FREE HUNTER PENCE!!!

March 13, 2007, 9:47PM
Garner says Pence isn't top candidate for RF job

Pence is actually heating up (if that's possible) over his last 8 games:

17 hits, 4 doubles, 1 triple and 3 HRs

.586/.625/1.379 = OPS 2.004

7 Runs & 8 RBIs

1 SB, 1 CS

3BB vs. 2K

So where is he batting in the order:
#6 = 89% of the time
#5 = 5% of the time
#2 = 5% of the time

GET A BRANE MORANS

From today's BP Newsletter:

STAT OF THE DAY

Top 5 2007 NL Center Fielders, by VORP

Player, Team, EqA, VORP

Aaron Rowand, PHI, .320, 19.1
Carlos Beltran, NYN, .317, 18.2
Hunter Pence, HOU, .342, 11.0
Ryan Church, WAS, .298, 9.8
Josh Hamilton, CIN, .286, 8.0
--

more like hunter pimps!

This week's aggregate score so far:

Astros 8, Rangers/Giants/D'backs 53. I cannot remember a worse stretch of Astros baseball since I moved back to H-Town in 1997.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1998/lidgelleaguejj2.jpg

I wish I had found this earlier, it's not so relevant now. He's had a pretty great May: 14 appearances, 1.10 ERA, 0.61 WHIP, 22 K, 4 BB

NL Rookie of the Month

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/4861878.html

I have no idea what is going on here:

http://images.chron.com/photos/2007/06/05/6559476/600xPopupGallery.jpg

butt luv

Did I imagine an article that referenced Dan Wheeler's thinly-veiled racist comments fairly recently?

I have no knowledge of such an article. Did you see him shove Chris Sampson in the dugout Wednesday night?

sorry about Everett's break, but it does force them to maybe play a productive guy at short?

Orlando Palmeiro!

Well, Loretta is playing short tonight, so he's definitely an offensive upgrade. You lose a lot of range there, though. They brought Eric Bruntlett up from AAA, so we'll be see how much playing time he'll get. He's probably somewhere in between Everett and Loretta both offensively and defensively.

Everett had been hitting a lot better the last three weeks or so. His batting avg. had risen nearly 50 point in that time.

So I'm sitting here typing the above message, listening the Mariners-Astros game on the radio. Milo Hamilton was going through a list groups and parties that were out at the ballpark tonight and he just announce there was a group of people at Minute Maid tonigth celebrating the birthday of NED FLANDERS, as well as another group referred to as "MONTGOMERY BURNS and Friends."

And the thing is, this isn't the first time I've heard the Montgomery Burns thing. My guess is somebody in the Astros' group sales office is pulling a funny on the old man.

Also, Biggio just tied Nap Lajoie for 6th on the all-time doubles list. Overall, he's at 2,988 hits.

Up until about a week ago, I had never heard "Lajoie" pronounced out loud. According to the Astros broadcast team, its LA-juh-way.

I'd always heard LA-HO-AY, but I bow to the superior linguistic efforts of the Astros.

Plus, Milo probably saw him play.

Is there a left-handed reliever in the Major Leages worse than Trevor Miller? Oh my gosh, Garner just keeps running him out there over and over and ever freakin' time he pitches he gets his brains beat out. His ERA is only 7.50! Opponents are hitting .301 against him. He comes in tonight in the bottome of 9th inning with 2 out and a runner on 1st and promptly gives up a walk-off run-scoring double to Chone Figgins (his 6th hit of the night).

This team's management keeps talking about turning things around but they're so slow about making changes when it is so obvious where the changes need to happen. What difference does it make if you have a lefty in the pen if his ERA is 7.50? There's got to be somebody at AAA who can do better than that. Get rid of this bum.

BTW, Biggio got hit # 2990 tonight.

The countdown is on.

Haw haw.

For the love of God, he looks like the "there is no spoon" kid.

Biggio tonight:

Hit # 2991 and 2992.

Biggio: #2993.

#2994
#2995
#2996

That last one was a double that drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th.

So, he has 4 to go and the Astros have three games in Milwaukee before their next homestand. I think he's scheduled to sit one of those games out. I calling it a 50/50 chance he'll do it at home over the weekend. If he doesn't do it in Milwaukee, I'll be attending the games this weekend until he does it.

So what happens after 3000? Does Biggio's playing time get reduced?

Hunter Pence's .609 Slugging average is #4 in MLB (behind A-Rod, Magglio and Prince Fielder).

Re: Biggio - he's got a season line of .238 / .279 / .390, so for the Stros' sake, I sure as hell hope his PT is reduced once he gets his stats.

