Astros Retrospective: 2010s

Astros By Decade

2010-2015

Brick Red Uniforms (2010-2012)

Retro Blue and Orange Uniforms (2013-Present)

It is quite easy, and sad, to say that the first half of the decade has been the worst in Astros' history.  The Tim Purpura/Ed Wade days saw the franchise go from two decades of more or less success to a roster full of aging former stars, bloated contracts, and no farm system.  When Jim Crane purchased the team in 2011 and brought in Jeff Luhnow as general manager from the Cardinals, he started an unprecedented stripping down and building back from the ground up.  Whether or not the fans liked it, they knew it would take a few years of terrible baseball, and a healthy dose of advanced metrics, to right the ship.  So far, it seems to be working.

The Astros made some big steps in 2014, finishing 21 games better than the previous year and above in-state rivals the Rangers (something I predicted at the beginning of the year).  Perhaps more importantly, some of the young talent started to show obvious potential.  George Springer made his debut in April and finished the year with 20 home runs and a solid .804 OPS.  Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh both posted sub-3 ERAs.  Most importantly, Jose Altuve led the league with a .341 batting average and broke the franchise record with 225 hits, graduating from that tiny guy in 2011 with the joke "how manyAltuves...?" to a legitimate star.

Then, of course, last year they made the next big step.  Finishing another 16 games better with 86 wins (prior to the year I had predicted 85) and winning the Wild Card playoff game before losing a tightly contested ALDS to the eventual World Series winning Royals.  Again, the young guns stepped up as the added future ace Lance McCullers,  Preston Tucker, Rookie of the Year and "the next Alex Rodriguez" Carlos Correa, and Keuchel dominated for the Cy Young Award.  The future looks very bright as more prospects look to make the team in the next couple of years, and the stars are locked up for the foreseeable future.

Record:  394-578, .405

Best Year:  2015 (86-76, 2nd of 5, Wild Card winner, reached ALDS)

Worst Year:  2013, (51-111, 5th of 5)

Team of the Decade:

C:  Jason Castro (2010, 2012-2015)  One of the most constant faces for the decade, it has been fascinating to see him change from a good bat with a decent glove to a great glove with a decent bat.

1B:  Brett Wallace (2010-2013)  It is really sad to have him on this list, but it's basically either him or Chris Carter or Jon Singleton, so really there's no choice.

2B:  Jose Altuve (2011-2015)  I highly recommend watching Big Dreams: The Jose Altuve Story to learn more about one of the best second basemen in the game today.

3B:  Chris Johnson (2010-2012)  He had a pretty decent 2010 season, but never really built upon it.

SS:  Marwin Gonzalez (2012-2015)  More of a good utility stopgap (Jose Vizcaino-like) than an everyday player.  Carlos Correa will take this spot by the end of this season.

LF:  Carlos Lee (2010-2012)  El Caballo was a favorite of the Hispanic fans, but by this time he was clearly not worth his salary ($19 mil), or even half it, but no one else has taken over in the last few years.

CF:  Michael Bourn (2010-2011)  It's really only one and a half years, but again, no consistent starters here.  It's kind of sad how quickly his career has derailed after one good season in Atlanta.

RF:  George Springer (2014-2015)  A true gamer, and a great clubhouse guy, he instantly became my favorite post-Berkman Astro once he came up.  If he can stay healthy, and stop swinging for the fences, he will be a powerhouse.

SP:  Dallas Keuchel (2012-2015)  It took a few years, but by 2014 he looked like a solid starter and of course dominated in 2015, going 15-0 at home.  Still only 27, he should be an ace for years to come.

SP:  Wandy Rodriguez (2010-2012)  A couple of 11 win seasons, which would have been better with a decent offense behind him, and seven more in 2012 before being traded away.  He was always that guy who wasn't flashy but before you knew it you looked up and he had put together another quality start (263 in 275 starts for his career, that's impressive).

SP:  Collin McHugh (2014-2015)  Never really did much toiling in the Minors and a few games in the Majors for the Mets and Rockies, the Astros got him and out of nowhere he became a great second to Keuchel.

SP:  Brett Myers (2010-2011)  Had a couple of good years, was turned into a closer in 2012, then traded away.

SP:  Bud Norris (2010-2013)  Seemed to be that prospect who had plenty of potential, was better than his won-loss record, but never really put it all together.

CL:  Luke Gregerson (2015)  Closer, and the bullpen in general, has not exactly been a strength of the team.  That is until it became a focus prior to 2015.  Ken Giles will hopefully be the next Billy Wagner.

