Going Out With a Bang! (Or....Once More Into the Breach, Dear Friends)
Well fans, we've finally been put out of our misery. With the Baltimore Orioles winning over the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 yesterday at Rogers Center, the Houston Astros have been officially eliminated from post season contention for 2016. Many of you out there will be quick to want to find blame as to why they didn't make it this year. We all have our theories, and I'm sure we'll all be expressing it over the course of this fall and winter, myself included.
But for now, we all need to ban together so that the spacemen can finish this final series of the season in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels on a high note. A sweep would be real nice, but even two out of three with a final win on Sunday will send things off the way they should be. It will give the guys a chance to regroup, get some rest over the holidays, and return to their new facility in West Palm Beach next February all fresh and ready to get that world title.
Of course, with the new beginnings of next year, this year saw some things come to an end. One of those things was the end of Tal's Hill, the infamous cliff out between the center field warning track and wall. It's demolition and removal will make way for a new bar and grill and bring the dimensions closer in, so that fly balls to center will now start being more home runs for the offense, rather than caught fly outs for the opposing team. SB Nation's "The Crawfish Boxes" blog has a nice farewell salute to it on their front page that you can read at the posted link.
Also saying goodbye in 2016 is legendary Astros broadcaster, Bill Brown. He and his clever nickname "Brownie" have been a staple of Houston Astros baseball commentary for the past 30 years, even when the team was still in the world renowned Astrodome. A very wonderful sendoff photo was taken on Tal's Hill Wednesday with Root Sports' own, Julia Morales and posted by Brownie himself:
Of course, the most memorable 2016 commentary from Brownie is, no surprise, from the game against Tampa Bay on August 26th. Back to back jacks, from first Carlos Correa and then Evan Gattis, led to THIS wonderful walk-off moment:
But for now, we all need to ban together so that the spacemen can finish this final series of the season in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels on a high note. A sweep would be real nice, but even two out of three with a final win on Sunday will send things off the way they should be. It will give the guys a chance to regroup, get some rest over the holidays, and return to their new facility in West Palm Beach next February all fresh and ready to get that world title.
Of course, with the new beginnings of next year, this year saw some things come to an end. One of those things was the end of Tal's Hill, the infamous cliff out between the center field warning track and wall. It's demolition and removal will make way for a new bar and grill and bring the dimensions closer in, so that fly balls to center will now start being more home runs for the offense, rather than caught fly outs for the opposing team. SB Nation's "The Crawfish Boxes" blog has a nice farewell salute to it on their front page that you can read at the posted link.
Also saying goodbye in 2016 is legendary Astros broadcaster, Bill Brown. He and his clever nickname "Brownie" have been a staple of Houston Astros baseball commentary for the past 30 years, even when the team was still in the world renowned Astrodome. A very wonderful sendoff photo was taken on Tal's Hill Wednesday with Root Sports' own, Julia Morales and posted by Brownie himself:
Both staples of the organization for many years had their final goodbye game Wednesday against the Mariners. And even though the Astros lost that one, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis was one of two players (George Springer being the other one) to send him off with a long ball. Let's relive the one that Evan hit:join us at 6:30 @ROOTSPORTSSW @astros vs . M's for wild card race in final days of Tal's Hill w/@alkatash pic.twitter.com/tSsp7aW0gV— Bill Brown (@BrownieTw) September 27, 2016
Of course, the most memorable 2016 commentary from Brownie is, no surprise, from the game against Tampa Bay on August 26th. Back to back jacks, from first Carlos Correa and then Evan Gattis, led to THIS wonderful walk-off moment:
Another most memorable moment came in 2015, with Mike Fiers pitching a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers at home. Here is that moment:
There are numerous other great moments that I don't have enough room to fit in one post. Also, YouTube can be a bunch of Nazis when it comes to putting in certain embedded videos. Suffice it to say, we are really gonna miss hearing your energetic voice, Brownie. Much good fortunes to you as you head off into your golden years!
So as of the end of this Sunday afternoon's game against the Angels, there will be no remaining games left for 2016. It's a punch to the gut, to be sure. But let us all keep the wonderful and positive memories of this past season that made this ride with the spacemen all the more special. The team is guaranteed a winning season, and the hopes and expectations for 2017 couldn't be any higher than if we all zipped on a rocket to the moon ourselves!
So as of the end of this Sunday afternoon's game against the Angels, there will be no remaining games left for 2016. It's a punch to the gut, to be sure. But let us all keep the wonderful and positive memories of this past season that made this ride with the spacemen all the more special. The team is guaranteed a winning season, and the hopes and expectations for 2017 couldn't be any higher than if we all zipped on a rocket to the moon ourselves!
Original Photo Credit: Mitchell Layton of Getty Images, North America
They may be out of the playoffs. But with bat in hand, El Oso Blanco will make absolutely sure that he and his team will walk away from 2016 with a series win in Anaheim!
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