RIP Astros 2016

The Astros are 75-70.  They are 4.5 games back in the Wild Card with 17 games left to go.  There are five teams ahead of them.  The West is much worse (11.5 games back).  It is time to put the final nail in the coffin.  It's time to pack it up and start thinking about next year.  2016 is done.

But let's be honest, it was done way back in April.  The dug themselves a huge hole starting 7-17.  Yes, they had a great June, going 18-8.  Everything was clicking.  The problem is, May, July, and August were all about .500 months.  September they are 4-8 so far.  It's hard to make the playoffs with one terrible month, one great month, and three mediocre months, especially in the tough AL.  It's darn near impossible to do well going 3-15 against a division opponent.  Speaking of that division opponent, the Astros just happen to be going up against one of the luckiest teams in baseball history (it's been documented elsewhere).  They are 33-10 in one run games, despite the worst bullpen in the American League.  They are 12 games over their pythagorean W-L record.  Don't give me the "they've overcome so many injuries," most of those injuries helped them (i.e. Prince Fielder).

Enough about the team that makes my blood boil.  What happened with the Astros?

Inconsistency is a big problem.  At the beginning of the season, the pitching was holding the team together.  Now that the offense is straightened out (June was the one month they were more or less together), the pitching has taken a huge dive.  Doug Fister went from a 3.55 ERA and 1.241 WHIP to 5.20 ERA and 1.609 WHIP.  Collin McHugh from 3.76/1.352 to 6.04/1.645.  Mike Fiers from 4.35/1.355 to 5.09/1.440.  Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers improved in the second half, but for Keuchel it for both it was hard to get worse and both have been injured.

  All that being said, the pitching staff totals are still Top 5 in the league.  So what else?

Nobody has stepped up to be that ace closer.  This is where I have to disagree with the Sabrmetric idea of "anyone can close."  Luke Gregerson has good overall numbers, but he is 14/19 in save opportunities.  Ken Giles, again good overall numbers, 10/14 in save opportunities.  Will Harris, gangbusters and deserved All Star as a setup man, 12/15.  The Astros are at 68% save percentage, just below league average but bottom 5.  18 blown saves ties them for third worst.  To show how it's closers only while the rest of the bullpen has been good if not great: they are second in the league with holds (89).

Oh yeah, and then there was the complete lack of anything at the trade deadline.  We need a bat in the outfield?  We need a closer?  Something?  Let's stand pat and just get rid of a couple of unnecessary arms (Feldman and Fields).  Meanwhile, let's watch our biggest rival fill our two biggest holes with a steal of a trade with the Brewers to get one of the best hitting catchers in the game and a closer.  Great job there.  Really proved to the fans and the team that we're in it to win it.  Though, maybe it was for the best given the trade history of our current front office (do I need to start the litany again of the Giles, Fowler, Gomez, etc. trades?)

I've ignored the offense to this point because, in general, they've greatly improved in the second half (though, unfortunately, Jose Altuve has been on a dreadful cold spell the last few weeks).  Much of this is because of fresh faces finally making a difference (remember my complaint about the young hitters in the first half?).  Alex Bregman, who I was ready to hang after a 1-22 start, has steadily improved and now looks like a solid 3B.

  Yuli Gurriel has been hitting since he was called up and finally added some power.

  Probably the best thing that happened was the two big minuses: Carlos Gomez off the team and a couple of lengthy injuries to Colby "Most Streaky Hitter Ever" Rasmus.  Oh yes, and again Evan Gattis hits like crazy when he catches.

So, some bright spots.  What to do?  Here are three keys for the off season:

1. Get a legitimate closer.  I would love to see them bring Mark Melancon back to Houston.  Of course Aroldis Chapman would be good on the field, but I don't love his price tag nor his off field problems.  Kenley Jansen would be another good free agent option.

2. Cut the deadweight.  I would have a hard time resigning any of the team's free agents.  Colby Rasmus has to go.  Luis Valbuena is definitely not needed.  We can find a replacement for Jason Castro (Gattis is not a full time answer.  Wilson Ramos, maybe?).  Doug Fister is the only one I would think about resigning, but only if cheap.

