White Sox fan here. Lots of charisma but you get the sense that even the stars on the Astros put team first. They are easy to like (except for Verlander--I won't mind if he's not involved in a game 6 win)
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"For the Astros to bungle this World Series now, they would have to lose four home games in a row, counting Games 1 and 2. They have not had a four-game home losing streak all season, nor has a World Series ever featured zero victories by the home team."
Ah, but there WAS one such World Series----the 1937 JUNIOR World Series, where the AAA Newark Bears of the American Association dropped the first 3 games at home, and then traveled to Columbus and swept the last 4 games there against the International League's Columbus Red Birds, a Cardinals' farm team. Since the Bears were a Yankees farm team and the New York Yankees also won the "real" World Series that year, it was a great moment for baseball history's most successful organization.
Ever since George Springer came on the scene, I’ve wondered who he reminds me of. This afternoon, the movie, A Place in the Sun, was on TV, and I realized who it is: Montgomery Clift.
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@KB
Clift was a sucker for anything low and away.
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I love baseball and the Astros, an amazing team, but also a humble one and thankful one. Their diversity is a symbol of why America is great because of its diversity.
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It is really amazing that a team with the talent,the Nats have,become impotent @ home. Not just slightly impotent but massively.How can a team playing so well,go in the toilet as badly as they have. Seems just a little suspicious that maybe the series was designed to be a 6 or 7 games. .How much TV money is lost if the series is finished in 4?What is the betting line? Why did they let Trump attend?
David, I understand your point about TV money and a 7-game series, but what you’re talking about is collusion, getting the Nats to throw two games. After devoting their lifetimes to getting to the series, I find it hard to believe that the Nats players would agree to lose two games just for the benefit of billionaire team owners.
On the other hand, at least the fans in the stadium were given the opportunity to boo trump, so it wasn’t a total loss. I only wish I had been there.
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And to think, a few days ago, people were posting "Nats in 4", and "Nats in 5."
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Wake me when it's over. The MOST BORING World Series in recent memory.
On a positive note: Kudos to the folks in D.C. for not letting our BFIP (Barely Functional Illiterate President) slide last night.
Guess we all know why he doesn't hold a rally anywhere near an actual city.
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My Chicago White Sox won their season series with the Houston Astros and New York Yankees 4-3. But they were 2-2 with the Washington Nationals due to interleague play
Despite my White Sox being in the midst of their 7th straight losing season they played their best against the best.
Adam Eaton was traded to the Nationals from the White Sox for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez.
I was pulling for a Nats and Rays World Series. So I got half of a wish.
Astros won in 2017. So go Nats!
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All replays should be reviewed in real time, no HD slo-mo. The same way umpires see it. And they’ll have one minute to decide the call. This allows for egregious calls to be corrected, not for cases where the laces of a players glove graze a sliding player. That’s not in the the spirit of the game; that’s another game entirely. If that was their intent, then they would have assigned 5 umpires to each player on the field so they get every instance right. It’s like when that lpga golfer was penalized a few years ago for grazing a granual of sand during her bunker practice swing. If they can see that infraction in real time—fine but not when you need HD slo-mo to make the call. For those that say we’ll don’t you want to get it right? I say the ups only get balls/strikes calls right maybe 90 percent of the time.
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@mark what drives me nuts is when the announcers and every one at home can clearly see what happened in 30 seconds on the replay yet the umpires still take 5 plus minutes and a commercial break to say what everyone else already saw
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@mark - Baseball is not intended to be perfect, it never was. Getting it right 90% of the time is huge. For much of baseball's history and tradition there was no technology in place for HD slo-mo re-plays. It was all umpired in real-time without any technology. Call me a baseball purest perhaps, I'm fine with traditional baseball without all the tech enhancements. ....
Baseball more than any other sport played in America is the heart and soul of America, and in these hard times that divide so many of us across political lines, we desperately need to remember how something still unifies and brings us together as a people and a nation.
Terence Mann: "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game; it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.
Oh…people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."
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@Casey
You said the magic words - "commercial break". Gotta pay those $20 million salaries.
These games are way too long to watch. i will check the scores every once in a while but I'm not handing my life over to the MLB and FOX. 4 hrs every night no thanks. the games havent even been very good. lopsided blow outs in pretty much every game
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@Casey The main reason for this: commercials. By the 4th or 5th inning I am so tired of the incessant commercials I give up. No matter how exciting the game.