Notable Performances:

Jose Altuve 2014: .341/.377/.453, 225 H, 7 HR,  59 RBI, 47 2B, 3 3B, 56 SB, 135 OPS+

Hunter Pence 2010: .282/.325/.461, 25 HR, 91 RBI, 29 2B, 18 SB, 41 BB, 112 OPS+

Carlos Correa 2015: .279/.345/.512, 22 HR, 68 RBI, 22 2B, 14 SB, 40 BB, 132 OPS+

George Springer 2015: .276/.367/.459, 16 HR, 41 RBI, 19 2B, 50 BB, 126 OPS+

Dallas Keuchel 2015:  20-8, 2.48 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 3 CG, 232 IP, 216 K, 162 ERA+

Collin McHugh 2014: 11-9, 2.73 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 155 IP, 157 K, 141 ERA+

Will Harris 2015: 5-5-2, 1.90 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 71 IP, 68 K, 212 ERA+

Tony Sipp 2014: 3-4-0, 1.99 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 54 IP, 62 K, 203 ERA+

Best Trade:

Rio Ruiz, Andrew Thruman, and Mike Foltynewicz to the Braves for James Hoyt and Evan Gattis

Like much of this discussion it's too early to tell, but at least Gattis has contributed to a successful 2015.  It's very likely the trade for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers, or the trade for Kevin Giles, will end up being better.

Worst Trade:

Hunter Pence to the Phillies for Jarred Cosart, Jon Singelton, Josh Zeid, and Domingo Santana (July 29, 2011)

At the time this looked like a great trade, getting a bunch of highly tauted prospects.  Now it looks like a complete bust as Pence has gone on to win a World Series (albeit in San Francisco) and generally is still good, while Singleton seems to be a bust and Santana was just traded to Milwaukee, though Cosart was featured in the trade with the Marlins that brought Jake Marisnick. 

Best Draft:

Too early to tell, probably 2012 with Carlos Correa taken 1st overall, Lance McCullers later in the first round, and Preston Tucker in the 7th round.

Worst Draft:

Too early to tell, probably 2013 with Mark Appel taken 1st overall, and nobody to reach the Majors yet.  While the 2014 draft had the Brady Aiken debacle, they did get A.J. Reed in the second round.

Discernment News!

In short: I am transferring to study for the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin

The long version:  When I decided that I should enter the seminary to study to be a priest a few years ago, that was only one of two big decisions I had to make.  The other was for which diocese to study.  I have moved around a lot in my life, living in six different dioceses over my thirty some years.  I had not really lived in any of them long enough to really think of any of them as home.  I thought about staying in Grand Rapids, where I was teaching and a place that I had grown to love in only a year.  I thought about going to somewhere near Washington, D.C., a place where I had always wanted to live.  I decided ultimately to study for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, where my parents live, because I would be near family.  Since I had not lived there for ten years, and then only for six months, really it was more like twenty years, I came with the understanding that I was going to continue to discern if it truly was the right place for me.

I have to be honest, by the end of the first year I was thinking it was not right for me.  I will get into specifics later.  Over the summer I was in Omaha, Nebraska, for the Institute for Priestly Formation.  I was able to meet a number of seminarians from all over the country.  I was able to talk with them about their dioceses.  I was back in the Midwest.  In many ways, it became clear over the summer that Houston was not right for me, but I had to return to finish my second year of philosophy studies and to continue to discern.

I think I went about it the right way.  I was open with my spiritual director.  I was open with God.  I asked God to give me some clear signs.  I at least got gentle nudges.  By November I had decided that Houston definitely was not right for me, so I approached the vocations director for the diocese (essentially my boss).  I told him about my discernment, but also that I would like to continue for the rest of the academic year so I can finish the next step of my discernment: if not Houston, where?  To his great credit, he was saddened but promised to support me whatever my decision.

For a long time I was thinking about Arlington, Virginia.  I tried to make some contacts there, but each time they fell through.  I was discouraged.  I also was thinking about Madison, and a few other diocese around the country.  A few of my friends had friends or contacts in the diocese, and through them I was able to contact three priests from Madison.  It was recommended I make some contacts before approaching the vocation director of the diocese directly.  These three priests were quite different, but they had a couple of things in common.  One, they each were more than happy to talk with me.  Two, they each assured me that Madison was a fantastic diocese.  I began to warm even more to the idea.  In November, shortly before Thanksgiving, I finally contacted the vocation director.  To my surprise, he was waiting for me, and he had some rather good and pointed questions, particularly: why in the heck was I thinking about Madison?  I was open and honest, and he said he would get back with me.  A few weeks later, shortly before the end of the semester and the beginning of Christmas break, he called me and asked me if I could come up to Madison the weekend after Christmas so that I could attend their Christmas party, meet the bishop and the seminarians, and see some of the diocese.  I jumped at the chance.

The trip itself was quite eventful.  I missed my connection in Chicago on the way there and arrived a few hours late.  The return was worse: snow, very late departure from Madison, warnings that I would be stuck in Chicago for at least two days, a last second switch to an early morning flight back to Houston, and a night in O'Hare.  But in between those flights I had a great experience.  The seminarians were friendly, normal.  The priests were the same.  The bishop came right up to me and talked to me almost as soon as he walked into the dinner.  I helped serve Mass for a group of cloistered nuns.  It snowed.  I spent a day on a dairy farm.  I got a tour of the University of Wisconsin campus.  Most importantly, I felt comfortable.