As for Pence, he's actually not on the list, if you look @ qualified leaders. He's only got 214 PAs (as opposed to the 300+ PA most of the dudes on the list have), but he's bound to show up in a week or two - I'm assuming he'd need to average 3 PA / game played to actually qualify, meaning he's 9 PAs behind right now. The fact that he has a grand total of SEVEN walks to his name to date, tho, makes me think he's gonna hit the skids soonish & fall back down to a more expected level of sluggery.

Minor League Totals (3 seasons of A and AA):
308 games, 1175 ABs
.302 / .376 / .556 = .932
229 Ks vs. 139 BBs
SBs: 29 of 43 SBs (AA = 17 of 21)
Fielding: 1 error vs. 183 put outs (109 games with fielding stats recorded), 11 assists (3 double plays)

don't call him a Francoeur
he knows how to walk!

Well, the CW at the start of the season was that Biggio would play almost everyday untill he got to 3000 and then would share time with Chris Burke and/or Mark Lorretta.

BUT...I'm less confident that plan will be followed through now, based on Garner's insistence on keeping Biggio in the lead-off slot even when he was hitting under .220 with an OBP around .250.

#2997

Scheduled for a day off tomorrow.

Karl Ravech, just now: "What Jeter is to the Yankees, Craig Biggio is to the Astros."

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? They have to couch him in terms of the fucking Yankees? For fuck's sake.

Oh, I think I understand it now.

Congrats, Craig, even though you're really no Derek Jeter since the Astros are no Yankees.

i congratulate mr. biggio.

THEY SAID IT AGAIN FFS

What a great game for Biggio to get 3000 hits.

I know everybody knows already, but I've got to finish the countdown:

#2998
#2999
#3000
#3001
#3002

Wow, he just didn't stop! 5-for-6 on the night. #3000 drove in a run to tie it in the 9th. The last one was a two-out, bases-empty infield hit to short to start a rally that would end with a Carlos Lee walk-off grand slam.

I'll try to get some pics posted soon.

#3000
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4PJ-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQnGxnolxoQnxv8uOc5xQQQ0n0JnJan0nqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeo%7CRup6lQQ%7C/of=50,590,442

http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4P0-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQnGxnolxoQnxv8uOc5xQQQ0n0JnJanlPqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeP%7CRup6lQQ%7C/of=50,590,442

http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6lQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4P0-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQnGxnolxoQnxv8uOc5xQQQ0n0JnJanGGqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeP%7CRup6aQQ%7C/of=50,332,442

Biggio and Bagwell

Biggio and Bagwell

http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup6aQQ%7C%3Dup6RKKt%3AxxWtUq4P0-ofrj%3DQofrj7t%3DzrRfDUX%3AeQaQxg%3Dr%3F87KR6xqpxQQnGxnolxoQnxv8uOc5xQQQ0n0JnJanJPqpfVtB%3F*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPeP%7CRup6lQQ%7C/of=50,590,442

#3000 drove in a run to tie it in the 9th.

That should be the 7th inning.

I heard 3,000 was a total gift from the hometown scorer.

steve shasta, professional partypooper

just sayin'!

NO wait, 3000 was the one where he got gunned down at 2nd for getting greedy.

boldbury, which was the one where he hit it to third and the guy bobbled it.

Oh I'm in a pig-bitin' mood - some ESPN Radio asshat (sitting in for Mike and/or Mike - Eric Kausillias (sp), I think) was saying he's not quite sure that Biggio belongs in the Hall of Fame (despite the 3K & his endless hustle) because of his lack of star power.

EAT BALLS ASSHAIR

#2999 was the one that was questionable. The 3B lunged to his right and made a clean grab. The ball was well hit and he had plenty of time for the throw, so it seemed like he took and extra tick to gather himself for a strong throw and just air-mailed it into the stands. After seeing it in live action, I thought it was an E5. The replays look like Bidge reached the bag about the same time as the ball would have, so I think it was a goodacceptable scoring decision.

Oh I'm in a pig-bitin' mood - some ESPN Radio asshat (sitting in for Mike and/or Mike - Eric Kausillias (sp), I think) was saying he's not quite sure that Biggio belongs in the Hall of Fame (despite the 3K & his endless hustle) because of his lack of star power.

And the rub there is the amount of influence ESPN has in deciding who is a star and who isn't. Effectively, what he is saying is, "Biggio has Hall-of-Fame type numbers, but since he plays in Houston and not New York or Boston or the West Coast, we didn't show his highlights all that much, so he probably doesn't really deserve to make the Hall." It goes hand-in-hand with the comments above in which Karl Ravetch felt he needed to somehow explain Biggio's accomplishments in terms of related to the Yankees in order for his viewers to understand.

