As a guy, there’s a certain expectations that loom over me. I pee on the toilet (and blame it on the kids), leave general crap around and forget about it, and I like sports. As a geek, that last one has a geek flare to it – I like curling, but not equestrian; baseball, but no cricket; football, but not soccer (per se, even though they are the same thing in non-English speaking countries and Kingdoms).
So, I thought I share some views on my hometown team, the ‘Stros. You see, Houston has this sort of reputation for being a fair-weathered city (I dare you to visit in August – really). It’s amazing to me the tirades of the armchair quarterbacks/pitching coaches/boozed-up-wife-beaters that seem to think because a player makes a huge error in judgement (like let loose a 95mph fast ball over the plate for Pujols) that the player and team, as a whole, is any less worthy of our fandom. Indeed, the true definition of fan, while accounting for the spinning, bladed motor attached to many a ceiling on the Gulf Cost, should be “unless they sell the team or move to Memphis, you are to support them 100%.”
(And the team that moved to Memphis was well worth it – the owner had long since lost any credibility with the city, kinda like the mayor… Red light cameras anyone?)
So, here we are, near the start of baseball season, and Grapefruit games are upon us. Which, for you not in the know, are where professional baseball players use grapefruits as balls in mock games – it treats the bats and gloves with the fat-burning acid that breaks them in faster and makes for a nice drink for the catcher if he hold his mouth just right… (which, is a move I’m sure many a catcher “coaches” their date of the night…)
Radio news today has a nice little snippet from now employee Jeff Bagwell about how it’s good being a hitting instructor; his life’s in Houston, the team’s a family. Really good stuff. It’s what’s lacking in today’s baseball mentality – loyalty to a team. Just ask Mr. Pettitte.
Just for FYI, the needs-no-introduction Mr. Nolan Ryan was the pitching coach for Spring Training in Kiss-me-now. This was a huge relief (pun intended) for me – you see my favorite “I’m there for ya bud, even when you throw Pujols a fast ball over the plate” player is Brad Lidge. I don’t know that it is about Lidge compared to the hitters or even the hugely talented co-pitcher Roy Oswalt, who is in completely uncertain terms, the BOMB. I’m sure it’s the fact that over the past two seasons, I’ve seen the potential that Lidge has to be a great closer. While slammed for his two-pitch arsenal — the really fast fast ball and a really fast (read: mean, wicked and it’ll-really-frak-you-up) slider — you don’t need a lot of tricks when you can keep the hitters guessing (or missing a 98mph heater). The mind game is Lidge’s weak point. Enter the solution: a legend. It a perfect idea – like mac and cheese, white and rice, even Saddam and UMDs (even though the latter was a smoke screen used by Saddam to gain the support of the liberals).
Looking forward to our team in ’07 – and it will be good to see Bags in the dugout still.