Various churches in the Diocese of Madison

I came back to Houston with my mind pretty much set, but I knew I need to take some time to really think and pray about it during our week long silent retreat before the start of the semester.  I became even more comfortable with the idea.  After the retreat, I called Madison again and told them that I had made up my mind.  The vocation director was happy, and told me the next steps in the process.  He also told me he had called the rector of the seminary the day before, and that he had been surprised by supportive.

Up to this point the only people who knew were my family, my spiritual director, and a few of my closest friends whom I believed I could trust to keep it quiet.  I am proud and humbled to say that everyone kept their word.  But now the rector knew, and he promptly told the rest of the faculty.  It was public now, but at least they promised to allow me to make it fully public at my discretion.  I am thankful for them for all their support.

I went up to Madison for the Triduum to help serve the Masses for the bishop.  All the seminarians for Madison do, so I was asked to come as well.  It was a great time, but all the while I was wondering if/when I would hear.  Finally, on Holy Saturday just before practice for the Easter Vigil, the vocation director handed out summer assignments.  Before doing that, he took the time to formally welcome me to the diocese in front of all the other seminarians.  It was a great feeling, relief.  I am happy, excited, and nervous about this next great step in my life.

And lest you worry, I will not be alone.  My parents, as soon as I had said I was joining the seminary, had said they wanted to be wherever I was.  They actually had been thinking about moving away from Houston, but decided to stay when I said I would study here to be near them.  Now that I am transferring, they have decided to move to Madison as well.  My sister and her son will be joining them as well, so I will have family with me after all.

Now, to try to answer some questions people might have:

What's this about diocese?

For any non-Catholic friends, or maybe even Catholic friends who do not know, there are essentially two different types of priests: religious and diocesan (sometimes called secular).  Religious belong to orders, for instance the Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, etc, and they can be sent basically anywhere the order is.  Diocesan priests belong to a particular diocese, or area.  In some cases, this might be an entire state (South Carolina).  In others, it might be a large city (New York) or a part of a state (Mobile is the southern half of Alabama).  I had been studying for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, which covers a large area of Texas from Galveston in the south to Navasota and Huntsville in the north.  I will be studying for the Diocese of Madison, which is the southwestern portion of Wisconsin.  While we're at it, an archdiocese is a particularly important diocese with either an archbishop or cardinal which as other "suffragen" dioceses.  So Madison is technically under the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, though it is virtually independent in every way.

Archdiocese of Galveston Houston:

Diocese of Madison

Why not Houston?

I do not want this to seem like Houston is a horrible place to live, or that the Archdiocese is bad, it simply has been an honest discernment of my compatibility with a place.  As I said before, I have not lived in Houston, outside of about six months in 2005, since we moved away in 1992.  I had to become reacquainted with the city and the diocese.  While I have loved being near family, there have been a number of indications for me that it was not the right place for me.

To begin with, I have had a general sense of uneasy in my life since moving back.  It just has not felt right.  But that is somewhat abstract and hard to articulate.  How about some concrete ideas?

Houston is simply too big for me.  I have lived the majority of my life in college towns (College Station, Denton, Auburn) and a year before the seminary in a small city (Grand Rapids).  Houston is overwhelming.  And I am not just talking about the traffic, though that does not help.

Perhaps the most important realization has been my lack of comfortability with what I call the "culture" of the city and the diocese.  This can be taken the wrong way, so I am cautious to say it, but it is a big part of my discernment.  I have struggled to find my place in the diocese.  I have been to many parishes around the diocese, and feel out of place virtually everywhere.  This has to do with a number of issues from the size of parishes to the liturgical styles to the significant Hispanic population.  Again, I hesitate to say that since people can take it the wrong way, like I am racist and against Hispanics, but that is not the case at all.  I simply do not feel like I fit in here.

I have to say that the climate has played a role in my decision as well.  Perhaps you could call it an ancillary cause.  I love the four seasons.  I especially love the fall, and even like a long winter (we had 100+ inches of snow my one winter in Grand Rapids, and I was ok with it).  Houston is basically six to eight months of brutally humid summer with a couple of weeks of fall, maybe a month of "winter," and maybe a couple of months of spring thrown in.  I felt as though I could not handle that for the rest of my life.

There were some other small reasons, but suffice it to say all of these together helped me to realize that God was making it pretty clear Houston is not right for me.

But, many people say, what about the Astros?  Three things.  First, I had to realize that there are some things more important than baseball (it pains me to admit that).  Second, remember that I have not lived in Houston for the better part of twenty years, so it's not exactly like I'm used to living in the same town as them.  Third, on a practical level, MLB.tv makes it pretty easy to follow them.  And anyways, Madison is pretty darn close to Milwaukee, Chicago, and Minneapolis.  It's not like it will be impossible for me to see them.  If they do happen to go to the World Series in the next few years, however, I might lose it.