Obviously Kausillias has never asked a Houston resident what kind of star power Craig Biggio has. I guess it only matters what an average Joe in Bristol might think.

And FWIW, whenever this douchebag says his name on the radio, I think he's saying "Erica Sillious".

Hunter Pence entered the NL batting race today in second place behind Matt Holliday, .349 to .346.

...and he now leads going into the all star break.

way to go underpants!

Under Pants out 4-6 weeks.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/4992518.html

:-(

Morgan Ensberg DFA'd.

Obvoiusly the result of acquiring Ty Wiggington on Saturday for Dan Wheeler. That trade is a gigantic WTF!!!!???? Surely there will be more moves if they unloaded Wheeler for a journeyman 3B. If that's the best Purp can pull off, he should be fired one minute past the trade deadline.

Are you saying that's a bad trade? Wiggington's had a pretty good year so far - whereas Wheeler's been pretty scetchy, no?

I'd rather have Wigs than Ensberg at this point. I think Ensberg needs a new batting coach or a change of scenery or something.

I'm not saying that's a bad trade, just that I don't see how it makes the Astros significantly better for next year and beyond. The point of being a "seller" at the trade deadline is to get some young talent that should help you in the near future. Wigginton just seems to be a journeyman type that might be an upgrade for the short-term but not somebody Garner and his successors will be penciling into the lineup for the next 5-to-10 years.

Getting younger is great, but if you can't, getting more flexibility is also smart. I still don't really know where Wigs plays for this team though. Lamb is 3B and Berkman is 1B, right? Wigs is a terrible 2B (and a terrible 3B, for that matter).

he also plays the OF (poorly I'd imagine), no?

Has this ever happened before?

A walk-off wild pitch that scored the winning run from second base (aided by the ball rolling into the dugout and the runner being awarded home plate)?

Roy-O Cameo at 2:14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qPcmNdduVU

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3qPcmNdduVU";></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3qPcmNdduVU"; type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Sorry about the code. I guess we can't embed You Tube videos.

Out with Garner and Big Purp, in with Cecil Cooper.

oh no PERP!

Personally, I would have liked to have seen Purp fired but Garner stay, but I could really go either way on Gar. I'm pretty excited about Cecil Cooper, though. I think I have his 1987 Topps card. Maybe I should dig it out for good luck.

Not signing his top two draft picks was probably what finally did Purpura in. Also, at the ceremony honoring Biggio for 3000 hits two Sundays ago, Purpura got booed when he was introduced and then it happened again yesterday at the ceremony to retire Bagwell's number.

Was it just a coincidence that he gets fired the same day?

Wigs is a terrible 2B (and a terrible 3B, for that matter).

-- polyphonic, Tuesday, July 31, 2007 4:33 PM

Actually, he's been pretty steady at 3rd so far. And he always seems to be involved with scoring innings in one way or another. I'm happy with him so far, especially after his 8th-inning 2-run bomb to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Pie-roots yesterday.

I guess from Boston's point-of-view, the upside of trading Jeff Bagwell for Larry Andersen all those years ago was that Bagwell didn't show up at Fenway to have his number retired wearing this shirt.

http://images.chron.com/photos/2007/08/24/7619285/600xPopupGallery.jpg

Actually, he's been pretty steady at 3rd so far. And he always seems to be involved with scoring innings in one way or another. I'm happy with him so far, especially after his 8th-inning 2-run bomb to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Pie-roots yesterday.

Yeah, after I posted that I watched him play a bit, and he seems way better than his stats would suggest. I'll admit to judging him mostly on his numbers.

Aug 30 Pence hit leadoff in the Astros' win over the Cardinals on Wednesday, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Recommendation: Interim manager Cecil Cooper cited Pence's .349 OBP as the reason to hit him in the leadoff spot over Craig Biggio, whose OBP is a paltry .286. "He's a kid that is pretty aggressive," Cooper said of Pence. "His on-base percentage is, I think, near the .350 mark. So you kind of want that guy up there to have an on-base percentage somewhere in that area." Cooper's comments suggest Pence will remain in the leadoff spot, although it's not a guarantee.

way2go4u coach

HOUSTON ASTROS LEADOFF HITTER AND ALL-AROUND AGGRESSIVE KID HUNTER PENCE HIT TWO RUNS AND KNOCKED IN FIVE RBI

From the Astros MLB site:

Notes: Dedicated Backe back Tuesday, Astros go with SIX-man rotation

Impressive: Backe's return will fall three days short of the one-year mark since he underwent Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.

Bizarro: For the time being, the Astros will employ a six-man rotation, but that doesn't mean every starting pitcher will receive regular work.

