Hey, I think the Astros lifted this design

Two nights ago Orbit ran around the field waving a flag. It was cool.

Orbit's #RallyFlag => pic.twitter.com/QG0P9zqi4a
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 15, 2015

But something looked familiar. Back in August 2014 I asked the Crawfish Boxes' Ryan Dunsmore - graphic designer extraordnaire (you may remember his work from the Rodon Warning graphic he graciously let us add to some posts in 2013-14) - to do this...

I commissioned this from the incredible: @d_more55 pic.twitter.com/rxpaqF63nF
— Thickie Don (@AstrosCounty) August 7, 2014

He even did one with a blue background very similar to the one you see in the flag above. And that was a variation on another design he put up in June 2014 on the Crawfish Boxes.

So...hey Astros....it's entirely possible that this is all just a coincidence. But you should probably hire Dunsmore, or at least throw him some partial credit, or some tickets. Or let him take an inning at DH.

The Astros County Ice Bucket Challenge

The fine folks at the Crawfish Boxes challenged Astros County to the Ice Bucket...Challenge. So here it is.

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

While we try to figure out what to write next, Czech out these lynx:

*#AstrosCatfish.

*Bo Porter is still pissed about the 2012 NLDS, and sees similarities between that Nationals team and the 2014 Astros.

*Grantland, and SI, on George Springer

*Anthony Bass is close to going on a rehab assignment, Jose Veras threw a bullpen session in Kissimmee, and a cable provider is looking to drop CSN Houston.

*Here is a fantastic article on how Brent Strom overhauled Shane Reynolds...in Venezuela in 1991.

*There will soon be more security measures in place at Minute Maid Park.

*Here is a newspaper that thinks David Carpenter still pitches for the Astros.

*Former Astro Carlos Pena signed a minor-league deal with the Rangers.

*Rough week in baseball. Here is a touching tribute to Richard Durrett. Rest in Peace, and pray for his family and friends.

TCB interviews Mike Fast

The Crawfish Boxes interviewed baseball analyst/sabermagician/Astros employee Mike Fast today. There's a lot of good stuff, and while we're exceptionally jealous, we're not going to pull from any of it, so you have to go over there and read the whole thing for yourselves.

Crawfish Boxes, on the Brothers/Bogusevic AB

Here's some great work by the Crawfish Boxes on the crucial Brian Bogusevic vs. Rex Brothers AB from yesterday.

Crawfish Boxes on statistics

We've made no effort to move in on The Crawfish Boxes' corner of statistical analysis. Astros County is more like the New York Post of Astros blogs - snappy headlines, seedy content - and that's totally fine with us (Trostel is, by far, better than I at statistical analysis, as well as prospect breakdowns).

We link to this excellent piece from David Coleman about Predictive Stats vs. Illustrative Stats on WAR and BABIP - as BABIP took quite the hit yesterday in the comments section of the Chapman piece. Read at your leisure.

TCB's Injury Report

The Other Astros Fan in Nashville, otherwise known as Brooks (Subber10), has an excellent look at the injuries of Sergio Escalona and Humberto Quintero.

Thoughts from the Crawfish Boxes

Here are some good thoughts from the Crawfish Boxes on the events of the last 12 hours.

Your money quote:
I know Crane got the $70 million for negotiating in the months between the July vote and the November confirmation. He probably was able to then use some of that savings to justify eating two years of Wade's contract. But, it still stinks. Selig ramrodded this whole AL move down the Houston franchise's throat and it cost him more than just money. It cost him time.

Crawfish Boxes bring(s) it

Here's a good piece from TCB on the comeback that wasn't, in 2006.

On writing about a bad team

TCB/SBN's David Coleman has a fantastic piece on how to write about a bad team (cough, Astros, cough).

It seems as though we are all in agreement

SBN Houston/Crawfish Boxes' David Coleman has a good piece on Mills and his upcoming tendency to sit Brett Wallace.

Coleman:
We're just seeing a bad side of Brad Mills. Like Jimy Williams, it appears that Mills can't or won't develop young players. That's the only real explanation for why Wallace would lose playing time at this point.