But Madison?  Really?

Yes.

Why?

I thought and prayed about six different dioceses while discerning.  Three on the East Coast, three in the Midwest.  I was primarily looking for a dioceses that was very orthodox.  That basically cut out one of them.  As mentioned I at first was looking at Arlington.  My different attempts to make inroads were thwarted, so I started to look elsewhere.  From that point on Madison had my complete attention.

First, there is a family connection.  My mom is from Milwaukee, and much of that side of the family still lives in the area.  Milwaukee is not right for me, for a few reasons, so Madison is the most obvious choice.

I am very attracted to the Midwest.  Living in Grand Rapids, then spending the summer in Omaha made this quite apparent to me.  It's beautiful, the people are great, the weather is ideal, and there's a lot to do.

The diocese is one of the most orthodox in the country.  No diocese is perfect, I know that, but Madison is very strong.  I want to make it clear I was not "bishop hunting" as some people might think.  If it all came down to the bishop, I doubt I would have left Cardinal DiNardo.  Bishops come and go.  I was focused on the diocese.  That being said, Bishop Morlino is a great example of a shepherd who cares about his flock and cares about the liturgy.  He takes the time to talk to each of the seminarians individually.

As mentioned before, the great reaction from my contacts helped.  I kept asking God for help, and this seemed to be one of the best indications I was getting.  I do not expect a voice from the sky telling me what to do, so I had to listen to the "still, small voice."

The two trips, during which I have been able to meet the seminarians, has also greatly helped.  They are normal guys who love the Church.  They are inspiring (this should not be seen as a knock on the Galveston-Houston seminarians, they are a great group as well).

Probably the most important thing is that the more I thought about it, the more comfortable I became.  I was happy with the idea.  That's a pretty good indication.

So what's next?

I will finish the semester, my last for philosophy.  Sometime in May I will head up to Madison for good where I will serve in a parish for the summer.  It is the same parish I stayed in during Holy Week (St. Bernard's) so I am at least a little familiar with it.  After the summer, I should be starting theology at the major seminary of St. Francis de Sales in Milwaukee.  After four years, God willing, I will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Madison.  Then, who but God knows?

Astros Retrospective: 2000s

Astros By Decade

2000-2009

Brick Red Uniforms (2000-2009)

The decade started with much promise.  The Astros were coming off three straight years in the playoffs.  They were moving into their new downtown stadium Enron Field (later Minute Maid Park).  But the first year in the new stadium was a difficult one, especially for some of the pitchers, Jose Lima in particular, who struggled to adjust to the much smaller ballpark.  It would take a few years, and a new batch of pitchers, for them to figure out you could be a flyball pitcher in the smaller ballpark if you kept it in the middle of the field.

The Astros fairly quickly recovered, returning to the postseason in 2001, but again bowing out early to the Braves.  A few years later came the big news.  Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens decided to come "home" to Houston.  The Pettitte and Clemens saga is too grandiose to cover here, but they did bring success in the form of the first playoff success in Astros history.  In 2004, Carlos Beltran was the late season acquisition who dominated and nearly pushed the Astros to the World Series.  The next year, after a terrible start and the infamous R.I.P. on the Houston Chronicle, the team got hot and they rode it all the way to the franchise's first ever World Series, despite Albert Pujols' best efforts.  The Astros were swept, but that really was an unjust final tally because they were probably the only team in baseball history that was swept but could have easily won each game if not for a few unlucky incidents.

Then came some of the most difficult years in Astros history.  After a decade of success, Houston fans expected more of the same.  As the team got older, the front office tried to fulfill the "win now" mentality by bring in one over-priced veteran after another (Carlos Lee, Kazuo Matsui, Ivan Rodriguez, Brian Moehler, Mike Hampton, Russ Ortiz, Miguel Tejada, etc).  It was a bad mistake.  The team kept getting worse and the cupboard more bare with all the prospects shipped away.  Within a handful of years they went from one of the best Minor League systems in baseball to the worst.  Something had to be done, and drastic measures had to be taken.

Record:  832-787, .514

Best Year:  2005 (89-73, 2nd of 6, reached World Series)

Worst Year:  2000, (72-90, 4th of 6)

Team of the Decade:

C:  Brad Ausmus (2001-2008)  By all accounts he called a great game and was a real field general behind the plate.  All the veterans respected him.  I always suspected he would be a great manager, and while it has not been all great in Detroit, he still has a lot of time.

1B:  Jeff Bagwell (2000-2005)  One great year, then injuries got the best of him.  It is fun to imagine his entire career in Minute Maid.

