone really wants to miss out on. So on with the study: John 13:1-17 What does washing feet mean to you? For me, this state of humility the Apostles found Christ in was fundamental to believing that while I was not worthy of His love, he had chosen to give it freely to me and to pay the price to allow it. John 13:18-30 How do you perceive the phrase Satan entered into him in regards to the thought of Judas’s fate? Predestination was a key big thinker argument I noticed while looking at the thoughts of men like John WyCliffe and Martin Luther. I could never explain the interplay between God’s will and our free will, but I know that Judas had not given his heart to Jesus or Satan could have never entered him. The take away for me is that our decision to follow Christ is more than a deposit to be received at death, it is a break between bondage to Satan and sin and living for and with Christ. Matt 18:21-35 Do you struggle offering forgiveness? Hint: you do. Why and what does this mean to you in that regard? It means I do not understand fully my place in the work of Christ. I have a deep seated expectation that good should prevail and at least have emotional displeasure when someone takes from me or others. It can be as simple as my right of way while in the car or the lives of others based on race or religion. This deep seated expectation needs to pale in comparison to recognition that I am called to love and not to entertain thoughts of vengeance for trespasses. Matt 19:16-30,mark 10:17-31,Luke 18:18-30 What good thing? Which ones? What do I still lack? What then will there be for us? How do these questions lead your thoughts in this passage? The one good thing is to accept Christ as our savior. But that is not what the man meant and Jesus tried to display the chasm between this man and God. The Jews had 10 commandments and a multitude of laws and rules to follow. The question was do I really have to follow all of the rules? Christ’s answer was not only do you have to follow all the rules, you have to do more and even then it is not enough. The man thinks he has done all of this because he holds himself in high esteem. As we all know, we sin, we fail to do all we can for GOd and others, and we know this man was picking his own level of piety when saying he did all these things. Jesus still did not directly answer the man by saying you must give your entire life over to God and accept His definition of piety, but He did give him the out of believing in Christ. He did of course go further and tell the man if he wanted to be perfect, he had to give up everything in this world and give it a away. Tall task. Peter asked we have done this that you asked of this rich man, do we get a reward for doing so? The apostles do get rewarded, they have to work when Christ’s Kingdom comes. The passage tells us that our ideas of what is great in this world, riches, houses, brothers, sister, fathers, mothers, wives, children, lands all pal in comparison to getting to spend eternity in heaven with God. My mom was excited to share her joy after hearing the positive impression a man who was dead for a while told after he was revived. We are to greatly anticipate heaven, but we are to recognize that it is eternal and we have work to do before the reward. Mark 11:20-26 Pray and forgive. Why do our prayers not go our way and do you think about this concept when praying? Our prayers go God’s way. If we ask anything not in God’s will, it will not happen. We are to learn about God’s will and then pray accordingly. When we do not know God’s will, we ask Him to show it and to intervene in a manner consistent with His will. I prayed Obama would not become President. I thought it was consistent with God’s will. Obama won anyway and then I prayed God would protect us during that time. I need to pray over everything from dinner tonight to the 2020 presidential elections. So do you. Mark 13:1-31 long passage. The only questions for it are short. Why did the apostles ask about the future? Why did Christ answer? The Bible tells us to worry about today and let tomorrow worry about it self. It does not tell us to ignore tomorrow, but it tells us not to worry. We are to anticipate, we are to plan, but we are to make those plans expecting God to work in miraculous ways to achieve His goals and be busy executing the goals of the day. If we are focused on the bad, we will miss out on the joy that comes from knowing Jesus wins. Make no mistake, the future will be bad. Look at what happened to Jews in the early 1900’s and to Christians through out our history. Revelations tells us that it will be worse. But Jesus wins. How much easier it is to compete when you know you will win? How much compassion can you show to the losers, when you know you will win? We are not here to win earthly competitions. We are here to win in eternity . We can love our enemy because we know who wins. Our country is in the middle of a battle between good and evil. There is a group of politicians that think good is one thing and another group that thinks that same thing is evil. They cannot both be right. The one that takes the eternal perspective of salvation and Christ’s victory over sin and death may not win the current battle, but they will win a spot with us in heaven.

