This whole hacking business is...
*removes sunglasses*
...Busch League
— Thickie Don (@AstrosCounty) June 16, 2015
A LOOK AT THE ASTROS MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM
Showing posts with label Astros County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Astros County. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Tweet of the Day
Monday, February 2, 2015
Happy Birthday - 2/2
Happy Birthday to ~
RHP Adrian Houser (22)
Houser was the Astros second round draft pick in 2011. He pitched for the Quad Cities team in 2014, putting up a 5-6 record, a 4.14 ERA and a 1.252 WHIP in 25 games (17 starts). In his final six appearances (three starts) in August, he had a 3.00 ERA and a 1.074 WHIP, striking out 26 while walking only four batters in 27 innings of work.
Brad Peacock (27)
Obtained by Houston in a February 2013 trade with Oakland, the former 41st round draft pick appeared in 28 games (24 starts) for Houston in 2014 with a 4.72 ERA and a 1.565 WHIP.
SS Adam Everett (38)
Adam Everett was a joy to watch at short during his time here in Houston. From 2001 to 2007, Everett played in 649 games for the Astros, hitting .248/.299/.357/.656. He won Summer Olympics gold, along with Roy Oswalt, in Sydney in 2000 and was named best shortstop by the Fielding Bible in 2006. In addition to serving as a roving infield specialist for the Astros in 2014, he also filled in as the interim bench coach for the big league club in September.
These former Astros celebrate the day as well ~
SS Buddy Biancalana (55)
A first round pick by the Royals in 1978, Biancalana came to Houston in a July 1987 trade with Kansas City. In 18 games played for the Astros that season, he had one hit in 24 at-bats.
RHP Jared Fernandez (43)
Fernandez came to Houston as a free agent in December 2002 and pitched in 14 games (seven starts) for the Astros in 2003 and 2004 with a 3-3 record, 5.26 ERA and a 1.525 WHIP.
SS Ronny Cedeno (32)
RHP Adrian Houser (22)
Houser was the Astros second round draft pick in 2011. He pitched for the Quad Cities team in 2014, putting up a 5-6 record, a 4.14 ERA and a 1.252 WHIP in 25 games (17 starts). In his final six appearances (three starts) in August, he had a 3.00 ERA and a 1.074 WHIP, striking out 26 while walking only four batters in 27 innings of work.
Brad Peacock (27)
Obtained by Houston in a February 2013 trade with Oakland, the former 41st round draft pick appeared in 28 games (24 starts) for Houston in 2014 with a 4.72 ERA and a 1.565 WHIP.
SS Adam Everett (38)
Adam Everett was a joy to watch at short during his time here in Houston. From 2001 to 2007, Everett played in 649 games for the Astros, hitting .248/.299/.357/.656. He won Summer Olympics gold, along with Roy Oswalt, in Sydney in 2000 and was named best shortstop by the Fielding Bible in 2006. In addition to serving as a roving infield specialist for the Astros in 2014, he also filled in as the interim bench coach for the big league club in September.
These former Astros celebrate the day as well ~
SS Buddy Biancalana (55)
A first round pick by the Royals in 1978, Biancalana came to Houston in a July 1987 trade with Kansas City. In 18 games played for the Astros that season, he had one hit in 24 at-bats.
RHP Jared Fernandez (43)
Fernandez came to Houston as a free agent in December 2002 and pitched in 14 games (seven starts) for the Astros in 2003 and 2004 with a 3-3 record, 5.26 ERA and a 1.525 WHIP.
SS Ronny Cedeno (32)
Cedeno signed with Houston as a free agent in March 2013 and played in 51 games for the Astros, hitting .200/.260/.298 before being released by Houston in July 2013. He most recently played for the AAA Diamondbacks affiliate.
And a Very Happy Birthday to the inimitable @AstrosCounty whose fierce passion, incredible intellect, flawless sense of irony and fantastic humor make Astros County an everyday must for the true Astros fan. Have a great one, James!
And a Very Happy Birthday to the inimitable @AstrosCounty whose fierce passion, incredible intellect, flawless sense of irony and fantastic humor make Astros County an everyday must for the true Astros fan. Have a great one, James!
Monday, July 28, 2014
My Two Cents' Worth on Astros County Two Cents' Worth
I was gathering my thoughts on the ridiculousness which happened yesterday and I was going to write something about it, but thanks to Astros County's excellent take on the latest manufactured Astros crisis, I do not have to do that. (Thank you, James, since I'm trying to enjoy my vacation.)
I will, however, add two thoughts. These are REAL unwritten baseball rules.
And I will offer some unsolicited advice to players as well. Reporters are not your friends, particularly the ones whose sole purpose in life appears to be to stir up trouble.
I will, however, add two thoughts. These are REAL unwritten baseball rules.