2B:  Craig Biggio (2000-2002, 2005-2007)  Some good years here, but not like the 90s.  He moved to the outfield when the Astros signed Jeff Kent for a few years, but he clearly did not have the arm for it.  Still, nothing can take away the thrill of his 3000 hit.

3B:  Morgan Ensberg (2000, 2002-2007)  Had a brilliant year in 2005 (4th in MVP voting), but fell off hard and quick after that.  The quest for stability at this position continues.

SS:  Adam Everett (2002-2007)  Never a great hitter, for years it seemed like the 7-8-9 of Ausmus/Everett/pitcher was an easy 1-2-3, but by many defensive matrices he was one of the best fielding shortstops of the decade.

LF:  Carlos Lee (2007-2009)  Had a great first year, a couple more good years, then became the huge contract nobody wanted.  In some ways he is the epitome of the late-00s, early -10s Astros.

CF:  Willy Taveras (2004-2006)  All of the outfield spots had a lot of turnover in this decade.  I could have gone with Michael Bourn, but Taveras was slightly better in two full years.

RF:  Lance Berkman (2000-2002, 2004-2007) Bending the rules a little bit to get him on the list, but he had to be on here.  Fat Elvis, Big Tuna, whatever you want to call him I loved the guy.  Played all over the outfield and first base, wherever the team needed him.  Had a career trajectory to be an all time great, but stalled in 2009 and will probably end up in the hall of very good.

SP:  Roy Oswalt (2001-2009)  Twenty wins twice, and 19 another year, he is one of the all-time great Astros starters.  Unlucky to have been a rookie the same year as Albert Pujols or he would have won ROY easily.  A great down-home foil to the next two guys.

SP:  Roger Clemens (2004-2006)  It hurts to have him on here, but you cannot deny his importance in the playoff runs in the mid-2000s. 

SP:  Andy Pettitte (2004-2006)  I never liked him, but his 2005 season in particular was too good to leave him off.  My lasting image of him on the Astros is seeing him shout "Oh my God!" from the top step of the dugout when Pujols sent the Lidge pitch into orbit in the 2005 NLCS, which is only funny in retrospect thanks to the next game.

SP:  Wade Miller (2000-2004)  Had some pretty good years, averaging 15 wins over three seasons, then quickly fell off the face of the earth.

SP:  Wandy Rodriguez (2005-2009)  The last surviving member of the 2005 pennant winning team when he was traded in 2012.  He was a good #3 or #4 starter who was forced into being an ace, and did pretty well, when the big guys left.

CL:  Billy Wagner (2000-2003)  Deserves more of a look for the Hall of Fame.  Yes, only 903 innings.  Yes, five teams.  But look at his K/9 and WHIP career records.  At his best he was dominant as any closer.

Notable Performances:

Lance Berkman 2006: .315/.420/.621, 45 HR, 136 RBI, 29 2B, 98 BB, 163 OPS+

Jeff Bagwell 2000: .310/.424/.615, 47 HR, 132 RBI, 37 2B, 9 SB, 107 BB, 152 OPS+

Richard Hidalgo 2000: .314/.391/.636, 44 HR, 122 RBI, 42 2B, 13 SB, 56 BB, 147 OPS+

Moises Alou 2000: .355/.416/.623, 30 HR, 114 RBI, 28 2B, 52 BB, 151 OPS+

Morgan Ensberg 2005:  .283/.388/.557, 36 HR, 101 RBI, 30 2B, 85 BB, 144 OPS+

Roger Clemens 2005:  13-8, 1.87 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 1 CG, 211 IP, 185 K, 226 ERA+

Andy Pettitte 2005: 17-9, 2.39 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 222 IP, 171 K, 177 ERA+

Roy Oswalt 2002: 19-9, 3.01 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 233 IP, 208 K, 144 ERA+

Billy Wagner 2003: 1-4-44, 1.78 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 86 IP, 105 K, 247 ERA+

Brad Lidge 2004:  6-5-29, 1.90 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 95 IP, 157 K, 228 ERA+

Best Trade:

Roger Cedeno, Chris Holt, and Mitch Meluskey to the Tigers for Brad Ausmus, Doug Brocail, and Nelson Cruz (December 11, 2000)

Meluskey got injured and never recovered after a fantastic 2000 season.  Ausmus, in his second stint in Houston, spent 8 years behind the dish and hit one massive playoff home run for the Astros.  That's a good trade.

I thought about putting the Carlos Beltran trade here, but like the Randy Johnson trade he was fantastic but they did not win in the playoffs and he left as a free agent.

Worst Trade:

Billy Wagner to the Phillies for Ezequiel Astacio, Taylor Buccholz, and Brandon Duckworth (November 3, 2003)

Wagner almost had to go after (true) comments he made about management not being willing to pay for a championship.  He remained a good-to-great closer for seven more years.  None of the three pitchers they got lasted more than two years, and none of those years were particularly good.

