Well friends, it was a good effort. We did what we could, but unfortunate events, bad misplays, and poor health ended our season quicker than what we wanted it to. I'm not going to go over the game in detail. There just wasn't a lot that stood out besides the Marwin home run and I don't really want to relive it, so I will turn it over to Tags' recap here.
Before I get started on any Hot Links, I would like to talk what a fun thing I'm adding during Offseason Hot Links. Since the amount of links has a good chance of decreasing since, you know, the Astros won't be playing anytime soon, I am planning on creating online Astros-related quizzes to attach at the end of the Hot Links. There will be no prize, because you could easily just Google the answers. I highly suggest that you don't do that though, because it kind of takes the fun out of the whole thing and c'mon nobody is really going to remember you "the guy who knows everything about the Astros because of his Astros quiz scores" This might decrease the amount of actual links posted on Fridays since I will have to make them from scratch, but it brings more interactivity to the daily posts. Anyways I have a few ideas lined up, so stay tuned for those starting next Friday.
~Now Back To Your Regularly Scheduled Programming~
Was the Justin Verlander trade the best deadline deal in baseball history? Michael Baumann has the answer.
Sure we lost in the ALCS, but it gave us this cool stat.
Remember when Erik Kratz tripped in our 2016 intros? That was on purpose.
2018 playoff games are running long. Is that a problem? Can we fix it?
The Astros were cleared from their sign-stealing allegations and other teams are not happy about the ruling.
No matter how good your team is, you still need at least a little luck on your side.
The fans who tried to catch Altuve's Home Run Ball That Wasn't open up about what they experienced.
There is a report that Lance McCullers was pitching through a torn UCL. LMJ would not comment on the report. Potentially no Keuchel, Morton, and LMJ heading into 2019. We'll see.
Let's start looking at some thoughts about upcoming free agents:
Marwin Gonzalez: I Hot Link'd this video a couple weeks ago and it seems as if Marwin is seen as part of the "core" of Astros, so there is a better chance than not of him returning to Houston. (pls)
Dallas Keuchel: Likely gone. He's going to get paid big money by somebody this free agent season (like the Yankees, probably). He has the 2nd highest 2018 WAR for a free agent pitcher going into this offseason.
Charlie Morton: likely the biggest question mark of them all.
Maldonado and Gattis are both free agents. Which one do we bring back? Or is this Realmuto trade still a thing?
Tony Sipp: Believe it or not, Tony posted a decent 0.9 WAR, but it's good enough for the 7th highest available relief pitcher on the market.
We Might Finally Know What Smacked Uranus Sideways (welcome back, funny headlines. I missed you.)
This is like the third drunk bird story I've shared, but dangit it's just so funny every time.
On This Day in Baseball History
In 1972, the A's beat the Reds 3-2 in Game 4 of the World Series thanks to four 9th inning singles, three of which were hit by pinch hitters.
In 1981, the Expos were eliminated and were never in the playoffs again after Rick Monday hit a 2-out 9th inning home run to move the Dodgers to the World Series.
In 1999, Andruw Jones won the Braves a pennant by taking ball four with the bases loaded in the 11th inning.
In 2004, Alex Rodriguez was called out for interference after swatting the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove. The Red Sox went on to force a Game 7 after winning this game, the first team to ever do so after going down in the series 0-3.
In 2005, the Houston Astros decided they wanted to go play in their first ever World Series.
In 2008, the Rays went on to play in their first ever World Series after defeating the Red Sox 3-1, the first time in franchise history.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
