Did you lose respect for Oswalt on Sunday?

I completely agree with Roy.

Its time someone one the Astros show some stones and get nasty!

 

sadly, I think it's past time for that.

 

In this specific case, it's better late than never.

 

Oswalt has been my favorite Astro since he came up and still is. I haven't lost any respect for him. One mistake doesn't make a career.


But I was disappointed in what he did. How is hitting someone after you gave up a HR on an 0-2 pitch tough. Its pretty weak and childish. You gave up the HR, unfortunately there were a couple of errors (your teamates' faults), move on. I had no problem with him being thrown out. He lost his cool, which is something I've never seen him do.

 

Roy did the right thing but the only problem is that he will have to get in the batter's box against Wood on Friday. The Ump should give warnings before the game even starts because that could get ugly.

 

I have even more respect for Roy now. Mr. Cojones, I really like the guy.


Did anybody see who protected Roy? Yep, Mr. Class, the best Astro ever. I don't care how much Bags is making, he is good for the team.

 

You always hear Bagwell, Biggio, et. al. complain about their pitchers not sticking up for the hitters, not plunking one of "theirs" when one of "ours" gets beaned. And then, when Roy-O does just that, they jump ship and caste blame on Roy for "taking himself out of the game." It seems like they're pinning all their hopes on their starting pitching (Roy and Rodger) to carry the day for them. How about getting a clutch hit more often?!?

I'm a huge fan of both Bagwell and Biggio, but their comments after the game last night made me sick... throw Berkman in that mix also. Roy did what he thought he should do, and none of his boys got his back. It's going to be a rough couple of weeks until football season officially gets going. Oh well, here's hoping for another sweep of the Phillies.

 

the only comment i read was bagwell's crap about i would have thrown out oswalt too. at first i thought i was reading a cubs player's reaction. he may be right but way to support your teammate guy. i don't read oswalt as the kind of person to give up on a game, it seems like thats a direct oppsoite to his go-get em attitude.

 

I didn't hear that. What did he say?

 

I lost no respect for Roy, but I did for Bags. I have not been one to pile on Jeff at all this year, but he is in no position to point fingers at Roy. He has consistently asked for protection from his pitchers and Roy decides to go inside and Jeff turns his back on him. Wood clearly threw at Lane in the first, I have no problem with Roy going inside too after being hit hard. Oswalt has held up his end of the bargain this year in my opinion, certainly more than anyone not named Clemens, and he should not be dumped on for this team's failures.

 

man look at the poll results

 

what exactly did bags and company say?

interested to see what the commotion is about

bit strange that they would say things against roy though.

season is getting bad when you have to resort to insulting your own team mates.

 

I have more respect for Roy than I do Bags. I've just never been on the Bags bandwagon and I think he's a pretty shallow guy. I'm glad Kent got hit though.

 

I have 0 respect for Kent. Bags was right however. The stros needed Roy to stay in the game longer. The bullpen is just too ****ing sorry, but roy did what he felt was necessary, it just wasn't the right time to do it, IMO.

 

I think what he did is EXACTLY what this team needs.

We need position players with that kind of attitude.

GO ROY !!!!

DD

 

Notes: Oswalt surprised by remarks
08/23/2004 8:19 PM ET
By Alyson Footer / MLB.com

HOUSTON -- Roy Oswalt chose his words carefully on Monday while addressing the events that led to a rather uncomfortable haze descending upon the normally tranquil Houston Astros clubhouse.
The situation began when Oswalt was ejected in the third inning of Sunday's game, after hitting Cubs catcher Michael Barrett squarely on the numbers on the back of his jersey following Aramis Ramirez's three-run homer.

Oswalt contended that not only was the plunking unintentional, but his ejection was unfair considering Chicago right-hander Kerry Wood wasn't thrown out until he had hit three batters.

Following the game, Jeff Bagwell seemed to side with the umpire, who believed Oswalt intended to throw at Ramirez.