Another pretty bad one was sending Ben Zobrist to the Rays for Aubrey Huff in 2006.

Best Draft:

2000

            1st round (27th overall) Robert Stiehl - two picks before Adam Wainwright

            2nd round (67th overall) Chad Qualls

            9th round (277th overall) Eric Bruntlett

            19th round (577th overall) Michael Bourn

In another decade of bad drafts, this one at least got them Qualls and Bourn, plus a decent utility player in Bruntlett.

Worst Draft:

2002

It's so bad it's not even worth writing out.  All they got out of it was 35 innings from Mark McLemore (not that one) in 2007.  2003 was also bad since Drew Stubbs, third round pick, did not sign.  2007 was a complete bust as well, but they did not have a pick until the third round.

10 Cloverfield Lane

Fair warning from the start: I cannot write this without major spoilers.  Do not read this if you plan to see this movie, which I highly recommend.

Let me start by saying I am a big fan of Cloverfield.  I like monster movies to begin with, but even the excitement of watching Godzilla or King Kong or whatever monster destroying New York can get played-out.  Cloverfield was different.  It was the first movie I can remember that used an intricate viral campaign to give plenty of very interesting background.  It is probably the best use of "found-footage" in a movie, making it more intimate and "human" than most monster movies.  I especially liked that there was no score, since that would take away from the spectacle, but yet they still got Michael Giacchino to write a fantastic monster movie suite that played during the credits.

There have been rumors of a sequel since even before the first one opened.  There was lots of speculation about what kind of sequel it would be.  Perhaps it would be from the perspective of the military.  Perhaps it would be another found footage film from the guy seen filming on the Brooklyn Bridge (J.J. Abrams rightly pointed out that would ruin the uniqueness of the first).  So when the trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane came out of nowhere a couple of months ago, I was immediately intrigued, but I also wanted to be completely surprised, so I avoided anything that might tell me more.

I went last night, opening night, because I wanted to avoid any spoilers, just as you should, too.

My quick, synopsis review: 10 Cloverfield Lane is an exciting thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end.

Starting this movie completely from the perspective of Michelle was a great move, adding to the suspense and leaving the viewer wondering, just like Michelle, what exactly is going on.  In that way, it is fairly similar to Cloverfield since the audience, like the main character, is trying to piece together the clues as to what is happening.

John Goodman is great and scary and really adds something to the experience.  Is he just a paranoid doomsday prepper/conspiracy theorist?  Is he a crazy Criminal Minds-like kidnapper?  Is he right, and honestly trying to do the right thing by saving Michelle and Emmett?  One of the things I love about the movie is that each one of these scenarios can be right, and in some ways we find out they are.

I also thought the clear three-act storyline worked very well.  First act: set up the mystery.  Second act: they seem to come to peace with the situation and are living as a happy family.  Third act: sow seeds of doubt with the ventilation scene.  It's the third act where the movie really excels, with a great slow-burn that leads to a sudden and unexpected explosion and an intense final 15 minutes.

HERE BE SPOILERS:  So, the ending.  First, the killing of Emmett was completely unexpected for me and left me, like Michelle, kind of reeling.  The escape from the bunker was done well.  It was not too easy for her and you really felt like she could fail.  And what I loved about this movie, when she escapes everyone is wondering what really happened out there.  Now, there is a bit of frustration on my part with some of her rather stupid actions after the reveal of the alien spaceship.  But I did love her response to finding out Howard wasn't completely crazy after all.

I am sure some people will complain about the convenience of her escape from the aliens.  By that time, I figured she had to get away and was not going to be too nit-picky about how.  Then the final great reveal: she's going to Houston!  Finally the countries fourth largest city is seen as an obvious major target for an alien invasion.  It doesn't always have to be New York!

So what does all this have to do with Cloverfield?  On the surface, nothing.  I believe Abrams called it a "blood relative."  There are some connections, corporation names, Howard works in satellites and a crashing satellite woke the Cloverfield monster, etc.  It's pretty obvious there will be more to this story to see whether it is a direct sequel, or just part of an anthology of monster movies from a similar universe.  Either way, I'm very interested to see where this goes.

Again, at the end of the day, this is an exciting thriller that grabs hold of the audience and forces them to wonder what is going on and what will happen next.  This is the definition of a good thriller.  Grade: 8/10

Astros Retrospective: 1990s

Astros By Decade

1990-1999

Rainbow Sleeve Uniforms (1990-1993)

Broken Star with Blue BP Uniform (1994)

Broken Star Uniform (1995-1999)

The 1990s started poorly.  The Astros won 75 and 65 games before finally playing .500 ball in 1992.  There was a minor peak in the strike-shortened season of 1994, followed by three more years of just above .500 play.  1997, however, started the new tradition, making the playoffs but going out easily in the Division Series, which they did three times in a row.  This makes the late-90s and early-00s Astros one of the great collections of talent in baseball history to not win a thing, unless you count two playoff wins in four tries a thing.  Since three of those four times were to the Braves, it helps explain why I dislike them so much.

