Where the Heart Is
An old saying to describe home and a corresponding title to a 2000 film about rebuilding life starring Natalie Portman perfectly describes the helpless state that many of us find ourselves in as of late. Like the character of Novalee in the film, the entire city of Houston still finds themselves in the midst of rebuild after Hurricane Harvey. The devastation continues to play out across media outlets, and many outside of the area are doing all they can with donations and charitable givings to relief efforts, myself included. But there are some, like yours truly, that continues to feel a sense of guilt that no amount of things given will ever really truly be enough.
Perhaps, I'm overthinking this, like I tend do as a force of habit for many things. However, disasters like this can weigh on you. This is especially true for the Houston Astros, as they suffered their most heartbreaking loss of the season to in-state division rivals, the Texas Rangers 12-2 last night. Apparently, everyone in the DFW Metroplex, sans their baseball team, knows how to show even the slightest bit of mercy. No doubt, the players have a lot on their minds, thinking about what awaits them back home.
Your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis is certainly one of them, since he and his wife Kimberly have a home out that way. Unfortunately, El Oso Blanco, or "Bull" did not have a really good game. In fact, it was probably one of the worst he has had all season. Defensively, he allowed two stolen bases and had a throwing error to first base. Offensively, he was 0-for-4 with a rare strikeout, and an even more rare GIDP (ground into a double play) in the game.
But the bad news does not end there. Since coming back from the concussion DL, the following has happened to the Big White Bear:
So it just begs the question of when will the bear shake off this rust of his? I'd like to think it will be very soon, but how many opportunities is Hinch going to give him once rosters expand on Friday? The hope is way more than he has been given all season, not to mention the time lost from his concussion. He's already sitting out this evening's game, however, it is to be expected after the night Gattis and the rest of the team had yesterday.
Of course, it doesn't help when folks on social media start tweeting out things like this, something like this, or even tweets like these. Yes, he had a bad game. It happens, because he's human like the rest of us. It doesn't help, though, when some out there seem to only want to blame him. And, just as equally, when CDH trolls like this fail, repeatedly, to do any semblance of research! That frustrates me constantly to no end. And in times like this, it is not the sort of thing that any of us need right now. I want good news, or something positive, to come of all this, as well as on the recovery from the hurricane. But like everything else, I suppose only time will tell.
Thankfully, the boys will be coming back home soon. The team just put out a tweet today that the Astros will return to Houston Friday, have a day off to assess damage and be with family and friends in the area, and then open up their series with the New York Mets with a doubleheader on Saturday. They will also have food bank donation bins, as well as some other things, to assist in disaster relief. This is a welcome thing that the boys, and the city, really need right now. No doubt, the good people of H-Town are ready to welcome back the sports stars with open arms!
Perhaps, I'm overthinking this, like I tend do as a force of habit for many things. However, disasters like this can weigh on you. This is especially true for the Houston Astros, as they suffered their most heartbreaking loss of the season to in-state division rivals, the Texas Rangers 12-2 last night. Apparently, everyone in the DFW Metroplex, sans their baseball team, knows how to show even the slightest bit of mercy. No doubt, the players have a lot on their minds, thinking about what awaits them back home.
Your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis is certainly one of them, since he and his wife Kimberly have a home out that way. Unfortunately, El Oso Blanco, or "Bull" did not have a really good game. In fact, it was probably one of the worst he has had all season. Defensively, he allowed two stolen bases and had a throwing error to first base. Offensively, he was 0-for-4 with a rare strikeout, and an even more rare GIDP (ground into a double play) in the game.
But the bad news does not end there. Since coming back from the concussion DL, the following has happened to the Big White Bear:
- He has only gone 1-for-12 across 3 games.
- Has no homers or RBI just yet.
- Tallied a pair of strikeouts in that time.
- Has seen shrinking of the following stats:
- His batting average down 9 points.
- His on-base percentage go down 11 points.
- His slugging go down 20 points. (total OPS drop of 31 points.)
- His wRC+ go down from 119 to 110 (still above average, but slipping.)
- His WAR (wins above replacement) go down from a 1.7 to a 1.3
So it just begs the question of when will the bear shake off this rust of his? I'd like to think it will be very soon, but how many opportunities is Hinch going to give him once rosters expand on Friday? The hope is way more than he has been given all season, not to mention the time lost from his concussion. He's already sitting out this evening's game, however, it is to be expected after the night Gattis and the rest of the team had yesterday.
Of course, it doesn't help when folks on social media start tweeting out things like this, something like this, or even tweets like these. Yes, he had a bad game. It happens, because he's human like the rest of us. It doesn't help, though, when some out there seem to only want to blame him. And, just as equally, when CDH trolls like this fail, repeatedly, to do any semblance of research! That frustrates me constantly to no end. And in times like this, it is not the sort of thing that any of us need right now. I want good news, or something positive, to come of all this, as well as on the recovery from the hurricane. But like everything else, I suppose only time will tell.
Thankfully, the boys will be coming back home soon. The team just put out a tweet today that the Astros will return to Houston Friday, have a day off to assess damage and be with family and friends in the area, and then open up their series with the New York Mets with a doubleheader on Saturday. They will also have food bank donation bins, as well as some other things, to assist in disaster relief. This is a welcome thing that the boys, and the city, really need right now. No doubt, the good people of H-Town are ready to welcome back the sports stars with open arms!
Original Photo Credit: Carlos Osorio of the Associated Press
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