The more I think about this, the more livid I get. The possibility of going from a 110-loss team with Wallace in the lineup to a 100-loss team without him is not enough to justify sitting him. The Astros should be leaving everyone under the age of 26 in the lineup, regardless of matchups/stamina/ability, etc. Have a question about whether or not Chris Johnson can hit? Give him 600 PAs at 3B, and you'll know for 2012. Same thing with Wallace. Take this "opportunity" to see what you have, and use that information going forward.

INBOX!

We don't get a lot of questions to the old inbox, but we did get this, from Citizen Ramy:

How come you don't do more draft projections?

Well, Ramy, it's mainly because it's kind of a crapshoot. And we don't know much about it. And, because the Crawfish Boxes are pretty much slaying it over on their site. We're terrible at projections, other than making some inferences and deductive reasoning based on past performances, but that's pretty much why.

Crawfish Boxes on J.A. Happ

TCB has a good look at J.A. Happ in this piece.

Sizing up Jordan Lyles

The Crawfish Boxes has a good comparison of Jordan Lyles' minor-league numbers with established MLB pitchers' minor-league numbers.

I had thought about doing this, but turns out I was too lazy. Glad they took it on...

The Constable joins The Crawfish Boxes

...for an hour, anyway. TCB invited The Constable to chime in for their first podcast of the season. Czech it out.

Crawfish Boxes are mad as hell at Gene Coleman

And it makes sense as to why.

Apparently, Gene Coleman has the Astros doing squats on the machine, and not with free weights. If I was even in the 10th percentile of being in shape, this might mean something to me. But the outrage displayed by David Coleman sounds right to me.

And Deputy Jason, who is the closest thing we have to a centaur on earth, says:
Free weight squats are the one exercize all of our players should be doing. There is no better full body lift, period.

Bad form (get it?) by the Astros.

Nice piece on Bogusevic

The Crawfish Boxes have a nice piece on the development of Brian Bogusevic:

Your close:
He is not done developing, and heading into what many consider the prime years of a player he has an opportunity to really surprise some people.

After all, we said the same thing about Chris Johnson a year ago.

What - Drayton doesn't love Astros County?

So Rich Malley interviewed Alyson Footer and there was an interesting exchange:

What kind of relationship do you have with the Astros fan sites?

Well, we like them. We are pro fan blogs. We have three main ones in Houston.

I’m a Crawfish Boxes guy.

We like them. Drayton (team owner Drayton McLane) really likes them. So when Drayton likes them, we like them. (laughs)

What? Run-DMc doesn't like Astros County? This is some bull crap!

In all seriousness, congratulations to our friends at TCB for the high-profile shout-out (though we burn with envy). It's always nice to know that management is "pro fan blog," and that is said with the distinct possibility that Astros County isn't one of the three main ones.

The Crawfish Boxes brings it about Bagwell

Excellent post this morning from the Crawfish Boxes with some reaction to Bagwell, and the impact - if any - a hitting coach actually has.

Astros sign PDC with Oklahoma City

Maybe the writing on the wall was there the whole time. Maybe it was like urine, and needed some heat to show up, but the Astros have signed a two-year PDC with Oklahoma City.

Zach Levine has a quote from Drayton:
"There’s a rich tradition of baseball in Oklahoma City, with strong ties to the Astros, so we expect great things in Oklahoma City."

The home of the Oklahoma City RedHawks is AT&T Bricktown Ballpark - a beautiful stadium. It seats 13,066 fans and has dimensions of 325' to left, 400' to center, and 325' to right.

To compare, Dell Diamond seats 8,722, and is 330' to left, 407' to center, 375' to the power alleys, and 325' to right.

The Crawfish Boxes dominated it with this post.

The Oklahoma City franchise is now owned by Mandalay Baseball Properties, whose President/CEO, Art Martin, said:
"We are thrilled to have the Astros returning to Oklahoma City as the RedHawks' affiliate. The combination of the close proximity to Houston, fan base and history of the Astros in Oklahoma City, TV coverage, other opportunities to draw a connection between the Astros and the RedHawks, and the success the Astros have enjoyed under Drayton McLane's ownership, make the Astros the logical Major League Baseball affiliate for the RedHawks. We anticipate a long and mutually rewarding relationship between the RedHawks and the Astros."

Let's hear from some OKC residents. Are you happy?