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@Casey...the same thing has happened to football, at both pro and college levels. I'm getting very turned off by football these days because the games have slowed down so much with constant penalties, endless time-outs, seemingly every play being reviewed. And then ALWAYS the bloody commercials! The violence is also beginning to bother me, especially in pro ball. Used to be, you could figure on a football game coming in at or under 3 hours. Not anymore. People gripe about baseball's slowness (I actually like some of its slower pace, truth be told), but football is equally guilty, in my opinion.
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A lot of people, including ex-Astro Allstar Lance Berkman, were unhappy about the move to the American League. Because the National League had, on balance, bigger cities, the move to the A.L. was considered a negative by many fans, so much so that the team’s new owners were compensated $70 million to offset possible reduced television money. But its working out pretty well. 50+ years with no World Series win, and now one and hopefully two in 6 years.
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The lack of a quality 3rd starter may be the Nationals undoing.
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Don’t like them, plain and simple. They beat the Yankees. Enough said!
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@Steve Mason Most of America loves them for that same reason.
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@Traymn If they weren't playing the overachieving Nats, I would root for them. And, if they were playing the Dodgers, I would root even louder. But since the Twins are D.C. descendents, I have to root for them to come back.
Wonderful to see the D.C. crowd give the horrendous trump the thumbs-down.
As in NYC, to know him is to loath him.
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Best play of the night...the booing of trump. Well deserved honor. Thanks, MLB, for another great memory.
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Thank you for some positive national press coverage of the 'Stros. I know you all want the Nats to win, but please acknowledge these amazing boys (men) and the heart they put into their playing.
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@Exile In - yes, I'm rooting for the Nats but Altuve is my favorite player. So this year, I can't lose. (As a Phillies fan, that's saying something ; )
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@Bowritely - Right? How can you not love Altuve?! He's adorable. And I'm also a Phillies fan!
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@Exile In - As we Phillies fan have made an unwelcome habit of saying, wait till next year!
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One of the best headlines.
As an Astros fan - I could not be happier and prouder of this team.
My memories go back when they used to play in Astrodome and even with Nolan Ryan - they were still L'ostros.
We would go to Astrodome to go but tickets. And at the window, someone would be standing by to give his tickets away.
Even at Minute Maid - first few years were a disaster too - empty stadiums, fans drifting in 3rd inning, staying for a couple and then that's it.
Astros would hold a fan day on a Saturday - may be a couple of thousands would show up with players waiting around to sign.
One year, they even held an open bar - I was wearing Jason Castro shirt - we were may be a couple of dozen.
Jason was happy to pose for a photo with me.
And now, on the verge of one more - at home.
They indeed are all MVP's for a fan like me.
Now is not the time to talk about that young assistant manager and I wish Mr. Kepner had not mentioned it. I have a different view - but for another day.
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@Neil great memories going to the astrodome as a kid. Later my father in law, who was in the grocery business, got suite tickets from rainbow bread. We drank beers and ate hot dogs with about 15000 fans watching Jose cruuuuuuuuuz. Good times.
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@Neil
I can recall as a senior at Texas A&M in 1974 going to Astro games in the Astrodome. Five bucks for a bleacher seat and free beer if an Astro hit a home run. Good times.
3
One of the best headlines.
As an Astros fan - I could not be happier and prouder of this team.
My memories go back when they used to play in Astrodome and even with Nolan Ryan - they were still L'ostros.
We would go to Astrodome to go but tickets. And at the window, someone would be standing by to give his tickets away.
Even at Minute Maid - first few years were a disaster too - empty stadiums, fans drifting in 3rd inning, staying for a couple and then that's it.
Astros would hold a fan day on a Saturday - may be a couple of thousands would show up with players waiting around to sign.
One year, they even held an open bar - I was wearing Jason Castro shirt - we were may be a couple of dozen.
Jason was happy to pose for a photo with me.
And now, on the verge of one more - at home.
They indeed are all MVP's for a fan like me.
Now is not the time to talk about that young assistant manager and I wish Mr. Kepner had not mentioned it. I have a different view - but for another day.
2
A little too early counting out the Nats. They whipped the Astros in Games 1 & 2 and their vaunted #1 & 2 pitchers! With the day off today and return to Houston tomorrow with Stephen Strasburg on the mound, anything can happen! #StayInTheFight defines the Nats 2019 season! Go Nats!
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@MicheleA You are dreaming. This Astro team now is NOT the same one that lost those first two. They are clicking. Nats could win game 6, but not both. Cute little wildcard team though.
3