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May 25, 2012
THT Essentials: Now AvailableThe Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2012, an annual "must buy" for all baseball fans, is now shipping. Read this article to learn more about it.
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Astros Articles
Following are the one hundred most recent articles for the category
Astros
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05/25/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/25/2012: NL Waiver Wire: Week 7by Nick Fleder05/25/2012: AL Waiver Wire: Week 7by Josh Shepardson05/25/2012: Roger and the Babeby Frank Jackson05/25/2012: 75th anniversary: Mickey Cochrane gets beanedby Chris Jaffe05/25/2012: Card Corner: 1972 Topps: Duke Simsby Bruce Markusen05/24/2012: Visualization: Vertical spray chartby Dan Lependorf05/24/2012: Trader’s corner: reader’s choice editionby Mark Himmelstein05/24/2012: Which starters have lost the most velocity since 2011?by Jason Dunbar05/24/2012: Don Drysdale’s two-for-one specialby Shane Tourtellotte05/23/2012: The daily grind 5-23by Brad Johnson05/23/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/23/2012: The tragedy of expectations in baseballby Chris Lund05/23/2012: BOB: Athletics stadium limboby Brian Borawski05/23/2012: 10th anniversary: Shawn Green’s big dayby Chris Jaffe05/23/2012: The real replacement level of starting pitchingby Derek Ambrosino05/22/2012: The daily grind 5-21by Brad Johnson05/22/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/22/2012: Which lineups should be feared?by Paul Singman05/22/2012: 10th anniversary: Giambi-Mabry tradeby Chris Jaffe05/22/2012: THT Awardsby John Barten05/22/2012: The virtual 1969-76 Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians (Part 3: 1970-71)by Steve Treder05/22/2012: The Verdict: Collusion - if it quacks like a duck…by Michael Stein05/22/2012: Has Daniel Bard been squeezed?by Troy Patterson05/21/2012: The daily grind 5-21by Brad Johnson05/21/2012: AL West: Oh, the storylinesby David Wade05/21/2012: The fall of Mickey Hatcherby Steven Booth05/21/2012: Default heroby Chris Jaffe05/21/2012: This week in (fantasy) baseball 5/14-5/20by Karl de Vries05/21/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/21/2012: 20th anniversary: Angels bus crashby Chris Jaffe05/21/2012: Closer watchby Paul Singman05/20/2012: The daily grind 5-20by Brad Johnson05/18/2012: Kerry Wood career highlightsby Chris Jaffe05/18/2012: The daily grind 5-18by Brad Johnson05/18/2012: NL Waiver Wire: Week 6by Nick Fleder05/18/2012: AL Waiver Wire: Week 6by Josh Shepardson05/18/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/18/2012: Lopsided batter/pitcher match-ups of the 1990s and 2000sby Chad Evely05/18/2012: Cooperstown Confidential: The tale of Charley Lauby Bruce Markusen05/17/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/17/2012: The daily grind 5-17by Brad Johnson05/17/2012: The Oklahoma territorial imperativeby Frank Jackson05/17/2012: The (baseball) power of the Oval Officeby Richard Barbieri05/17/2012: 10th anniversary: Giambi’s walk-off slamby Chris Jaffe05/16/2012: The daily grind 5-16by Brad Johnson05/16/2012: Brett Lawrie, the ump and the human elementby Chris Lund05/16/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/16/2012: BOB: Braun arbitrator gets the sackby Brian Borawski05/15/2012: The daily grind 5-15by Brad Johnson05/15/2012: Save tonightby Paul Singman05/15/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/15/2012: The virtual 1969-76 Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians (Part 2: 1969-70)by Steve Treder05/15/2012: Mythbusting - closer editionby Derek Ambrosino05/15/2012: THT Awardsby John Barten05/15/2012: Centennial anniversary: Ty Cobb beats up a crippleby Chris Jaffe05/15/2012: Bryan LaHair is Cubs’ silver lining so farby Troy Patterson05/15/2012: Battling through injuriesby Dave Shovein05/14/2012: Chris Sale and his faulty elbowby Kyle Boddy05/14/2012: The daily grind 5-14by Brad Johnson05/14/2012: This week in (fantasy) baseball 5/7-5/13by Karl de Vries05/14/2012: The state of the NL Centralby Jason Linden05/14/2012: 50 years from the Mets junk drawerby Chris Jaffe05/14/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/14/2012: 90th anniversary: Last time the Phillies franchise at sea levelby Chris Jaffe05/11/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/11/2012: NL Waiver Wire: Week 5by Nick Fleder05/11/2012: AL Waiver Wire: Week 5by Josh Shepardson05/11/2012: What is the best swing-and-miss pitch in baseball right now?by Jason Dunbar05/11/2012: 