April 29, 2008: Astros Shoot for Mediocrity, and Lose

I don’t really need to say too much about the Astros and what they need to do to win.  Read these quotes from Astros players after their 5-3 loss to the Diamondbacks last night.

1. “You have to have good pitching.” – Lance Berkman
2. “We’ve got to get two-out base hits.” – Cecil Cooper
3. “When [Sampson] pitches up, good things are not going to happen.” – Cecil Cooper
4. “That was a bad mistake walking the guy in front of Reynolds.” – Chris Sampson
5. “We ended up walking guys. That’s something we can’t do.” – Cecil Cooper
6. “We just take them a game at a time and come back out here tomorrow and get a victory and at least break even on the road trip. ” – Lance Berkman
7. “Early in the season if you go 4-4 on a tough three-city swing, you’re not doing too badly.” – Lance Berkman

According to these quotes, in order to win in MLB you need:

1. Good pitching
2. 2-out hits
3. Good pitching
4. No walks in front of a slugger
5. No walks at all
6. Try not to lose every game
7. Shoot for mediocrity

Number 7 quite possibly bothers me the most.  4-4 isn’t doing badly?  Shouldn’t we try to win every game and not be satisfied with breaking even? 

I ask you… do you think that the Yankees and Red Sox try to break even on their road trips?

No.

They want to win every game.  They go out there every night expecting to win.  They get on the plane and think to themselves that they are going to sweep the road trip.

Obviously, that isn’t going to happen every time, but I expect my team to shoot for it.

Here is what I wish our guys had said…

1. “Our pitching needs to get better.”
2. “I’m tired of loading the bases and not getting a run home.”
3. “Sampson needs to get better or Ed Wade needs to find us a new pitcher.”
4. “Walks are bad, okay?”
5. “I’m sick and tired of our pitchers walking so many batters.”
6. “I want to win every game.”
7. “Breaking even is not an option.  We should  be winning every series.”

I know the Astros are nice guys and Drayton expects them to behave when talking to the media, but I would really like to see some agression here.  They have every right to be mad about how they have been playing.  Heck, I WANT them to be angry.  You can still be professional while telling a reporter that you have been playing sub-par baseball and you are disappointed in your performance.

Get fired up, Astros!  Go out every night wanting to demolish the other team.  If you don’t have that mindset, then how do you expect to ever get to the World Series again?