Astros: Success – A Scrubb for Nothing

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 17:28:25 +0000

The Astros just made a trade for a reliever. His name? Andre Scrubb. Scrubb is a double A pitchers with eras below 3, high k ratios, low hit rates, and of course, high walk rates. We traded Tyler White to the Dodgers to get this guy, so he must be good if we were willing to trade to potential World Series opponents someone we know can catch fire. Scrubb will not help the team this year beyond ensuring White is not in the division the next two months (unless the dodgers move him again). Scrubb also helps the roster crunch we are seeing by not needing to be on the roster and potentially back fills a slot after Rondon, Smith, McHugh, etc leave. Not a huge haul, but better than the nothing we got for AJ Reed. Hopefully Kemp gets a return of some kind before he leaves.

Money – Children do not deserve free money?

Mon, 29 Jul 2019 00:15:58 +0000

In the Houston Chronicle today appear the statement: Children do not deserve free money. I laughed out loud. The laughter was all due to context, but combined with a mid-afternoon discussion of gain, I thought it worthy of sharing. Going back a few days to remember a college cost discussion and it gets downright hilarious or scary or both. When I was younger, I learned neat phrases like “No food for the lazy” and “Take care of your family.” There are a whole host of concepts behind those two made up phrases, but the first step in the process was to not be a burden on others. If you could provide yourself food, clothing, shelter, etc, then it was your personal responsibility to do so. The second step was much more significant, but no less basic. If you were going to have a family, you had to take care of it until the individual members could take care of themselves (which you were to enable them to do). So when I got married, I pledged to take care of her as long as I was able and even afterwards if possible. When we had kids, I pledged to care for them and teach them what they needed to take care of themselves. These seem simple ideas, but I guarantee they are not universally held in the world, nor in this country, nor even in your neighborhood. When I was little, we were poor as my dad provided enough child support to pay the mortgage and my mom worked diligently to keep us fed and clothed. It meant I had to wear the same five shirts to school every week, but at least I had five and they were clean. She even helped us some in college. She fulfilled her pledge and I did my part to support myself as soon as I got out of school. I had enough scholarships and worked enough to have no student loans as through the fortunes of a bad marriage, we were not longer poor enough to need help to pay for college, but didn’t actually have the money to pay for it either. Another couple phrases I learned were “Pay the worker his wages” and “Save all you can.” This meant it was ok to get a job, and it was ok to get a job that made you more than you needed. It was years after I was taught to save that I learned a new phrase of “Save for retirement.” The whole of living was built on working to take care of yourself and your family, so where did this “Sit on your but cause your old” mentality take over? It came from families and communities failing to follow one of the ten commandments (Honor your father and mother) and the concept of taking care of those who can no longer take care of themselves. One of the “ideal” goals of concepts like communism and socialism is that each person works as hard as they can and everyone shares equally in the output. The person who buries the dead enjoys the same rewards as the man who runs a multi-billion dollar company. The biggest problem with that ideal is that it involves people and fails as soon as that person is involved. “If you still get the reward, then why work at all?” is the phrase many follow. Another is “Why shouldn’t I get more because I’m superior?” Eventually their are too few workers to support everyone to the level they want. It is actually starting to happen in our government regulated capitalistic system. We don’t work on true capitalism because then some politicians and their friends would experience failure too and they can’t vote for that can they? One of the concepts behind some politics today is the take from the rich and give to the poor. As with Robin Hood, its a good cliche, but it doesn’t really work. The columnist in the paper made his statement that children do not deserve free money in the context of taking from the rich to give to the poor. In this case it was people who worked and saved enough to pass money in an IRA to their kids. He didn’t think these hard working savers kids deserved to have this money. I am sure he felt it need to be taken from them and given to all the people in the country who have nothing because they don’t work and surely this means some poor kids somewhere. This children do not deserve free money only goes to “rich” kids and surely does not apply to some kid whose parents illegally sneaked them into the country. I laughed as I am sure he was not aware of the duplicity of his statement about kids. He’d probably be equally perturbed if the parents bought their kids something while they were still alive and left them no money. My dad earned money over his lifetime and according to his third wife, died penniless. My mom earned way less money over her life and died with more than nothing, but nothing along the lines of riches. The columnist is probably happy my sister and I received no perceived riches from them. But this was never God’s plan. God’s plan was for families to be generational passing down possessions from one generation to the next and the bulk of this being the family business tools and lands with which to support follow generations. The carpenter’s son got the tools when the father died and so passed the ability to provide for his wife and kids and so on. Our economic engines have turned from saws and hammers to knowledge and cash. Politicians have learned from the past that dead people can’t vote and its ok to take their money. When we were young we were taught ot put money in 401ks to save for retirement as social security was going to fail. Now we have IRAs and are expecting the tax rules to change before we can use those gains for retirement. The moral of all this? Don’t expect the world to let you keep any earthly rewards you save, but know that God keeps your heavenly rewards with Him in eternal security.  