3.  Find an actual first baseman.  What is supposed to be the premier offensive position is one of the worst on the team, with .234/.300/.393 splits and only 18 home runs.  The OPS+ is a dreadful 87, 13% worse than league average.  That cannot happen on a team that wants to make the playoffs.  Heck, even Chris Carter was better than that last year (let's not talk about his 34 HR season this year).  Marwin Gonzalez cannot be the everyday guy.  Tyler White and A.J. Reed for whatever reason can't do it, at least not yet.  The best option might be having Gurriel go full bore this off season to play over there.  If they don't get a 1B replacement, they will need to get an outfield bat.

Right now, here's what I would like to see going into next season:

C: FA?/Gattis/Stassi

1B: Gurriel

2B: Altuve

3B: Bregman

SS: Correa

LF: FA/Teoscar Hernandez/Tucker

CF: FA/Marisnick

RF: Springer

DH: Gattis

Rotation: Keuchel, McHugh, McCullers, Feliz, Musgrove (Fister)

Closer: Melancon

Bullpen: Gregerson, Giles, Harris, Sipp, Devenski

There's always next year...

Teaching Parish Assignment

This weekend I was able to spend time in my new weekend assignment.  At St. Francis de Sales Seminary, we have a "Teaching Parish."  This will be our "home away from...seminary" for our four years of Theology.  To keep me in the Diocese of Madison, the powers that be chose for me St. Joseph's in Fort Atkinson.  It's a decently long 75 minutes away.

 Unfortunately it was difficult to get a good picture inside because the outside light streaming in makes it look darker than it was.

 This mosaic was in the "old" church behind the altar.  The "old" church was built in the 1960s and was praised as one of the "most modern" at the time.  So the new church is a great improvement.

The church is going through a bit of a transition with the new pastor (assigned last year).  He is a good man who cares for the Church, his people, and the Truth.  I think we will get along just fine.

I arrived around noon on Saturday.  Mass was at 5:00, with Confessions starting at 4:00.  We got there at 3:00 for a bit of a tour and to prepare for everything.  The new church is only 11 years old, so not so old that it's modern-ugly, but not so new that it's retro-beautiful.  Somewhere in between, and that's fine.  Sunday Masses are at 8:00 and 10:00.  A nice addition from the new pastor: they pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet after each Mass, with each of the five servers taking a set.

The pastor had me introduce myself after each of the Masses this weekend.  I gave a brief 1-2 minute history of myself and why I'm there.  The people all seemed to be excited to see me.  It's amazing how, even in this fairly small corner of the diocese, there were people with connections.  One family had a wife that went to that little school in Austin, and the husband went to University of North Texas.  They had lived in Houston, and asked me what part.  "Spring."  "Get out!  Which church?"  "Christ the Good Shepherd."  "GET OUT!  Our children had all their sacraments there!"  An amazingly small world.

One of the best parts of the weekend was after dinner Saturday, the pastor got a call by a family that needed a visit.  I don't want to go into details here, but it was a real experience to remind me why we are needed.

So this will be my weekend home for the next four years.  There are only two small difficulties.  One: the distance.  Two: the pastor is not a sports fan and has no television.  This means little if any Aggie football for the next four years (I was only able to catch the very end of overtime this Saturday, but at least it was a happy end).  I guess God has to teach me something.

Another Busy Month: August

It's been awhile since I really got to post much here.  What have I been doing?  Glad you asked.

August has been incredibly busy.

July ended with my move out of my summer assignment to my parents' house, temporarily of course.  The first few days of that week consisted of me packing, first for our Seminarian Gathering, then for seminary.  I had been helping to plan our Gathering all summer, so Wednesday was our last day to get ready before it started.  Mostly it was a trip to the store to buy a whole lot of drinks and some food.  We then had to move it from the van to the room where we would be meeting.  And, because I don't think ahead, I was wearing pants and a polo.  And it was about 90 degrees.  That was a fun day.

