Astros Archives - Jane Heller

The Party’s Over

October 22, 2017

But it was a lot of fun while it lasted.

Tell the truth. Did you ever think the 2017 Yankees would make it all the way to Game 7 of the ALCS? I didn’t. Not until the first win of the Cleveland series. Then I believed, truly I did, that this team might just be capable of anything, even winning the World Series. They were that resilient.

But in the end, they didn’t have that little extra special mix of players. The starting pitching was brilliant until it was not. The relievers were almost without exception (poor Betances) terrific. The defense was spotty; too many errors. And the offense was both tremendous and nonexistent. Clearly, this was a team that thrived at Yankee Stadium and looked helpless in Houston.

We have a fantastic core of young players who, with more seasoning, could go on to be a force in future postseasons. But if I were Cashman, I would think about acquiring a top Verlander-type starter, maybe Yu Darvish, especially since we don’t know if Tanaka and CC will opt out. I would find replacements/new homes for Ellsbury, Castro and Headley. I would try to hold onto to Todd Frazier. I would send Gary Sanchez to catcher bootcamp and teach him how to hang onto the ball behind the plate. And I would make every single player learn how to hit a damn curveball.

Will I miss hearing Joe Buck go on and on about Altuve? No. Ugh.

But oh what was a wonderful season it turned out to be – a season of games that were so much fun to watch. This Yankees team gave us so much pleasure, along with the occasional frustration, and I applaud them for achieving far more than anyone expected, including me. I’m sad it’s all over, and I’ll throw my support to the Dodgers the rest of the way, but we got October baseball. Can’t ask for more than that.

A Bummer Road Trip

July 2, 2017

The Astros are a great team, so I didn’t expect the Yankees to storm into Houston and sweep them. My spirits were buoyed though when we won Game 1 of the series. And then it all went to hell. Games 2 and 3 were heartbreakers in their own way, with Saturday featuring a meltdown of Betances and Chapman (along with the inspiring debut of Clint Frazier) and Sunday showcasing how fleeting good offense can be. (Sunday’s finale also was notable for another Sanchez error. I think Girardi is getting a bit impatient with Gary’s defense.)

In Chicago, the situation wasn’t much better against a team we really should have trounced.

So what now? The Yanks are home for the holiday with lots of All-Star vote getters, but can they climb back over the Red Sox, who finally seem to have caught fire? Another slide, another slump, whatever you want to call it, will have them sinking in the standings at the A-S break, and I’d much rather see them end the first half on a high note. What I keep asking myself, even given all the injuries, is which team is this? The one that got off to such a torrid start after an equally torrid spring training? Or the one that’s coming back to earth, having overachieved and made us believe?????

We’ll soon find out. They’re still fun to watch, because they don’t give up. They fight to win ballgames, and I like their spirit.

Derek Jeter and Everyone Else

May 15, 2017

The series against Houston wasn’t memorable. The Yankees lost all but one game. Tanaka’s start last night was disastrous, and Chapman is off to the DL. Having had a rotator cuff tear with tendinitis in my shoulder (both shoulders, actually), I don’t expect to see our closer any time soon. Which leaves those duties to Betances. Is he up to the challenge that Randy Levine so publicly declared he wasn’t up to? Will Levine’s words and the bad blood from arbitration get inside Betances’ head? I really hope not. (Andrew Miller, please come back. All is forgiven.)

Early in the weekend, the Yankees offense seemed to have petered out against the Astros’ top-notch pitchers, and while they came alive yesterday, in the lone victory of the doubleheader and in the nightcap in a losing effort, they were facing a better team. Houston is the real deal. It’s now up to the Yanks to bounce back. (A minor gripe: must the players wear pink on Mother’s Day? It’s annoying.)

But baseball games were beside the point. This was Jeter weekend and last night was Jeter Night. All his friends and family members came out to honor Jeet for the ceremony to retire his number and add his plaque to the other greats in Monument Park, even his grandmother. All the Steinbrenners were there too (except Hank; where oh where is Hank these days?). It’s always fun to see Mo, Andy and the gang, and A-Rod knew enough to stay in Miami. Hannah Jeter’s water looked like it was about to break, but she hung in there, managing to look beautiful in full pregnancy mode.