Jeff Phase Next

Sun, 18 Aug 2019 12:53:37 +0000

This past week has been transformational for me. We go through many phases in our lives and some are big huge differences birth, marriage, kids, college, etc. Sometimes they are almost imperceptible. I awoke this morning knowing my life had changed and I thought of Ecclesiastes. <h1 class=”passage-display”>Ecclesiastes 3 King James Version</h1> 1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Of course I didn’t remember the chapter or verses, but I knew how to find it. This past week we got back from our European vacation, we sold my mom’s house, and Big D got her drivers license (so we thought). Vacation is a whole other topic, but selling the house lifted a huge burden off of me as executor and Big D being able to drive by herself will really change how we plan our days around the kids and activities. The most fabulous part of Ecclesiastes 3 is the remaining verses that discuss how we are to rejoice in the work God has provided for us. My sister from far off posted a meme over the last week of how grateful she is for the opportunity to be a mother and focus on serving her kids. My sister from Texas was able to help me sell mom’s house and I got to see her in action this week and know how impactful she is in that within her community. The work we do for God will endure forever is also a concept buried in these verses. We are not to build up treasures here on earth to collect dust, but to eat, drink, and enjoy the good of our labor and store up treasures in heaven. We do this by loving God and serving others. I look forward to this next phase and hope that others can see the light of Christ through my efforts. I sometimes fail and fall flat on my face, but I’m trying and I’m hopefully learning. Maybe not as exciting as the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it’ll be real.

Peter Part 6 – Failure

Mon, 19 Aug 2019 12:43:52 +0000

Peter Part 6 Matt 26:31-35,mk 14:27-31, l 22:7-38, j 13:31-38 What was the outcome of Peter’s claim and was it impacted by his denial? Peter claimed he would never fall away and that he would die before disowning Him. But Peter did deny Him three times. The key to this exchange is the weakness of man compared to the Power of God. Men always fail, it is in our very nature. We can keep some commitments, but no matter how we cling to some, we fail. God never fails and it is only through the Holy Spirit that we like Peter after he received it, can cling to Christ through whatever assails us. Matt 26:36-46, mk 14:32-42, j18:1-11 My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Why? How did this impact the apostles? Why? Ecclesiastes 1 ends with “For much wisdom comes much sorrow.” This was King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived besides Christ, and in return for the wisdom God gave him, Solomon experienced sorrow more than any other mortal. Wisdom shows how much is wrong with men in this world and it is overwhelming. Christ could not fix it without dying. He had no other choice. With Christ in this state of turmoil coming to grips with His duty, the apostles are falling asleep. They are powerless to help again showing the need for a savior. Matt 26:57-68. M 14:53-65 What did Peter see that seems important? Christ testifying to His divinity. Again with Peter to be the rock of the church, his experiencing Christ in this action gives him extraordinary confidence to testify to Christ’s deity as he leads the church. Every action of God is for good and this is another small example. Matt 26:69-75, m 14:66-72, l22:64-62, j 18:15-18&25-27 Peter’s denial: wept bitterly. How does this parallel events in your life that make you you? Peter failed. He had given up everything to follow Christ and when it came to this last minute temptation and he failed. I have also failed, many times in many ways. I have tried to learn from each and not make the same mistake again, but it always comes down to trying to do things in my own will as opposed to God’s. Peter once again is a great example for us to learn from as he follows Christ.

Money: Is it a Smoking Gun?