- As a player, don't worry about the things you can't control. Just take care of the things that you can control.
- If you have a problem with a fellow player, coach, manager or GM, keep it in the clubhouse.
And I will offer some unsolicited advice to players as well. Reporters are not your friends, particularly the ones whose sole purpose in life appears to be to stir up trouble.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Tweet of the Day
George Springer RT @cnnbrk Who will be the next CNN Hero? @AndersonCooper hosts 7th #CNNHeroes at 8pm http://t.co/QjZioXPnAq
— Astros County (@AstrosCounty) December 2, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Tweets of the Day
I have kept a possum in the garage. He is starving, yet I waft the smell of peanut butter into his cage.
— Astros County (@AstrosCounty) November 26, 2013
If Bagwell and Biggio don't get in, I'm finding who didn't vote for them, slathering PB on their crotch and letting the possum loose
— Astros County (@AstrosCounty) November 26, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
A Review of Ed Wade's Delayed Honor
Thanks to this post from Astros County, I first became aware that Ed Wade, former GM of the Astros, wrote and self-published a novel via Amazon that is available for Kindle. It is entitled Delayed Honor
. I had no intention of paying the $9.99 purchase price for Wade's first effort, a work of fiction pitting a former Navy Seal against local baddies as he returns home to bury his father. But when I found out it was available on the Kindle lending library at no cost, I thought, "why not?"
Why not indeed. Where do I even start? The characters are caricatures for the most part, but that's not unusual for this type of thriller. But even when Wade tried to interject a little back story on the main character, former Navy Seal Steve Laun, and his father through a flashback sequence, it had unintended consequences for me. As an argument between them degenerates into a physical altercation, Steve's father yells, "Get off me, you little bastard! I'll kick your ass up the block, you inconsiderate little jerk." And later, "Get out. Pack your stuff and get out. Get off me and start packing. I never want to see you again." Unfortunately, all I could think of was whether or not those were the same words Wade used when he was thrown to the ground and attacked by Shawn Chacon. I'm not proud of myself but I did giggle a little at the thought.
I didn't actually laugh out loud, though, until the moment in which Laun describes Valerie, the lovely neighbor of his late father, as being attired in "fashionable surgical scrubs." Mmmm ... Okay.
Most of the dialogue sounded as though it came from a bad 1970's cop or detective show ala Mannix or the like. Valerie's brother Chris, who was also former military, at one point declares, "I hear what you're saying Sis. But my whole life has been driven by a sense of duty. And the man in that house next door is a brother-in-arms. I need to help him for a lot of reasons, some of which have nothing to do with him, and some of which have a lot to do with us." And later on, as Laun interrogates one of the bad guys, "Let's try this again, Rusty. Easy or hard. I don't mind hard because I really do want to hurt someone, but I also have things to do and it's getting late, so let's try easy one more time."
The plot is a bit of a mess as well. Laun comes to find that Victor Haaf, the local bad guy, was responsible for his father's death, making it look like an accident because the father knew too much about Haaf's misdeeds. Haaf turns out to be a big-time arms dealer with a huge cache of weapons living in rural Pennsylvania (because presumably it's so easy to deal arms to the Middle East from rural Pennsylvania). When it becomes apparent that the local authorities are in cahoots with Haaf, Laun decides that he can't trust anyone, anywhere, supposedly in the entire world, including his former military contacts with the situation and decides he must exact revenge/justice all by himself. Yet for some reason he implicitly trusts the neighbors that he met about 10 nanoseconds earlier.
I was hanging in there until this point, but as Laun puts his plan in motion, the dialogue, descriptive sequences and the plot became more and more ridiculous. After interrogating/terrorizing City Manager Russell Jerud regarding Haaf's plans, Laun finally gets what he needs. "Jerud again nodded rapidly and as Laun left the room, he thought he smelled urine." Upon invading Haaf's well protected home, "[Laun] softly padded up the steps, not bothering to check for vital signs on the two guards. He knew that all six shots that he fired were lethal. Those guys were triple dead."
And in the climatic scene, Haaf (who was actually trussed like a Christmas turkey at the time and didn't constitute much of a threat) says, "And now you'll pay because if anyone gets in the way of me getting mine, they get theirs. That's the way life works. I paid my dues and I'm not about to let a bunch of small town coal crackers get in the way."
I won't divulge how the climactic scene evolves just in case someone actually wants to read the book, but suffice it to say that the over-the-top violence was evocative of Quentin Tarantino, but without the irony. It made me wonder if Ed Wade doesn't have a few unresolved issues and was maybe imagining Jim Crane in the role of Victor Haaf.
There you have it. Three hours of my life that I'll never get back, thanks to Astros County. I'll give Ed Wade his due, though. I don't think I would have the nerve to put myself out there that way to be mocked by people like me, at least not in novel form. But, all in all, I think it's safe to say that Wade is far better at waiver claims than fiction.