Do the Yankees know how to do ceremonies? You bet they do. They always manage to make them wonderfully, over-the-top cheesy. I’m talking about wheeling Jeter in from centerfield as if the golf cart were a chariot, the presentation of gifts from the Steinbrenners (does he really need another diamond ring?), the sounds of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” wafting through the Stadium. Jeter’s speech felt like the only authentic, non-cheesy part of the proceedings. It was off-the-cuff, sincere, plain-spoken, pure Jeter. He was grateful, he was humble, he was on point: he’d always wanted to be a Yankee and he’d loved every minute of his career.

And now he’s moved on, trying to buy the Marlins. For the moment, it looks like MLB prefers the investment group led by Mitt Romney’s son – a head-scratcher. Apparently, Bob Manfred wants his money up front and the Romney group can provide. But I’m sure the Bush-Jeter group can scrounge up enough dough if given a chance. And wouldn’t you want the sport’s greatest ambassador to be an owner, MLB? I would and I do. Sure, I’d rather Jeter buy the Yankees, but the Marlins are for sale. If Jeter has shown us anything, it’s that we should never count him out.

It Was Fun While It Lasted

May 10, 2017

Not much to say except the Yankees’ winning streak was snapped last night against the Reds. I fully expected our resilient hitters to come back from the hole CC dug for them (it wasn’t that insurmountable), but maybe their fatigue caught up with them. I do wonder about CC though. Were his last couple of starts an indication that he’s dealing with his own fatigue or will he make adjustments?

Anyway, on to the series at the Stadium against the Astros. Get a good night’s sleep, Yankees. We need you rested and ready to start a new winning streak.

Darlin’ Starlin!

April 7, 2016

If I was excited about our new Yankee before, I’m super excited about him after the first two games of the 2016 season. Wow. What a way to make friends in New York. In last night’s Janer, the Yanks beat the Astros 16-6 and Castro was a good reason. Pineda clearly has work to do on his control (or maybe it was the cold weather), but there was nothing wrong with the bats. Even old warhorse Carlos Beltran was a beast at the plate.

It wasn’t the most tidy of games, but beating a contender for the pennant and beyond is always great. I was a happy fan last night.

Opening Day Chill

April 5, 2016

I tip my cap to those who braved the cold temps to be at the game today. Brrr. Not my weather. Not the Yankees’ weather either, judging by the eighth inning when things went awry. Oh, Betances. His throw set the loss in motion, which was a shame since the big bad Astros starter, Dallas Keuchel, was no longer a factor in the game and not as invincible as he’s been in past match-ups.

I love that both Starlin and Didi made important contributions though. And Tanaka, who’d been shaky in Tampa, pitched better than I expected.

So the Astros won the opener. No biggie. The cool thing about the start of the season is that, from now on, there’s always tomorrow.

An Embarrassing Way to Gain Home-Field Advantage

October 4, 2015

The Yankees blew the weekend series in Baltimore – just sucked, let’s face it – and yet, thanks to the loss by the Astros, managed to win the opportunity to open the playoffs at the Stadium on Tuesday night. They were awful from top to bottom, and I have no idea how they’ll be able to get it together enough to beat the Astros, whose starting pitcher has virtually shut the Yanks down all season long. Tanaka will have to be perfect and the offense will have to emerge from its collective slumber. Stranger things have happened and as John Sterling says, “You can’t predict baseball,” but I’m not wildly optimistic. Hopeful, but not counting on it.

We’ll all need our lucky charms on Tuesday. I’ll be having lucky turkey burgers for dinner and wearing my lucky Mo T-shirt. Other than that, I’ll be pacing and pretending I’m not as nervous as I really am and watching between the fingers over my eyes……unless, of course, the Yankees jump out to an early lead – like a 10-0 type of lead – and I can relax.

If only that would happen. Sigh. Let’s go Yankees.