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 21:58:37 +0000

I feel like I have spent the entire week back from vacation fooling with money and money related issues. I haven’t made any yet, but sometimes being a good steward goes beyond making money. I met a lady today who told me all about her plan to sell her house to finally get debt free. From her family living apart for a year and moving to a new location, to going back to school and having side jobs, it is a familiar tell of balancing working and spending to meet needs and provide opportunities. For me the best part was the underlying foundation of church and being debt free. Back when I was younger, I bought a leather backpack. I didn’t grow up like the kids nowadays with back packs for school, but somewhere along the way I realized they weren’t all just for hiking. I didn’t really have a need for a back pack, so it ended up being my gym bag. But eventually the zipper stopped functioning and to the back of the closet it went. So now finally 20 years later, I am going to get the zipper fixed and use it for something. Following the trend, I turned to Ecclesiastes 2 and found this: but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(26b) In the context of the chapter, the obvious lesson is that there is negative connotation to gathering and storing up wealth. The notion of doing anything and everything to get more is ripe with sin and is not recommended. However, there are two more concepts potentially buried in here for us to learn from. The first is that we are all sinners. The second is that all this gathering and storing up wealth has a purpose of handing it over to the one who pleases God. As we are all sinners, the only one left who could please God is Christ. So in effect, we have a duty to gather and store up wealth, not for ourselves, but to hand over to Christ. I’m not saying that is the major intent of these verses, but it does have an internal consistency that is typical of the Word of God. One of the big political issues in our country is around possession and misuse of guns. We continually experience horror at how what I would say are mentally unstable individuals using guns to inflict harm on large people groups. Having been to multiple foreign countries and seeing government employees carrying around assault weapons in many public places, I prefer home where I only see officers with hand guns protecting us. My point is that guns are tools that in the wrong hands leave horror and devastation and in the right hand provide protection. The same is true with money. Money is only a tool. It converts my work as an engineer into food, clothing, and shelter. It can be amassed by criminals peddling drugs, sex, or violence. Money itself is not evil, but the actions of those seeking it or using it may be. On the more personal note comes the question. Do we sin in our pursuit of what money can provide? Gathering and storing up wealth have a place in God’s plan. It actually has a place in most of our lives as we take personal responsibility for our own future and survival. But do we gather up more and more for ourselves in a selfish manner or are we stewarding the gifts of God to use when He calls upon us? None of us really know what the future holds, but God does. He does not call all of us to be poor and give everything to the church as soon as it hits our hands. But we are called to work, to save, and to give. We do this with faith that when we have need God will provide and that when we have extra God will lead us to fill the need for His work. So sell your houses to be debt free, save your old pack backs to use in the future, and gather and store up, but do so walking with God and listening for His direction.  

Girls: The responsibility with a new driver

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 17:36:28 +0000

No, this isn’t about new new golf club. It’s not new and I haven’t used it yet. It is about how life has changed now that Big D can drive solo. The other day I mentioned that we went to get her driver’s license and learned that was not what we were doing. In everything I understood, you got a learner’s permit when you turned fifteen (and submitted all the right stuff to get it). Turns out I was wrong. When I was about fifteen, a friend of mine and I had a discussion about how he was never wrong. It was an entertaining discussion as we both knew he had been wrong on many occasions, but none of the rest of us could remember anything specific. It wasn’t until we pulled out a 1983 Tim Wallach card that we final proved he had made an error. So I know I make mistakes, but every so often I find one I was sure I was right about. This one all started with me filling out the paper work for Delaney to get a new driver’s license. She probably should have been doing that, but she was off getting in extra driver training as my instruction was not quite as all encompassing as I imagined. I was sure she had a permit, so I filled out the form for a new license. Then when we sat down to get her new license, the experienced man behind the desk asked a simple question of Big D: “Didn’t you get your driver’s license last year?” We looked at each other and responded withe wave to the permit and some weird sound that may have been permit, but came out kinda weak. We were informed that we had filled out the wrong form and we were simply getting a new card for the same license with different restrictions. He then quizzed her about her new restrictions that she was supposed o know having passed all the training. We were both dumbfounded to learn the terminology we knew was actually wrong. In the end, we filled out the new form in 60 seconds and left with a new “driver” and started down a new path of responsibility and freedom. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says: And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. So our family is now a cord of three drivers and we should be able to do a better job of getting ourselves where we need to be when and still maintain time to exercise and prepare good dinners. In the midst of all this, I once again found myself humbled and found applicable wisdom in reading God’s Word. So be safe out there and watch out for slow moving maroon SUV’s actually following the speed limit. She wants to keep her privileges and I want her to be able to drive her and her sister around.

