We need Oswalt as a starter, on full rest, worse than we need him as a releiver in a game that we were behind in or tied. Garner would have been burned at the steak had he used Roy tonight in a losing effort and Roy been at less than full strength at home. The medias whole argument against Garner is how he has managed different than he did during our regular season winning streak. The media and fans have Garner second guessing himself.
Name all the times a manager has brought in a starter to pitch in relief, and the game was not a "deciding" game... The only times I can think of are Randy Johnson in 01 and 95, and Pedro in 99... and I only remember those because they were dramatic wins by those teams in the FINAL GAME of the series. If Garner had brought in Roy, I would have driven to the airport and met their plane and made sure that Phil was taken off the crazy medication he was on.
That's ridiculous. You don't give away playoff games, which Garner has subsequently done. I know what pitching is all about, having pitch on the highschool and college level, and I'm telling you that Roy could have easily gone and inning if needed. Easily.
Argh...Sucks tonight, but no way am I going this far into the whole year without giving hope to only give it up now. Oswalt and Clemens...c'mon, give us some wins!
Since your college pitching experience makes you an expert on managing in the big leagues and an expert on Oswalt's recovery skills, then I would be curious to see your response to Nick's last post. Alot of guys have pitched in high school and college. Doesn't make you more any more knowledgeable on the subject of big league pitching rotations in the playoffs than anyone else. Don't know why you felt that qualified you to call doing what is rarely ever done in the MLB playoffs, ridiculous either.
Damn codell, did they give you leeway in putting up posts within the 30 second limit? That's insane you can reply to everyone's post. Another RM95.... What was the reason behind Oswalt warming up in the bullpen? Miceli has been a pain in our ass everytime he is in an Astros uniform. After those 2 HRs, Garner didn't have the balls to yank his ass out. We better hope that Rocket and Rob Roy can come through for us in the next 2 games. And Bags, please hit somewhere other than to a Cardinal. Thanks.
See when i look back at these games as well as looking back at the Braves series. These loses just hurt. The way we lost the games really really hurt. We get up then we get knocked right back down. We are all here with our backs against the wall with Munro pitching and he does a hell of a job for the most part only to see a gut wrenching few innings by our relievers to just give it away. We see our team make errors on the basepaths that little leagures are supposed to make. We get bases loaded numerous times and can't capatlize. It's one thing to get blown away and know you didn't have a chance. But to be in the game give your all in a way and have it slip through your fingers not once but 2 times in this series alone. It just hurts, plain and simple. When your starting pitchers are 3-0 and your relievers are now 0-4 there is something to say. I really don't know anymore. I will still believe till the day we are either in the World Series or out of the playoffs. To me it just sucks to loose the way we did simple as that. I'm out on this subject till game 3's thread starts.
Amazingly enough, had the Astros executed like they should have in every game this post-season... they'd be undefeated. Every one of their losses was because of bad play on their part... that is something that they can be optimistic about. Play well.. do your job... and you win. (Of course, you could also look at it as you must play mistake-free... no breaks what-so-ever... but I'll avoid that mode of thinking for now).
Garner really needs to think about retooling that bullpen. 1) Bench Miceli and Harville. 2) Have the starter go 5-6 innings. 3) Bring Wheeler in to do the 7th and 8th 4) And then have Lidge close the 9th. Simple and it's effective.
Stay calm, grasshoppers. We can win our home games and steal one there. Our three best pitchers have not got in the game.
It aint over till is over tell PiPdAdY33 to wake up the fat hoe he has in his bed right now and sing. BUMP THAT... the Astros are here to win it all... not dick around.
You're missing many instances. Maybe you didn't notice, but the Braves brought in Hampton to pitch an inning in game 4. In fact, Bobby Cox has a pattern of using starters in relief during the playoffs. Not as crazy an idea as you make it out to be, especially with the state of the pen. After Lidge and Wheeler, I trust none of them. We wouldn't even be talking about this if we had 3 great relief pitchers like last year.
Hampton was taken out early due to injury in game 2. He had a little more in the tank left. Also, as Nick suggests, game 4 was an elimination game for the Braves. They lose, they're out. I don't think we'd see Miceli out there in the 8th inning of game 7 of a tie game.
This reminds me of the Rockets in '93. We knew we had the better team. we just couldn't close the games against Pheonix. Garner simply has to do the right thing. It's so simple. Go with the horses that brought you. Instead he keeps putting in the crappy horses. LEAVE THE STARTERS IN THE GAME! FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE. I say we just leave the bullpen off the world series roster. Seriously. It looks like a freaking scandal out there. I'm serious. Who lost a bet? I've never seen a more pathethic bullpen in my life. They give it up within seconds of having entered the game.
Hmm... but we didn't even make the playoffs last year with those 3 great relievers... how great could that team of been then? I'll take this year's squad over any other Astros squad that was "supposed" to win... even the 98 club (who, while they had the best pitching, didn't have this good of a lineup... with Matt Mieske being an everyday player... and thus, were shut down by Kevin Brown and Sterling Hitchcock).
Not insulting Codell, that is poking a little fun...kind of like your sperm comment. I already know this, why should someone else recognizing what the world already knows make me feel better? Game, set, match...DADA ! Now go buy Firefly before I continue this onslaught against your lack of manhood, you Eunich ! DD
A.) these were games that the Astros were supposed to lose... the Rockets had both a big lead AND homefield advantage in 93-94, and they absolutely choked... right now, the Cardinals were the better team on paper, AND they were at home. A better example would be the 95 Rocket-Phoenix series... where the Suns smoked them the first 2 games at home, and then went up 3-1 against Houston before they came back... that's actually almost a perfect example (of course, we're not going to let them go up 3-1). B.) You want Garner to "go with the horses that brought you"... AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE'S DOING! Pete Munro didn't pitch great at all down the stretch... whereas Qualls and Harville most defnitely did. Now, he should have brought in Lidge... that's fine... but I don't wanna hear any more talk about "leaving the starters in" when it involves either a pitcher on 3 days rest, or a guy who wouldn't be a starting pitcher on almost any single MLB team, when they happen to be facing the best lineup in all of baseball. Garner's moves just aren't working out... and everybody here has become the epitome of a "monday morning QB." (for the record... I wanted Lidge in the 8th as well... so I'm not agreeing w/ Garner 100%)