Our Gathering started on the 4th with a good talk by someone from the Tribunal, followed by a trip to paintball.  It was my first time paintballing, and it was a lot of fun, despite the heat and humidity and the long pants and shirt.  In fact, on our first "mission," I was the last one out, largely because I had no idea what I was doing so I just stayed in the back.  It almost worked.  I only got two bad hits, one on the top of my head, and one on the collarbone.  Overall, it was a good time.

Friday was a day of a few talks, one by our vocation director and one by our bishop, which is always a good time.  We also had a Jeopardy! game made by one of the seminarians focusing on the history of the diocese.  It was a lot of fun, though I was the judge of who raised their hand first so I was the enemy.

Saturday was our pilgrimage.  This year it was focused on Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, an Italian priest who founded a number of churches in southwest Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois.  He was a true pioneer priest, even drawing the plans for many of the churches.  First we went to St. Augustine in New Diggings.  Built in the 1840s, it was restored recently to look exactly as it had 170 years ago.  We had Mass there, Extraordinary Form, which was fantastic.  They even rang the bell for us.

Next, we headed over to Sinsinawa Mounds, home of the Sinsinawa Dominican Sister who were founded by Fr. Mazzuchelli.  In their heyday, they were the largest order in the United States, numbering nearly 2000!

 Painting of Fr. Mazzuchelli when he entered seminary, around age 17

 After he died, he was found wearing this penitential chain around his waist

The habit Sinsinawa Dominican sisters used to wear

We then trekked over to St. Patrick's Church in Benton, the final resting place of Fr. Mazzuchelli.  Holy Hour there was a treat, even if the A/C wasn't working.

 He had a great devotion to Our Lady, Queen of Sorrows

We finished the pilgrimage with dinner at the house of a major benefactor for the diocese.  His farm includes a nice chapel, Stations of the Cross, various statues, and a huge rosary.  What a great man.

Sunday brought us Mass with the bishop, a fantastic brunch, and then the priest/seminarian soccer game in Sauk City.  The seminarians won, of course, 4-2.

Monday was another big event for us.  We had a golf tournament with some of the priests from the diocese as well as some local benefactors.  This took place at the Janesville Country Club, which is the oldest country club in Wisconsin and something like the fourth oldest in the United States.  My group did not do very well, but we still had fun.

Tuesday was picture day!  Always a favorite day.  We also had an event with major benefactors of the vocation office.  And we finished on Wednesday with a talk on the importance of learning Latin as priests of the Latin Rite.  What a concept!

After a half day of "rest" at home, it was move-in day at the seminary on Thursday.  Busy busy busy, but the people here were great about helping make it feel like home.

 My new home

The seminary used to have a baseball team!  Of course, they also used to have 400 seminarians 

Friday the 12th began orientation.  Like most places, it's that "necessary evil" to learn the ropes.  One among many interesting facts, it was built in 1855, making it the oldest continually operated seminary in the United States.  So that was my next week.  One of the highlights was Monday, the Feast of the Assumption.  We went over to the cathedral to help out at the Open Door Cafe, a fantastic organization that feeds 5000 lunches every year at no cost.  We also got a tour of the cathedral.  The less said the better.

Milwaukee cathedral circa 1940s 

That afternoon, thanks to the feast day, we had our only real block of time free for two weeks (or three for me).  I took that time to see Suicide Squad, because I had to.  My short review: despite some great performances by Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, and especially Will Smith, it was one of the most disappointing movies in awhile.  The editing was horrific, and the villain was a Marvel-like throwaway villain, only more laughable.  I'm going to blame the studio for at least a little bit of that.

Our orientation ended with a trip to a lake house on Saturday.  It was a nice, relaxing time for some of us.  Others went crazy playing volleyball and soccer. 

