Pomp and Circumstances
It's only fitting that, in returning back home from my eldest niece's graduation, that I make a play on the infamous classical composition by Sir Edward Elgar. It is that time of the season, after all, when young high school and college students prepare to commence to the next chapter in their lives. I will admit, ceremonies of this caliber always leave me feeling very emotional. This was no different in seeing my own niece, Ms. Paisley Heather Hunt, accept her high school diploma. It goes without saying that I am a very proud uncle. You can feel free to enjoy the moment I captured when she walked up on stage to receive said diploma from my video clip tweet below!:
Speaking of perspective, the amazing thrill ride of the Houston Astros continues to give us fans everywhere a perspective that no one would have thought to see at the beginning of the season. That is to say, while many of us expected them to be front runners in this division, not a lot of us would have begun to imagine that the spacemen are now sporting a 48-24 record as of this writing. Think about that, ladies and gentlemen. A 24 game above .500 cushion to go with a 12 game divisional lead over nearest rivals, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the dreaded in-state Lone Star lugs, the Texas Rangers. It certainly has been a thing of beauty.
To add to the good feelings, this all comes amidst a June that has not been the kindest to them. But as they have proven time and again, the spacemen find ways to get through any critical mass thrown at the metaphorical mission that is there conquest to a World Series championship. They have all the pieces to do so right now, and a good chunk of their rotation is on the mend and ready to take the mound soon. Lance McCullers has already been cleared to start on Saturday against another division rival in the Seattle Mariners. The standings soaring will most certainly continue, even after the All Star Break in a couple of weeks.
Double plus bonus, George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa all lead in their respective positions for the ASG ballot voting in the latest update. Check out the tweet below!:
Also, if you readers look very closely, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis, is still in the top 5 among AL designated hitters. While it is true that gaining another 400K votes to catch up with Seattle Mariners' star DH, Nelson Cruz, may look like a long shot, he still has every chance to be a DH reserve. Bear in mind, and I may be off on the numbers, the top two in each category, and six among outfielders, get to be invited to the Midsummer Classic's week long festivities, being held this year at Marlins' Park in Miami, FL.
I'm quite sure that El Oso Blanco himself would love to be apart of this celebration and join in the game. But even more than that, he has long since earned it. Despite what the CDH (critics, doubters, haters) crowd may try to label him as, he is very much a perennial player that should be starting every single game every single day. The fact that he isn't has nothing to do with the Big White Bear, either. It has everything, however, to do with the deep lineup that the Astros are currently working with.
Despite this, however, I can't help but wonder how much longer Evan himself is going to have to keep making sacrifices to his playing time, and by extension, his own personal player stats for the good of the team winning. While hitting for much better average, contact, on-base and RBI numbers, his power numbers have suffered tremendously. Add to that, he keeps constantly having to be the forgotten man in all of this success for the Astros. I can only imagine what it is doing to him personally. For me, this genuinely devastates me.
I'm aware of why they wanted BMac to come in and be starting catcher. And to a small degree, I can sort of understand bringing in Carlos Beltran to mentor the core four of young players in Altuve, Bregman, Correa and Springer. Or, as some have so cleverly called them, the ABC'S of this team. I've said it so many times before and will say it again; EVERY individual on this team is specially talented. Each provides there own brand of spark to this team that, even in the face of adversity, they find ways to overcome.
Whether anyone aside from me and his family, friends and wife want to admit this fact, Evan Gattis is a big part of this as well. Sure, the month of June has not been very kind to him. He has only gone 6-for-30 (.200 BA) in the entire month, and has only been in 7 of the 17 games played so far. Clearly, the bear has not been the same since his 4-for-6 outing against the Twins up in Minnesota where he nearly hit for the cycle in that finale. Thankfully, his last outing Monday against the A's saw him with a 2-for-4 night with a pair of doubles while catching and leading Brad Peacock to another win.
So why isn't he out there more?! On another team, he would be a starting catcher and/or DH. A lot of it has to do with the current hot streak that BMac is on. However, it is also very frustrating when a streaky Beltran has to keep being trotted out to DH. Granted, the only two games Evan played in last week were both DH starts to accommodate McCann and his hot streak. But still, it is a wonder if something drastic may be in the works where Luhnow is actually thinking the worst about trading him to get a starting pitcher.
If that happens, I will be even further devastated beyond any repair. The reason being is that he will probably be sent to a team that has no shot at the playoffs, much less a world championship. If the Astros' organization robs Gattis of that, I don't what I'll be able to do at that point. I'm holding onto what little patience I have in trying to "trust the process." But if it ends up resulting this way, I will not be nearly as forgiving as others will be.
To go with the pomp of the team winning are the circumstances surrounding the role of the bear. Wanting him to be included more is certainly no crime or sin. Evan Gattis has the talent, poise and grace to retire with this Houston Astros organization. Now, Luhnow and company have got to start treating him better, giving him the credit he deserves, and allowing him to play more. They are literally sitting on a gold mine and diamond in the rough in El Oso Blanco. Allow him to be unleashed from his cage, once and for all!