"I would have done the same thing," Bagwell said Sunday. "I would have thrown Roy out. It was as blatant as it could be. That's it."

Bagwell added: "We need him to pitch for us. He's our Opening Day pitcher, as good as anyone in the league. We need him to be pitching. You can't talk about Kerry Wood. We have to look at our own situation. You can say whatever you want, but we needed Roy to pitch for us today."





Bagwell declined to comment on the situation on Monday, and manager Phil Garner remained vague after conducting a 15-minute closed door meeting with Oswalt in his office. Garner did reveal that he planned to speak with Bagwell at a later time.

But Oswalt acknowledged that he and Bagwell discussed the incident -- "he made his point and I told him my point" -- although the right-hander didn't go as far as to say the two kissed and made up.

Oswalt paused several times and thought through his answers carefully as he attempted to explain what upset him about his veteran teammate's public comments.

"I've only been here four years, but it's the first time in my career, I guess you could say, that a guy agreed with an umpire," Oswalt said. "There's a lot of times an umpire throws a player out for arguing balls and strikes and there's not a whole lot said. It's the first time I've ever seen it in my career.

"That's one person's opinion. You've got to leave it at that. I'm sure Roger [Clemens] threw at a few people in his career and there wasn't a lot said about that. That [Mike] Piazza thing, I'm sure that nobody on his team said anything. It's just something that maybe I didn't know the whole question that led to it. It's just something that happened, I guess."


Resting: Craig Biggio was given the day off on Sunday in what Garner sees as the final resting period for the left fielder.

The Astros are in the middle of a stretch of 16 consecutive games without a day off and they will play five day games in a row, including the series finale with the Phillies on Wednesday and four straight matinees against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

"We'll give Biggio one more day during this stretch and lather him up for the rest of the year," Garner said.

Biggio, who logged hit No. 2,600 on Monday, will likely sit out one of the two games of the Astros' doubleheader in Pittsburgh on Sept. 9 and then play the remaining 21 games. Garner will also find time for a day off here and there for the other two veteran regulars.

"[Jeff] Kent and Baggy [Bagwell], we'll split those guys down the road," Garner said.

Grieving: As focused as Roger Clemens is when he's on the mound, he was somewhat preoccupied on Monday with the sad news that he lost a good friend two days earlier.

Clemens' college roommate, Jeff Ahrens, passed away on Saturday with what Clemens only described as "health complications." Clemens and Ahrens, also high school teammates at Spring Woods, roomed together for one year at the University of Texas.

"It was a little bit of a heavy heart for me [Monday night]," Clemens said. "Thinking about him being my roomie and what he did for me my sophomore year at Texas."

Oliver slowly progressing: Garner would like to send Darren Oliver on a minor league rehab assigment when the left-hander is nearing activation from the disabled list, but unless Oliver is ready to come back in the next couple of weeks, pitching in Round Rock or New Orleans is not going to be an option.

The minor league season ends on Labor Day weekend, so unless Oliver makes a quick recovery from his strained left shoulder, he will not have the luxury of pitching a few innings in a live game before he returns to the team.

"In that case, he'll have to pitch a couple of simulated games," Garner said.

Astros visit schools: Brad Lidge, Mike Gallo, Kirk Bullinger and Eric Bruntlett, along with former Astros outfielder Jimmy Wynn and Astros mascot Junction Jack visited several schools on Monday to talk to students about making good choices this school year. The visits are a part of the Astros "Fielder's Choice" program.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. http://houston.astros.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/content/printer_friendly/hou/y2004/m08/d23/c835993.jsp

 

I would agree if it was earlier in the season, and if we had a reliable bullpen. But frankly, we have a crappy bullpen and what we needed was for him to stay in there and pitch as much as he can.

 

It's nice to see that the team still has some fight in them.

 

Oswalt? No.

Bagwell? Absolutely.