Fast Cars: Performance vs. Perception

Thu, 22 Aug 2019 16:00:21 +0000

When I was a young boy, the world taught me to like fast cars. My first memory is of a poster my dad got me from a race in Europe. I don’t remember if it was Indy cars or Formula 1 or what, but I remember having it when we lived in England. My dad had a little convertible MG that I remember riding around in with the top down. I still have matchbox cars and hot wheels from when I lived over there. And I heard ad nauseam from my mom about how my dad would not get her a Jaguar XKE and how she always wanted a T-Bird. I read Ecclesiastes 5 today. I liked these last two verses. 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions,and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart. I have two fast cars and I enjoy them. I bought them both used and feel like I got really good deals on both of them. After all, I am trying to be a good steward of the gifts God gives me. I’ve known other people with fast cars and many times their focus is on the flashiest, or fastest, or most expensive or most whatever car they can get. One bought a Lamborghini and I laugh because its flashy and expensive and he has all those worries that he deals with: where to park, expensive repairs, etc. Both of my cars had scratches and issues when I got them and while I try to take care of them; I park where ever and keeping them up doesn’t seem any more expensive than the wife’s SUV. My older car is 23 this year and I bought it with features that made it safe for me to drive and knowing I would always be able to get parts and service. The other is 6 this year, still under warranty, and I bought it with all the best features that makes it safe for me to drive. My wife feels safe in her SUV due to its size, but I feel safe in my cars due to their ability to avoid issues. My six year old car is a big four door sedan with styling I like, but it doesn’t have the perception of a BMW, a Mercedes, or a Lexus, but it does perform with the best of those. My twenty-three year old car is a four seat coupe with styling I really like, but it doesn’t have the perception of a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, or an Aston Martin, but it does perform well for its age. My mom eventually got a T-Bird and it had a V8 engine, but she drove it like it was a Pinto and by the time I got to drive it, it leaked all kinds of fluids, and had a speedometer that only went to 85. It was dangerous compared to what I have now. So my thought for the day, if God blesses you with wealth, enjoy it, just as Solomon says, but enjoy it in a way that works for you and reflects favorably on God. Buying something fancy to impress your neighbors does neither. Be occupied with gladness of heart and enjoy the labors and gifts God has for you.

Oh and the: Treating Others Right

Fri, 23 Aug 2019 18:20:31 +0000

The Astros made a huge blunder on Wednesday and now it has become a thing. This isn’t about baseball, its about how you treat someone. One of the Astros players got crosswise with a specific reporter and proclaimed he would speak with no media, if that person was present. I’m not sure of the players contracts with the league and the leagues contracts with the newspapers, but seems like he was exercising free speech from the outside. No big deal. However, the Astros chose to bar this one reporter from the clubhouse while Verlander spoke to everyone else. When Verlander was done, they let the reporter in. Everyone except the one person was happy momentarily. What we do know is the contract the league signed with the reporters does not let a club exclude a single reporter, especially not in the way it was handled. Was the reporter acting unethically in the past? I don’t know and it doesn’t matter. Was the player crossing the lines? Probably not, but it doesn’t matter. Did the club commit an error? Big time. The question is what happens now. When I was younger, they first started letting women reporters into all male locker rooms after games. After years of being on teams and in locker rooms, I didn’t like this rule. I thought then and I think now, the locker room should be sacred for the team and the reporters should only have access in a specific place not in the locker room. Then male and female wouldn’t matter as all would be treated the same. I understand the desire for reporters to hound guys for quotes while they are getting dressed and I still think it is wrong. I understand the desire by the teams to keep the reporters happy and writing nice stories to help fill the seats, make stars, etc; yet I still think it is wrong. In my mind, for a player to make his salary they should all have to make time for reporters before and after games and make time for fans before and after games. It is the fans who spend the money and the reporters who write the free publicity. Doing it in the locker room is still wrong. Ecclesiastes 6 has the following: 8 What advantage have the wise over fools? What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others? 12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone? The key phrase for today is “knowing how to conduct themselves before others.” The people involved are not poor and do not have that advantage in deciding on behavior. The player in question makes more than almost anyone. The reporter in question has a platform to twist events and words to suit his needs. The club has great authority over the players and facilities. The league has power and influence the world over. None of them have set the bar high for conducting themselves before others. The first verse asks why it is better to be wise than to be a fool? It’s such a simple concept that any one but a fool can understand it, but no amount of learning can convince a fool. The concept here is that the wise choose to act after thinking and not without it. The poor know how to act not by necessarily understanding humility, but by being humbled by their pasts. The final verse wraps up the chapter by focusing on the futility of thinking you know what will happen in this world. Will this player be impacted by his actions by not winning post season awards the reporters vote on or by not getting hall of fame votes at some point in the future? No one knows. Will the reporter lose his job for his alleged behavior? No one knows. Will the club be fined and verbally reprimanded? Almost certainly, but it will be meaningless. Will the reporters be barred from the locker room in the next round of contract negotiations? Possibly. Will the players get a bigger piece of the pie by continuing to let the reporters in? Possibly. Remember that I said the player involved gets paid a lot? He may be taking one for the union. The players and league are beginning to negotiate the next contract and they are playing hard ball with a ton of money at stake. This is not the first issue this player has brought up in a glaring fashion and I expect it will not be the last. We have two years before the current agreement ends, and if the league expects to play a 2021 World Series, the league better be prepared to give the players enough to sign the next agreement well before the 2021 regular season ends. Who can tell what will happen? Trump may still be President and still be pushing China to conduct themselves well before others. Maybe someone else will be President and China will simply purchase the USA and behave the way world conquerors do: however they want. Know that people will still work, and still eat, and still enjoy the work and rewards if it is done in the will of God. He tells us this in Ecclesiastes and He keeps His promises.