20,000 days since Dodgers announce their move to LAby Chris Jaffe05/11/2012: Lopsided batter/pitcher match-ups of the 1980sby Chad Evely05/11/2012: Picking up pitchersby Paul Singman05/11/2012: Card Corner: 1972 Topps: Jim “Mudcat” Grantby Bruce Markusen05/10/2012: Mo’s winsby Dave Studeman05/10/2012: No two games alike? Sure, but these are the closest.by Jonathan Falk05/10/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/10/2012: The daily grind 5-10by Brad Johnson05/10/2012: THT review: Great Hitting Pitchersby David Wade05/10/2012: The pre-Angelic Autryby Frank Jackson05/10/2012: Did Matt Kemp just have one of the best Aprils ever?by Dan Lependorf05/10/2012: Ranking the new closersby Mike Silver05/09/2012: A job with your name on itby Dave Studeman05/09/2012: The daily grind 5-9by Brad Johnson05/09/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/09/2012: Trader’s corner: week sixby Mark Himmelstein05/09/2012: Day for nightby Shane Tourtellotte05/09/2012: Last week’s recordby Jonathan Falk05/09/2012: BOB: MLB looks at alliance with NCAAby Brian Borawski05/09/2012: Make them notice: Andy Dirksby Paul Singman05/08/2012: The daily grind 5-8by Brad Johnson05/08/2012: And That Happenedby Craig Calcaterra05/08/2012: Long viewby Derek Ambrosino05/08/2012: THT Awardsby John Barten05/08/2012: The virtual 1969-76 Yankees, Red Sox, and Indians (Part 1: 1968-69)by Steve Treder05/08/2012: 10,000 days ago: Marge Schott becomes Reds ownerby Chris Jaffe05/08/2012: How to be in first in Tout Warsby Paul Singman05/08/2012: The Verdict: the court rejects a disputed fantasy baseball tradeby Michael Stein05/07/2012: Ubaldo Jimenez: A quick mechanics reviewby Kyle Boddy05/07/2012: The daily grind 5-7by Brad Johnson05/07/2012: This week in (fantasy) baseball 4/30-5/6by Karl de Vries<< Click here to return to the category list. |
![]() April 23, 2012Ivan Rodriguez career highlightsIt was recently announced that veteran catcher and current unsigned free agent Ivan Rodriguez intends to officially retire in Texas on Monday.When a great player like Rodriguez retires, it’s nice to look back over his career, what his highs and lows were, his career milestones, and the best (and oddest) games he ever participated in where. That’s what’s listed below, the career highlights of Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. Click for more... Posted by: Chris Jaffe November 04, 2011Bob Forsch career highlightsIt’s been a rough week for former baseball players. First Matty Alou dies and then the next day news that Bob Forsch passes on at the far too young age of 61. When this happens, it’s time to reflect on the man and his career. Others can do a better job than I on the former, but I can provide something for the latter. Below are a list of his career highlights: his most important games, greatest (and worst) moments, and some of the stranger and more memorable events he took part in or for which he was merely an on-hand observer. Here it is for the former Cardinals and Astros pitcher, with the events listed in chronological order: Click for more... Posted by: Chris Jaffe September 29, 2011Oh, my!Was that the most stunning night of baseball ever, or what?A two-hit shutout by Chris Carpenter was the boring part as the Cards won, 8-0, and put the pressure on the Braves. Atlanta was looking good for six innings, building a 3-1 lead. But Philly crept within one in the seventh and plated the tying run in the ninth. After both pitching staffs held serve through the 12th, the Phils eked a run across on a Hunter Pence infield single, and David Herndon slammed the door on the Braves' season, sending St. Louis to the playoffs. Things were even more absurd in the American League. As Boston took a 3-2 lead into a seventh-inning rain delay, Tampa Bay was getting blitzed, 7-0, in their rain delay-proof dome. Then the bottom of the eighth happened. In an inning bookended by Johnny Damon at-bats, the Rays exploded while the Yankees pitchers imploded, and six runs were scored. That still left Tampa Bay a run short, though. No problem, as Dan Johnson came in to pinch-hit in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Down to his last strike, he launched a ball over the fence and knotted things up at seven runs apiece. In the bottom of the twelfth, Evan Longoria—who had a three-run homer in that crucial eighth frame—ended things with a walkoff shot. Meanwhile in Baltimore, Boston's Jonathan Papelbon came on in the ninth to finish off the Orioles. Things looked good as the first two batters went down swinging. But then Chris Davis doubled, and so did