Interestingly, in the 1990s drafts did more harm than good for the Astros.  How can this be?  I don't want to spoil things, but looking at the drafts all the Astros got over the course of the decade was Lance Berkman, Brad Lidge, Morgan Ensberg, and a handful of other middling Major Leaguers.  How did drafts hurt the Astros?  In the 1992 Expansion Draft they lost Willie Blair (not huge), Butch Henry (who had an excellent 1994 season with Montreal), and Ryan Bowen.  We can live with that.  In the 1997 Expansion Draft, they lost Tom Martin, Russ Springer, and Bobby Abreu.  That one really hurts.  Of course the Devil Rays infamously traded him almost immediately to the Phillies for Kevin Stocker, a shocker (ha!) of a trade.  But still, you say, Berkman, Lidge, Ensberg is better than Abreu, Russ Springer, and Butch Henry.  Well I have one more doozy for you.  In 1999, the Astros left Johan Santana unprotected in for the Rule V draft.  He was taken by the Marlins and traded to the Twins.  Now imagine the mid-2000s Astros with a rotation of Oswalt, Santana, Clemens, and Pettitte, and tell me they don't do more than just lose a World Series.

Record:  813-742, .523

Best Year:  1998 (102-60, 1 of 6, lost NLDS 3-1 to Padres)

Worst Year:  1991, (65-97, 6 of 6)

Team of the Decade:

C:  Tony Eusebio (1991, 1994-1999)  There's a whole lot of turnover at this position, but Eusebio stuck on, at least as part time, for the last six years of the decade.  Did you know he set a then-franchise record 24-game hitting streak in 2000, though it was over 45 Astros games?

1B:  Jeff Bagwell (1991-1999)  Was a surprise starter in 1991, promptly won the Rookie of the Year, and the MVP (unanimous) in 1994.  In fact he was maybe one of the few people who benefited from the strike, since he had broken his hand shortly before it and would have lost his MVP.

2B:  Craig Biggio (1992-1999)  The Astros started experimenting with him in the outfield in 1989, and he finally made the permanent move to second base in 1992 to save his legs.  The ultimate team player, and the greatest Astro to ever live.  Of course it could all been so different had he signed elsewhere as a free agent in 1995.

3B:  Ken Caminiti (1990-1994, 1999)  A defensive genius with a good bat (until he went to San Diego, got some steroids, and became a beast).  Unfortunately his drinking and drug problems got the better of him.

SS:  Andujar Cedeno (1991-1996)  Always a weak spot for the Astros, he at least had a few decent seasons before being traded.

LF:  Luis Gonzalez (1991-1995, 1997)  A guy who could hit a little, but never really found a home until his breakout 2001 season in Arizona.

CF:  Steve Finley (1991-1994)  Great defensively, good offensively, and became much better once he left the team.

RF:  Derek Bell (1995-1999)  One of the "Killer Bs", he never quite lived up to potential.

SP:  Shane Reynolds (1992-1999)  Mr. Consistency, never flashy.  The ultimate professional.  All kinds of cliches, but he was a good one and underappreciated.

SP:  Pete Harnisch (1991-1994)  Only four years, but the first three were very good and the last had a bad injury.

SP:  Mike Hampton (1994-1999)  Was good before but made a huge leap in 1999 which lead to a massive contract that saddled a few teams for years to come as he became a precautionary tale of long term contracts for pitchers.

SP:  Doug Drabek (1993-1996)  More of a star for the Pirates, but his 1994 season was fantastic.

SP:  Darryl Kile (1991-1997)  Had a good 1993 season and a better 1997 season, but the rest of his tenure in Houston was pretty rocky.  Unfortunately his life was cut much too short.

CL:  Billy Wagner (1995-1999)  There were other good relievers for the Astros in the decade, but his 1999 season was by far the best and a sign of things to come.  Was naturally right handed but threw left handed because when he was young he broke his right arm and taught himself to throw from the left side.

Notable Performances:

Jeff Bagwell 1994: .368/.451/.750, 39 HR, 116 RBI, 32 2B, 15 SB, 65 BB, 213 OPS+

Craig Biggio 1997: .325/.403/.503, 20 HR, 88 RBI, 210 H, 51 2B, 50 SB, 64 BB, 139 OPS+

Moises Alou 1998: .312/.399/.582, 38 HR, 124 RBI, 34 2B, 11 SB, 84 BB, 157 OPS+

Carl Everett 1999: .325/.398/.571, 25 HR, 108 RBI, 33 2B, 27 SB, 50 BB, 143 OPS+

Doug Drabek 1994:  12-6, 2.84 ERA, 1.075 WHIP, 6 CG, 165 IP, 121 K, 140 ERA+

Mike Hampton 1999: 22-4, 2.90 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 3 CG, 239 IP, 177 K, 155 ERA+