Aside from some airport drama on Monday trying to return back to the DFW metroplex, which is a story for another time, I actually thoroughly enjoyed myself. Getting to visit with family I don't see as often as I would like was a really refreshing thing. Seeing the excited looks on the faces of all my nieces when I arrived was so heartwarming that I could not help but get in touch with my usually emotional self. It really does keep things in perspective.Big congrats to my niece, Posh Paisley! #ProudUncle #Classof2017 😃😎 pic.twitter.com/5pg0XJ7ypq— James I Zeankowski (@tvwizard85) June 17, 2017
Speaking of perspective, the amazing thrill ride of the Houston Astros continues to give us fans everywhere a perspective that no one would have thought to see at the beginning of the season. That is to say, while many of us expected them to be front runners in this division, not a lot of us would have begun to imagine that the spacemen are now sporting a 48-24 record as of this writing. Think about that, ladies and gentlemen. A 24 game above .500 cushion to go with a 12 game divisional lead over nearest rivals, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the dreaded in-state Lone Star lugs, the Texas Rangers. It certainly has been a thing of beauty.
To add to the good feelings, this all comes amidst a June that has not been the kindest to them. But as they have proven time and again, the spacemen find ways to get through any critical mass thrown at the metaphorical mission that is there conquest to a World Series championship. They have all the pieces to do so right now, and a good chunk of their rotation is on the mend and ready to take the mound soon. Lance McCullers has already been cleared to start on Saturday against another division rival in the Seattle Mariners. The standings soaring will most certainly continue, even after the All Star Break in a couple of weeks.
Double plus bonus, George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa all lead in their respective positions for the ASG ballot voting in the latest update. Check out the tweet below!:
Alex Bregman, Carlos Beltran and Josh Reddick are also still polling at the top among their positions, while Yuli Gurriel lost some ground among first basemen. One half of #BearSquared in the BMac, Brian McCann, is also not very far behind Salvador Perez in the voting for AL Catcher. It's becoming a very interesting polling of players, to say the very least.Carlos Correa has increased his lead over Francisco Lindor in All-Star voting. George Springer still 3rd among OFs. pic.twitter.com/kx9cLOOb2i— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) June 20, 2017
Also, if you readers look very closely, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis, is still in the top 5 among AL designated hitters. While it is true that gaining another 400K votes to catch up with Seattle Mariners' star DH, Nelson Cruz, may look like a long shot, he still has every chance to be a DH reserve. Bear in mind, and I may be off on the numbers, the top two in each category, and six among outfielders, get to be invited to the Midsummer Classic's week long festivities, being held this year at Marlins' Park in Miami, FL.
I'm quite sure that El Oso Blanco himself would love to be apart of this celebration and join in the game. But even more than that, he has long since earned it. Despite what the CDH (critics, doubters, haters) crowd may try to label him as, he is very much a perennial player that should be starting every single game every single day. The fact that he isn't has nothing to do with the Big White Bear, either. It has everything, however, to do with the deep lineup that the Astros are currently working with.
Despite this, however, I can't help but wonder how much longer Evan himself is going to have to keep making sacrifices to his playing time, and by extension, his own personal player stats for the good of the team winning. While hitting for much better average, contact, on-base and RBI numbers, his power numbers have suffered tremendously. Add to that, he keeps constantly having to be the forgotten man in all of this success for the Astros. I can only imagine what it is doing to him personally. For me, this genuinely devastates me.
I'm aware of why they wanted BMac to come in and be starting catcher. And to a small degree, I can sort of understand bringing in Carlos Beltran to mentor the core four of young players in Altuve, Bregman, Correa and Springer. Or, as some have so cleverly called them, the ABC'S of this team. I've said it so many times before and will say it again; EVERY individual on this team is specially talented. Each provides there own brand of spark to this team that, even in the face of adversity, they find ways to overcome.
Whether anyone aside from me and his family, friends and wife want to admit this fact, Evan Gattis is a big part of this as well. Sure, the month of June has not been very kind to him. He has only gone 6-for-30 (.200 BA) in the entire month, and has only been in 7 of the 17 games played so far. Clearly, the bear has not been the same since his 4-for-6 outing against the Twins up in Minnesota where he nearly hit for the cycle in that finale. Thankfully, his last outing Monday against the A's saw him with a 2-for-4 night with a pair of doubles while catching and leading Brad Peacock to another win.
So why isn't he out there more?! On another team, he would be a starting catcher and/or DH. A lot of it has to do with the current hot streak that BMac is on. However, it is also very frustrating when a streaky Beltran has to keep being trotted out to DH. Granted, the only two games Evan played in last week were both DH starts to accommodate McCann and his hot streak. But still, it is a wonder if something drastic may be in the works where Luhnow is actually thinking the worst about trading him to get a starting pitcher.
If that happens, I will be even further devastated beyond any repair. The reason being is that he will probably be sent to a team that has no shot at the playoffs, much less a world championship. If the Astros' organization robs Gattis of that, I don't what I'll be able to do at that point. I'm holding onto what little patience I have in trying to "trust the process." But if it ends up resulting this way, I will not be nearly as forgiving as others will be.
To go with the pomp of the team winning are the circumstances surrounding the role of the bear. Wanting him to be included more is certainly no crime or sin. Evan Gattis has the talent, poise and grace to retire with this Houston Astros organization. Now, Luhnow and company have got to start treating him better, giving him the credit he deserves, and allowing him to play more. They are literally sitting on a gold mine and diamond in the rough in El Oso Blanco. Allow him to be unleashed from his cage, once and for all!
Original Photo Credit: The Houston Astros on Twitter
Houston Astros Organization: FREE THE BEAR!!!!
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