The Yanks Need to Get Hot in Hot-Lanta

August 26, 2015

Boy, am I glad to see the Yankees get out of ~~Dodge~~ the Bronx. Yes, they won one of the three games against the Astros – by a hair – but the offense went back into a slumber and the pitching, with the exception of Evo, never woke up. Pineda and Nova didn’t have it, which would be worrisome enough but now with CC out indefinitely it’s extra worrisome. Capuano was DFA-ed for the 100th time and Adam Warren hasn’t been the same since he was shuttled back and forth between the starting rotation and the bullpen. That leaves the kid with the fractured nose. I hate to keep saying it, but it would have been nice to have acquired a veteran arm (a good one).

What to make of the slumping offense? Girardi talks about how everybody’s “banged up” at this time of the year, and I don’t doubt it. Not having a healthy Teixeira in the lineup has made a difference. Ellsbury hasn’t caught fire since coming back from the DL. Didi was bound to taper off at some point. A-Rod couldn’t possibly stay hot through the entire season. Beltran has been surprisingly resilient and McCann’s had some pivotal hits. But now we’re down in the standings again to the Blue Jays and I liked it better when we weren’t.

I do have to say it was fun watching Brendan Ryan pitch a couple of innings in that blow-out game. He was good!

Will the series against the Braves bring everybody back to life? It happened once before after Girardi had a tizzy on the field in Atlanta and got tossed. I think there was a team meeting down there too. We need some kind of shove to get going again.

At Least There Was This

August 23, 2015

It was great seeing the old gang at the Stadium over the weekend, first for the retiring of Posada’s number, then the same for Pettitte today. They all looked great and I couldn’t help wishing they were still playing – particularly after today’s finale against the Indians. What is it with the Yankees and Indians? Are the dreaded midges still haunting the team? It sure seemed like it over the four-game series and even during the recent series in Cleveland. Aside from the one victory on Saturday, it was nothing but frustration and ineptitude.

And now there’s CC’s knee. Will he come back this season or any season? Does a stint on the DL do the trick and he returns refreshed and ready to pitch? Or will he concede that the knee is a chronic problem and retire? It’s all very sad to me because he’s been a warrior for the Yanks on and off the field.

With Pineda scheduled to pitch in the series against Houston and the addition of Severino, CC’s injury is easier to swallow. I still wish Cashman had gotten us a reliable arm at the trade deadline, but that’s old news. What’s also old news is that all the teams in the AL East have problems, even Toronto, and no one is running away with the division title so far. Which means all the Yankees have to do is play consistent baseball. Getting Teixeira off the DL would help. So would getting Ellsbury to go on a tear. So would waving a magic wand and making Stephen Drew turn into Babe Ruth.

Time will tell……

Yanks Vs Astros = Split

June 28, 2015

This series was a snapshot of the Yankees’ season. They played well and they played ugly. There’s hardly any in between with this team.

What stood out for me was the second awful outing in a row for Tanaka. It’s worrisome. I’ve come to expect stellar performances from him and he’s certainly entitled to a couple of bad starts, but I can’t help wondering about that arm.

Pineda, on the other hand, rebounded nicely from getting battered his last time out. He was victimized by sloppy defense today and an opposing starting pitcher who stymied our offense, which had been so powerful just the day before.

Honestly, there were so many non-sports news stories breaking over the past week that I haven’t been all that focused on baseball or this series. Which is another way of saying I spent more time with CNN than I did with YES.

The Devil Doesn't Wear Prado

August 22, 2014

Walkoffs are so exciting and Martin Prado’s single in the bottom of the ninth against the White Sox was no exception. I was on my feet cheering while Prado was getting mobbed by his teammates. He’s been playing well, both with the bat and the glove, and I’m glad he’s in pinstripes. Tonight’s heroics weren’t necessarily the start of the Yankees’ climb toward the playoffs, but the game was enjoyable nonetheless. Greene, like just about all the starters, was great after his initial floundering. The pitchers haven’t been the problem, as evidenced by McCarthy’s stellar performance against the Astros the day before to avoid a truly humiliating sweep. (I’m loving the fiery Cervelli as catcher. He seems to pull every last drop of energy out of his pitchers.) It’s the offense that’s been so frustrating. But for tonight at least the four runs were enough to get it done.