Darryl Kile 1997: 19-7, 2.57 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 6 CG, 256 IP, 205 K, 156 ERA+

Randy Johnson 1998: 10-1, 1.28 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 4 CG, 84 IP, 116 K, 322 ERA+

Billy Wagner 1999: 4-1-39, 1.57 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 75 IP, 124 K, 287 ERA+

Best Trade:

Larry Andersen to the Red Sox for Jeff Bagwell (August 30, 1990)

One of the most lopsided trades in Major League history.  For the Red Sox I suppose it made sense at the time.  They were in a pennant race and needed a reliever badly, Andersen was having one of the best years of his career.  Remember in the Minors Bagwell was a third baseman, and they still had Hall of Famer Wade Boggs.  Carlos Quintana was their first baseman of the future, and he did have a decent couple of years.  Scott Cooper was their other corner infield prospect.  Bagwell had only six home runs, though forty-eight doubles, in two seasons in the Minor Leagues, so they did not necessarily expect the power to come.  Unfortunately for the Red Sox they were swept in the playoffs and Bagwell turned into one of the greatest all-around first basemen of all time.  Looking back it looks horrible, at the time it kind of made sense.

Consider this: their second best trade of the decade (January 10, 1991) was Glenn Davis for Steve Finley, Pete Harnisch, and Curt Schilling.  Schilling sticks around in Houston and that could be the best in franchise history.

One more excellent trade: November 11, 1997, three nothings for Moises Alou.  Alou spent three seasons in Houston, plus lost all of 1999 due to injury, and they were the three best of his career.

Worst Trade:

Kenny Lofton and Dave Rohde to the Indians for Willie Blair and Ed Taubensee (December 10, 1991)

Oh this one hurts.  Imagine an Astros team through the 90s with Lofton, Biggio, and Bagwell at the top of the lineup.  Taubensee, meanwhile, lasted two below average seasons before being traded to the Reds a month into the 1994 season for Ross Powell (who?) and a minor leaguer.

I can't go without mentioning the huge trade with the Padres December 28, 1994.  Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno, Steve Finley, and two others for Derek Bell, Doug Brocail,  Ricky Gutierrez, Pedro Martinez (not that one), Phil Plantier, and Craig Shipley.  The big "gets" were supposed to be Bell and Plantier.  Bell was good for a couple of years, but not as good as Finley.  Plantier lasted 22 games in Houston before being sent back to San Diego.  Gutierrez was better than Cedeno, but that's not saying much.  The biggest loss was Caminiti, but he had kind of hit a  plateau in Houston, and no one could see the (steroid-backed) 1996 MVP  season coming.  In hindsight this is a bad trade, but even at the time I thought it was a bad trade.  And not just because Caminiti was my favorite player.  But I guess we never would have had the "Killer Bs" without Bell, so there's that.

And where do I put the Randy Johnson trade in 1998?  He came over and had the most dominant second half I have ever seen, but the team flamed out in the Division Series because they could not touch Kevin Brown.  Then he was gone.  They gave up Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen, and John Halama to get him.  Garcia and Guillen had very good careers and certainly could have helped the Astros.  At the time it was almost a steal, and still could have been if Randy had signed with the Astros.  Now looking back, they gave up too much.

Best Draft:

1997

            1st round (16th overall) Lance Berkman

            4th round (130rd overall) Eric Byrnes - did not sign

            20th round (610th overall) Tim Redding

           

That's the best they did?  Yep.  Either this or 1998 with Brad Lidge in the first round and Morgan Ensberg in the ninth round.

Worst Draft:

1990

            1st round (21st overall) Tom Nevers - one before Steve Karsay

            1st round (31st overall) Brian Williams

            2nd round (44th overall) Gary Mota

            3rd round (88th overall) Chris Hatcher - never made it to MLB with Astros

            4th round (114th overall) Perry Berry - within next 20 picks: Garret Anderson, Ray Durham, Bret Boone

            10th round (270th overall) Brian Boehringer - did not sign

            23rd round (608th overall) Jason Varitek - did not sign

Williams never really caught on in Houston, starting 29 games with a 4+ ERA and 1.5+ WHIP over four seasons before being part of the trade with San Diego that was a mixed bag for the Astros.  Plenty of other guys taken who came just before other future big leaguers.  Really just a bad draft.

(Dis) honorable mention: 1991:  First round pick John Burke did not sign, and was taken the next year later in the first round, and ended up only pitching 74 innings with a 6.75 ERA.  They then had three more first round picks and three second round picks, none of whom played.  In fact, the only pick with significant time was James Mouton in the 7th round.  Why was this not worse than 1990?  Mouton was slightly better than Williams, and overall the draft was weaker (though the first round featured Manny Ramirez, Cliff Floyd, and Shawn Green).