Sunday morning we were free to attend Mass wherever we wanted.  I decided to head over to St. Stanislaus, where my great (great?) uncle was the pastor in the 1880s/1890s.  This former Polish church is now run by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.  It was a Low Mass, and I have to admit to feeling a little emotional thinking that I was in the same space as my ancestor, listening to the same Mass that he would have celebrated.

Then Sunday afternoon we headed to our yearly silent retreat in Illinois.  It was a good retreat, focusing on the Beatitudes.  As always, the most important part of the retreat is the personal time with God.  I was able to finish Cardinal Sarah's book, which was inspiring.

And now I'm back in the seminary.  Classes begin Monday.  I'm ready to start theology!

The Case for ad orientem

During the Sacra Liturgia conference being held in London on July 5, Robert Cardinal Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, made some comments that sent ripples through the Roman Catholic Church.  Not for the first time, he recommended that priests celebrate the Mass "ad orientem," which literally means "towards the East."  This is as opposed to the "versus populum" celebration we most typically see today.  He further recommended that this begin on the first Sunday of Advent, for reasons I will explain.  As of yet, there has been no official change.  By why would the Church want the priest to celebrate the Mass "with his back towards the people" as some say?  There are four main arguments that I would like to highlight.

First, there is the argument of precedent.  To fully make this argument would take more time than I have here.  Essentially, if we look at the history of the Liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, Mass, and indeed all prayer, was always celebrated facing the East up until roughly fifty years ago.  There were a few reasons, but in essence it was because all people were to be facing the Lord, the focus of the Mass, and He was to come from the East.  This, by the way, is why Cardinal Sarah recommended the change be made in Advent, the time when we most explicitly anticipate the coming of the Lord.  The other argument of precedent is that all other Catholic rites, the Tridentine Mass or the Extraordinary Form, the Ordinariate, as well as all Eastern Catholic rites, celebrate Mass "ad orientem."  Only the "Novus Ordo," the new Mass coming from the Second Vatican Council, allows for Mass to be said "versus populum," and even then it is a choice.  Returning to Mass "ad orientem" would be a return to history and in solidarity with all other Catholics.  (For more on this topic, I highly recommend Uwe Michael Lang's Turning Towards the Lord.)

Second, there is the spiritual argument.  This is where many people may ask, "why is the priest turning his back to us?"  The important thing is to think of "ad orientem" as the priest leading the people facing the Lord, in the form of the crucifix behind the altar.  There is also a practical side to this argument.  Priests, and all those at the altar, are humans.  Humans can get distracted.  If the priest is facing the people, any number of things can distract him from what should be the focus of the Mass: God.  If, however, the priest is facing Christ, his attention is completely focused on Christ.  I can also say this applies to the people in the pews.  Instead of watching every movement of the priest and being distracted by his movements or his clothing or anything else, they, too, can focus completely on Christ.

Third, there is the argument of translation.  In the original Latin of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (the document that guides all Liturgical worship), paragraph no. 299 states "Altare extruatur a pariete seiunctum, ut facile circumiri et ineo celebratio versus populum peragi possit, quod expedit ubicumque possibile sit."  The English translation has this as "The altar should be built separate from the wall, in such a way that it is possible to walk around it easily and that Mass can be celebrated facing the people, which is desirable wherever possible."  Thus, it sounds as though Mass "versus populum" is desirable.  The problem is that this is a bad translation, as many Latin scholars have noted.  The final clause beginning with "quod" actually refers to the first part of the sentence, and thus more accurately means "the altar should be built separate from the wall, which is desirable wherever possible," etc. 

Finally, there is the argument from the Missal itself.  Numerous times it remarks that the priest at certain points is facing the people.  This would not be necessary to mention if he were already doing so.  The final indication is that when the priest consumes the Body of Christ, he is to be "facing the altar," as opposed to facing the people.  Again, if facing the altar meant facing the people, there would be no reason to distinguish the two.

This is not to say that celebrating Mass "versus populum" is wrong, since clearly it is the norm now.  Whether the Mass is said "ad orientem" or "versus populum" at the moment is up to the discretion of the priest.  It will be interesting to see if any changes or further recommendations will be made.