Nolan Reimold to tie the score, 3-3. Robert Andino—he of the inside-the-park homer the night before—singled in Reimond to put an end to the Red Sox's season. A shutout, three comebacks, two extra-inning games and two walk-off hits. That last sentence oozes excitement, but it doesn't come close to capturing the sheer magnificent insanity of the evening. If the postseason offers anything close to Wednesday night's action, baseball fans the world over are in for quite a treat. Posted by: Greg Simons September 26, 2011Hitters to watch in the final regular-season seriesThe final regular-season series begin on Monday with both Wild Card spots very much up for grabs. Boston and Atlanta each hold one-game advantages over Tampa Bay and St. Louis, respectively, with three games left to play. For these four clubs, the playoffs started a couple of weeks ago, but this three-game stretch will ultimately decide if the previous 159 games were worth playing in a quest for a championship.Each of the four series is a division battle, and the key players for the Red Sox, Rays, Braves and Cardinals have had a large number of plate appearances to adequately gauge how their teams' offensive stars will fare in the final three days before the postseason. Key Hitters PA Slash Line HR RBI R SB XBH Ellsbury vs BAL 73 .424/.466/.712 4 11 15 1 10 Pedroia vs BAL 72 .338/.403/.600 3 14 18 2 10 Longoria vs NYY 62 .241/.339/.407 2 6 6 0 5 Zobrist vs NYY 51 .293/.412/.512 2 7 6 2 4 McCann vs PHI 58 .196/.293/.294 1 3 3 0 3 Uggla vs PHI 62 .161/.242/.375 3 6 8 0 6 Pujols vs HOU 50 .261/.320/.478 2 7 8 1 6 Berkman vs HOU 31 .429/.484/1.036 5 12 6 0 7As you can see, the two Red Sox MVP candidates have torn up Baltimore pitching, and Boston may survive after all. Even if they falter, Tampa Bay's star players will come into their series against Yankee backups having struggled against New York all season. Philadelphia will try to do its best to hold the pitching-strong Braves out of the postseason, and stars Brian McCann and Dan Uggla have to break out of their respective funks against the NL East champs. The Cardinals and their stars have done extremely well offensively against the feeble Houston pitching staff this season, especially former Astro Lance Berkman. If the performances of these eight hitting stars are any indication of this week's outcomes, the Red Sox and Redbirds could very well be moving on for some October baseball, leaving the Rays out and the Braves crushed by their stretch run downfall. Posted by: Shlomo Sprung August 23, 2011The Rockies claim WandyAfter failing to deal Wandy Rodriguez during the trade deadline, the Astros decided to put their 32-year-old left hander on waivers to see what kind of last-minute deal could be struck. The Rockies pulled his name, and now the two sides have 48 hours to come to an agreement.The Rockies made a big splash by trading Ubaldo Jimenez in the much-discussed deadline deal last month. The team is looking to test its crop of young pitchers in 2012 but is expected to be in the market for an established starter this coming offseason. If they acquire Rodriguez, the 2012 Rockies rotation would include two left handers in him and Jorge de la Rosa along with Jhoulys Chacin and Juan Nicasio. Colorado still has enough talent to be formidable next season, but the pitching staff will have question marks as de la Rosa and Nicasio return from serious injuries. Rodriguez will not add a lot of payroll next season as he is due $10 million in 2012 and $13 million in 2013. His contract was scheduled to have a club option attached for another $13 million, but if he is traded it becomes a player option. Rodriguez doesn’t give up a high frequency of fly balls, with an average around 35 percent, and should be a good fit with the Rockies in that category. This season he has been plagued by a poor defense in Houston that has registered a -5.0 team UZR/150 as well as a DRS of -32. In comparison, the Rockies have performed substantially better, with a team UZR/150 of -0.9 and a DRS of 19. Next season, the Rockies are expected to have new additions at the corners as the team isn’t expected to pick up Todd Helton’s $23 million club option. During this trade season, Astros GM Ed Wade has been busy. Both the Red Sox and Yankees were interested in acquiring Rodriguez, but a price was never close to being reached. The Astros will be looking to add more prospects, and with Rodriguez’s contract still considered “team friendly,” one should expect a few high-profile names to be mentioned. Posted by: Vince Caramela Click here for more THT Notes. | ||||