The Devil Doesn’t Wear Prado

August 22, 2014

Solarte!

April 4, 2014

I listened to parts of this one on my At Bat app in the car and was smiling each time the new guy got another hit, even the one that dropped in front of the Astros on the mound (a Castillo moment, kind of). Whatever magic he’s got I just hope it keeps up.

Nova had an odd game, pitching in and out of trouble a lot, but that seems to be his thing and he did limit any big innings. Nice job by Robertson for the save. I still miss Mo (huge shoes to fill), but I’m glad we have D-Rob.

And the Yankees won. Whew. Good to have that first one.

Uh-Oh. Where Are The Bats?

April 2, 2014

It’s always sort of spooky when the season starts with losses. No, two in a row isn’t a trip to the Twilight Zone, but it’s weird that we have all these big stars and they look anemic at the plate. Soriano, in particular, seems to have a hole in his bat.

On a positive note, Kuroda stuck around way longer than I expected and the boys showed some speed on the bases. And Jeter got a nice tip of the cap from the Astros before the game. Supposedly he had dinner with Clemens the previous night, and I can’t figure out why he’d want that guy in his life, let alone have him for a buddy. Yuck.

Well, That Went Well – Not

April 1, 2014

The last thing I wanted to see in tonight’s first inning was Jeter getting drilled. Not that it won’t happen periodically throughout the season. He does lean in and pitchers pitch in, so it’s not unusual for his hand/wrist/arm to be vulnerable. I just figured it wouldn’t be in the season opener in Houston. But there were other reasons to hide my eyes.

CC’s early innings were ugly. The defense went awry behind him. Nobody looked good at the plate, except (surprisingly) Teixeira. By contrast, Houston – this was the Astros we were playing, right? – looked like World Series champions and it was a little like David kicking Goliath around. But that’s baseball. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. I kept thinking….maybe this game is an April Fool’s joke or maybe the Yankees are still in spring training mode. And then I reminded myself it’s a loooong season and they won’t win every game.

Earlier in the day came the news that the Yanks had DFA-ed Nunez. Startling, considering how much they’d relied on him the past couple of years. It was shocking enough that he didn’t make the cut for opening day, but to literally cut him loose? I didn’t see that one coming and I’m sure he didn’t either. But they did give him chances to claim the shortstop job and he never did. I hope he makes it elsewhere.

On to the next….and the next. Let’s go Yankees.

Finally, Mercifully Over

September 29, 2013

It wasn’t the greatest season for the Yankees – Jeter called it “a nightmare” and I don’t disagree – and today’s finale in Houston was a case in point. It was nice to win, but extra innings against the Astros in a meaningless game? Seriously? It was so obvious after Reynolds hit that homer in the 14th how badly the players just wanted to go home already. I know the beat writers weren’t thrilled that their flights home had to be delayed.

Now comes the business of rebuilding or re-jiggering or whatever it is that the organization will do this winter. I assume the decision to bring back Girardi will be at the top of the list, provided he wants to come back. Then there’s the Cano thing, which I hope won’t drag on forever. At least the A-Rod appeal hearing is only supposed to last a week and they’ll know whether they’ll need a new third baseman and for how long. Will they get a new shortstop in case Jeter isn’t able to be a full-timer or keep Ryan? Will they hand the catching job to Romine, give it to Cervelli,, bring back Stewart or get a new catcher? Will Nunez play a role? Nix? What about Granderson? And who knows about the pitching staff.

So many questions. And too many goodbyes to iconic players for my taste. (Mo, don’t go…..)

I’ll give this blog a rest for the off-season except when there’s news and I expect quite a bit. Meanwhile, thanks to all for reading and commenting. I’ll leave us with the laughing lady as a cheerful farewell.

Is Adam Warren The Next….Somebody?

September 27, 2013

He pitched well in Houston tonight. I only watched part of the game, but maybe he’s a guy who deserves a closer look next year.

Otherwise, there wasn’t much to say about the game except the Yankees won (better late than never) and the Astros honored Pettitte during the game. Oh, and Robertson closed. I tried to get used to him in the role instead of you-know-who but it’ll take awhile. Sigh.