I will also be playing catch-up. There is still video from my various minor league travels that I haven't finished going through; photos that need to be labeled and posted; and interview material to sort through as well. I have post-season awards to hand out and season recaps for all the teams (which I've been working on all weekend long). And after the players decompress for a week or two, I'll start bringing you player interviews throughout the winter. And there's the Rule 5 draft, and off-season signings and releases to follow as well. And there should be at least a couple more Funky Foto Fridays in the future.
Actually, for me, now is when the fun starts as I really take an in-depth look at the Astros minor league players and the seasons that they had. I will look at the depth in the organization, position-by-position, and I will try to identify some below the radar prospects that you should be watching. I love looking for the next wave of talent.
But I also plan to sleep and read and catch up on Seasons 3 and 4 of "Justified." I will go from spending an average of 25 hours a week on the blog to around 10-12. I'll admit that I got a little burned out at the end with the schedule I was maintaining, and I ended up making far too many mistakes. I'm going to spend the off-season thinking about maybe making some changes at WTHB next year. I need to find a little more balance. I need to make sure that WTHB doesn't become too much like work. But I promise the focus will still be on the players themselves and getting to know them a little bit better.
I would like to thank Buca Morris for helping me maintain my sanity by taking on the weekend recaps and always doing a fantastic job. And I enjoyed having Steve at Appy Astros participate as well. We will all miss his voice as he has discontinued his blog. I would also like to sincerely thank all of the players and coaches who took the time to talk with me and the local media directors who helped me out throughout the season as I traveled to the various ballparks. And I would like to thank Astros Daily and Crawfishboxes for linking to my site and helping it grow.
When I look back on the 2013 season, few things stand out as vividly as the Mother's Day no-hitter in Lancaster. But there are tiny little moments that I will carry with me: Rio Ruiz' excitement over his mostly invisible mustache, George Springer's unbridled joy at being on the field with his teammates, watching Vince Coleman drilling outfielders in Tri-City, the wonderful breeze coming off the bay in Corpus Christi, a gorgeous sunset in Greeneville ... there are far too many to mention. I had wonderful conversations with Catfish Elkins, Joe Sclafani, Jonas Dufek, Nick Tropeano, Delino DeShields, Andrew Aplin, Brett Phillips, Tanner Mathis and many others about everything under the sun. And I got to meet so many people from crazy fans to photographers to ushers to front office personnel to player's family members, girlfriends and wives. There is nothing quite like being at a minor league ballpark to remind us all that baseball is more than just a business. Much, much more.
Photo by Jayne Hansen
Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for reading my rambles. Thank you for indulging me in my blatant love affair with catchers and lefty pitchers. Thank you for continuing to support the Astros through some tough times. Thank you for becoming a second family to me.
Happy Off-Season!!! Spring Training will be here before you know it, and the Astros will be winning a whole lot of games before you know it too!
Jayne..I have said it once and I'll say it again...The Astros are darn LUCKY to have someone like you giving their minor league teams FREE publicity and most of all giving the big league fans some hope!
ReplyDeleteI love being able to say, "Who's this guy?!?" and you popping up with, "Oh, I did an interview with him." Best way to get connected and get to know the faces a little better. I would also like to say thank you to the players for allowing interviews and being willing to open up and share!
I am looking forward to reading about off season happenings and successes! We think of these guys so much as a group...Hooks, Jethawks...etc. and now it is a little weird to know that they have each gone their individual ways...Can't wait for spring training to see how the cards will be reshuffled!
HooksFanSarah
Jayne, With minor league teams silent at our home fields, I look forward to your reports of our guys' activities on their new road trips. Can't wait to see what 2014 holds for them. They have all worked so hard in 2013. See you in Lancaster again next year, I hope.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jayne. Love the blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the work and a great blog. I read it every morning. By the way, we had 8 of the top 100 last month, before he took Cosart off of the prospects list. By comparison, the entire AL West has 15 including our 7. And names like Tucker, Santana, Stassi, and many others are not on that list. Should make for a very interesting year next season, as top position players begin to have to compete for playing time.
ReplyDeleteI will say, I look forward, every morning, to what What The Heck, Bobby has to offer as soon as I wake up! I read the tweet of the day, check the recaps, hope to see an interview (which are far and away my favorite thing involving any Astros related sites...including Astros.com, The Crawfish Boxes, Astros County, Appy Astros (BTW how do you quit a blog after your team has its best season!?), among others). I hope you take a step back and rejuvenate the minor league blood that you've begun pumping through all of our veins, because without your spark I don't know how much we would have left to root for. GET IT GIRL!!!
ReplyDeleteI understand you're the glass half full type, but saying the Astros will win a "whole lot of games soon" is, well, frankly absurd.
ReplyDeleteBest case scenario is the Astros winning 70 next year and having another top 8 pick.
Ah, but at least I'm willing to put my name on my prediction. :) In any event, soon is a relative term. When I say "soon," I'm projecting about 2-3 years out. I wouldn't be surprised with 70 wins in 2014 and, frankly, I'm fine with that. The main thing is to get the young guys more experience so they can get to .500 in 2015 and then start really competing year in and year out in 2016.
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