Delayed Honor - Currently 619,673rd place on the Kindle Best Seller's list
. I had no intention of paying the $9.99 purchase price for Wade's first effort, a work of fiction pitting a former Navy Seal against local baddies as he returns home to bury his father. But when I found out it was available on the Kindle lending library at no cost, I thought, "why not?"Why not indeed. Where do I even start? The characters are caricatures for the most part, but that's not unusual for this type of thriller. But even when Wade tried to interject a little back story on the main character, former Navy Seal Steve Laun, and his father through a flashback sequence, it had unintended consequences for me. As an argument between them degenerates into a physical altercation, Steve's father yells, "Get off me, you little bastard! I'll kick your ass up the block, you inconsiderate little jerk." And later, "Get out. Pack your stuff and get out. Get off me and start packing. I never want to see you again." Unfortunately, all I could think of was whether or not those were the same words Wade used when he was thrown to the ground and attacked by Shawn Chacon. I'm not proud of myself but I did giggle a little at the thought.
I didn't actually laugh out loud, though, until the moment in which Laun describes Valerie, the lovely neighbor of his late father, as being attired in "fashionable surgical scrubs." Mmmm ... Okay.
Most of the dialogue sounded as though it came from a bad 1970's cop or detective show ala Mannix or the like. Valerie's brother Chris, who was also former military, at one point declares, "I hear what you're saying Sis. But my whole life has been driven by a sense of duty. And the man in that house next door is a brother-in-arms. I need to help him for a lot of reasons, some of which have nothing to do with him, and some of which have a lot to do with us." And later on, as Laun interrogates one of the bad guys, "Let's try this again, Rusty. Easy or hard. I don't mind hard because I really do want to hurt someone, but I also have things to do and it's getting late, so let's try easy one more time."
The plot is a bit of a mess as well. Laun comes to find that Victor Haaf, the local bad guy, was responsible for his father's death, making it look like an accident because the father knew too much about Haaf's misdeeds. Haaf turns out to be a big-time arms dealer with a huge cache of weapons living in rural Pennsylvania (because presumably it's so easy to deal arms to the Middle East from rural Pennsylvania). When it becomes apparent that the local authorities are in cahoots with Haaf, Laun decides that he can't trust anyone, anywhere, supposedly in the entire world, including his former military contacts with the situation and decides he must exact revenge/justice all by himself. Yet for some reason he implicitly trusts the neighbors that he met about 10 nanoseconds earlier.
I was hanging in there until this point, but as Laun puts his plan in motion, the dialogue, descriptive sequences and the plot became more and more ridiculous. After interrogating/terrorizing City Manager Russell Jerud regarding Haaf's plans, Laun finally gets what he needs. "Jerud again nodded rapidly and as Laun left the room, he thought he smelled urine." Upon invading Haaf's well protected home, "[Laun] softly padded up the steps, not bothering to check for vital signs on the two guards. He knew that all six shots that he fired were lethal. Those guys were triple dead."
And in the climatic scene, Haaf (who was actually trussed like a Christmas turkey at the time and didn't constitute much of a threat) says, "And now you'll pay because if anyone gets in the way of me getting mine, they get theirs. That's the way life works. I paid my dues and I'm not about to let a bunch of small town coal crackers get in the way."
I won't divulge how the climactic scene evolves just in case someone actually wants to read the book, but suffice it to say that the over-the-top violence was evocative of Quentin Tarantino, but without the irony. It made me wonder if Ed Wade doesn't have a few unresolved issues and was maybe imagining Jim Crane in the role of Victor Haaf.
There you have it. Three hours of my life that I'll never get back, thanks to Astros County. I'll give Ed Wade his due, though. I don't think I would have the nerve to put myself out there that way to be mocked by people like me, at least not in novel form. But, all in all, I think it's safe to say that Wade is far better at waiver claims than fiction.
Delayed Honor - Currently 619,673rd place on the Kindle Best Seller's list
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Not a Tweet of the Day But ...
... this is twitter related. I laughed so hard when I saw this set of people that one of our minor league players followed on twitter. You remember those test questions ... which of these is not like the others? Well, you tell me if you can spot it.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Rosters Shaping Up
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tweet of the Day
Selig isn't going to like it when the Astros win the World Series in 2012 for the NL, and win it again in 2013 for the AL.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Tweet of the Day
"And hopefully, by 2013, we'll blow it all to hell" RT @SI_JonHeyman: bud selig: "only baseball could have produced a night like that.''
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tweet of the Day
Wearing your shades upside down on the brim of your fitted cap is a #baseballswag on and off the field
Putting on jorts to walk up from the basement to check to see if your Baseball Prospectus came in the mail #bloggerswag
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)