Peter Part 7 – Guidance

Mon, 26 Aug 2019 22:32:41 +0000

Peter 7 Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-42, John 20:1-9 Question 1- does inclusion of 9-20, not in the “earliest” manuscripts bother you? One of the many interesting things about Bible study is that there are so many different “Bibles”. Most of the time when someone thinks Bible, they think of the version they grew up with, were first introduced to, or first read when they were mature and seeking to understand, or something personal along those lines. I grew up in the Methodist Church and we used the Revised Standard version. The first two differences I remembered were the King James version which had a lot of uncommon words in it for 1970’s West Texas. and a version of a Catholic Bible that had more books. I quickly understood the difference between the King James version and the ” I can read” this Revised standard version, but it was many years before I had any handle on the difference between a Catholic Bible and a Protestant Bible. The main thing I took in about the Bible and all its different version was that if you believed in God, trusted the Bible as His Word for you, then the particulars of the versions didn’t really matter for reading it to seek Him. God created the heavens and the earth, He sent His son to die for our sins, and surely He could get a group of Biblical scholars to put together the Bible He wanted us to read to know about Him. In the end, people have a hard time reading the world over, so a few minor differences was not a huge deal. As it is, I use at least four different versions whenever I am “studying” the Bible to give myself the best opportunity to understand what a chapter, verse, phrase, or word means to me now with the help of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, either in you or leading you to know Him, the Bible is just words. Also, all of the parts in verses 9-20 are found elsewhere in the Gospels, so even if it was added, the stories added are purely Biblical. Question 2 – Does this help or hurt your response to question 1? It was helpful for me, but mainly as confirmation. Question 3:the main point on Peter here is that the women are told specifically to tell Peter among the eleven. Even on Easter Sunday, he is given prominence. How important was it to the eleven to have a leader? In Sunday School yesterday, we were studying Timothy and Paul was adamant that Timothy stick to the truth about Christ and walk the line between standing up for what was true and damaging your witness while doing so. The interesting thing is that the New Testament as we know it was still being written. The truth about Christ was mainly in the stories from the Apostles and their missions. If someone never met Peter or Paul or the others, then everything they heard was second hand and ripe for injection of something off. Christ knew that without His presence, the Apostles would need a leader to preserve the truth of His life and death and resurrection. John 21:1-14 Another fishing miracle. Peter jumped in and then jumped to obey. How could we use Peter’s example from this occasion? Peter never took time to think about what His Lord had told him, but he obeyed with no thought. When you have trusted your life to a master, this is to be your reaction: Obey. Christ tells us many things to do. If we trust Him, we will do so without thinking. The actions that flow from Loving God and Loving Others are unending and are obedience. John 21:15-25 We see deeply into the relationship of Peter and Christ through the eyes of the disciple that the Messiah loves. What can we learn about Peter and his motivations and what can we learn about our attitude towards other Christians? Peter says, ” You know that I love you.” Three times no less. Peter turns to obey and follow Christ. Peter also asked about John. John had a close relationship to Jesus, but Jesus was calling Peter to lead and not John. Peter was curious, asked, and received the answer “Follow me.” The point is that our relationship with Christ is not a team sport where everyone has a known position, does the things they are good at, and does so with people they know well. We are called to do what Christ wants us to do regardless of what our friends are called to do, regardless whether we are the most capable., and regardless to who we will be working with or helping. The supernatural nature of God means He can plan individual moments in our lives integrated with those of everyone else in order to show how great He is and to glorify Himself. Peter, John, Paul and the other apostles all had a role to play and while they overlapped at times, they were splintered as groups in order to rely on Christ and know that He was working out their lives beyond what they could imagine. We have the bible to study, we have leaders to help give us guidance, but we rely on Christ to direct our lives. Peter filled his role, by doing the same we strive to: obey.

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