Ace righty Roy Oswalt is going to pitch every fifth day, no matter what. Veteran Woody Williams can expect a similar schedule. All other starters -- Backe, Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Wandy Rodriguez -- will fill out the remaining days.

Hunter Pence hit his 28th double of the season Monday, Sept. 3, against the Milwaukee Brewers. This marks ties Pence with 1B Lance Berkman and OF Luis Gonzalez for the most doubles in one season in club history.

not bad for a late-april rookie call-up who spent 3 weeks on the DL...

JR Towles

Towles began the year with the Single-A Salem Avalanche, then the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, and by the end of the minor league season, was with the Triple-A Round Rock Express. He played a total of 100 games in the minor leagues and batted .287 with 11 home runs. Towles had his contract purchased by the Astros on September 4, 2007.

On September 20, 2007, Towles set a Houston Astros club record with 8 RBIs going 4-4 with a single, a double, a ground-rule double and a homerun (and a base on balls).

was HBP 3x in one game...

perhaps more telling: was drafted by Beane/Depodesta in 2002-2003 and opted not to sign.

Hey, I don't know if anybody noticed, but the Astros hired a general manager today.

Never forget to bring a Towles.

uh, yeah. ed wade? sorry, dude.

http://jrtowles.net/bracelet.jpg

These cool wrist bands are an exciting way to promote the unique message JR and staff had come up with. In a score book for baseball an "IBB" is an intentional walk. What a wonderful thought to have an "IBB" by your name in the book of Life, as you travel on your "Intentional Walk with Jesus".

GAY

SIDES HURT SO BAD RIGHT NOW

uh, yeah. ed wade? sorry, dude.

Yeah, I've got mixed feelings on it. On the one hand, he signed and developed a lot of talented players that are now major contributors at the Major League level (Howard, Utley, Hammels). On the other hand, the Phillies never made the postseason during his tenure as GM (although I personally believe that may have more to do with Larry Bowa). On the third hand, he's a Tal Smith protege, which means the Astros went through this whole dog and pony show of interviewing 11 candidates just to hire the guy that Uncle Drayton's right-hand man already knew everything about.

Since I'll be in Houston this week for a conference, I'm going to go to Craig Biggio Rainbow Sleeve Jersey T-Shirt night on Friday.

boldbury (and/or other resident ILBB Houstonites), wanna go? I'm not sure how good the game's going to be, but I bet it'll be better than "Managing Stakeholder Feedback," "Using Data to Make Critical Design Decisions," and every other ultra-exciting panel I've got to attend.

Wade is responsible for virtually every good player on the current Phillies roster. Gillick traded Thome for Rowand about 15 days after he was hired, but just about everyone else (Ruiz, Howard, Utley, Rollins, Thome who begat Rowand, Victorino, Myers, Kendrick, Burrell ... as an assistant Wade pushed hard for the acquisition of Abreu ... I mean, that's a pretty good team and comprised mainly of players developed by the Phillies internally. He made some bad moves, but what other GM can claim to have developed so many decent major league players in such a short time?

wanna go?

Maybe. Who are you?

<i>Maybe. Who are you?</i>

Hah, sorry. ex-"d4niel c0hen" or some variation thereof ca. old-ILX (mostly posting on this board, mothballed yardworker, etc.), been generally lurking since the switchover for a bunch of reasons. Email me at danielcohen at gmail dot com if you wanna talk plans. Getting on a plane in a few hours.

Brad Lidge traded with Eric Bruntlett to Phillies for Michael Bourne, Mike Costanzo, and Geoff Geary.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5283755.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Answer-Man-Hunter-Pence-on-glass-doors-World-o;_ylt=AifNFrHt0bhdSDBG.rAktRIRvLYF?urn=mlb,76154

blerg

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/tools/med/2008/04/ipt/1207822149.jpg

mets extra innings is taking its toll on me what say you hunter?

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/tools/med/2008/04/ipt/1207822149.jpg

^^this is why you're batting .150!!!!

NOT HOLDING BAT RIGHT

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwJUnQaUAAAMf0c.jpg:small

is mike pence his dad thanks

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ee8mV8TUcAAwK8u?format=jpg&name=small

*twitches nervously*

DF... with nowhere to assign him, I guess he's just cut?

.096/.161/.250
2 HR
6 RBI

probably send him to the alternate training site/sacramento if no one claims him

Hunter Pence is out in McCovey Cove today on a boat holding a "Let's Go Giants" sign.

— Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) September 27, 2020

<3

Video!

http://www.mlb.com/video/hunter-pence-s-boat-party

https://www.mlb.com/video/hunter-pence-s-boat-party

(Gotta leave the 's' on.)

I think Hunter Pence's Boat Party is a great name for a band.