Why in the heck would you want Billy Spiers' back? That's why he had to retire in the first place ;-)
With Gerry Hunsicker you get Luke Scott and Willie Tavarres for Jeromie Whathisface. Losing Gerry Hunsicker is going to be the downfall of the Astros, you can count on it.
I wouldn't go that far. There are more things in that organization than GH that were above average, and GH isn't the only outstanding GM in the world. We haven't begun to see what Purpura will be like--it'll take at least three years to learn his style.
Purpura is the reason we didn't make ANY big name aquisitions during the offseason... everyone knew that Beltran and Scott Boras were just toyng with us. I should have blown Beltran off when he turned down our first offer. We're going to miss Hunsicker much more then most people think.
I doubt Gerry Hunsicker scouted both Scott and Tavares before he made that trade. From what I've been hearing Purpura is man behind finding these players. And please share your opinion on why losing Hunsicker will be the downfall of the Astros.
Amen to that! For those with ESPN Classic, tomorrow at 5PM on Classic Drive Thru, they're showing Giants at Astros (1986). I can only assume this is Scotty's no-no to clinch the NL West. Drive Thru doesn't show the whole game, just the innings where stuff happened or, in the case of a no-hitter, each half inning. They just had Kile's no-hitter last week and the Astros one-game playoff win over the Dodgers in '80.
I was at that game ... I would love to see Hunsicker back. I don't think Purpura will be a disaster or anything, but Hunsicker was just so damn good. As for having a Stro back, I would've liked to see Nolan Ryan finish his career with the Stros and go into Cooperstown with an Astro hat.
